In 1958, the National Advisory Counsel on Aeronautics (NACA) became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Since then, NASA has put a man on the moon, sent probes that go beyond our solar system, and have even looked back in time through space.
Before the government funding was cut, some people felt that the government was investing too much into NASA. What people fail to realize though, is that for every dollar that was spent on NASA, there was a return of eight dollars. I don’t know about you, but an 800% return on investment is pretty good.
Aside from the economic benefit, NASA has also created numerous objects that benefit our lives directly. There are numerous things that NASA has created, but here are a few: chemical detection devices, evolving the technology of artificial limbs, and something all us sleepers enjoy, memory foam. A more detailed list can be found here:
http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html
