T minus zero $$$$$

The Endeavour successfully launched on 5/16/2011. The liftoff of the Endeavour was witnessed by thousands of people at Cape Canaveral and some said they had goosebumps during the process. The excitement that a launch creates is unquestionable.

But can America really afford a space program anymore? Has the program served its initial purpose? How much does all this cost anyway?

CNN’s Jack Cafferty elaborates on the subject:

“Boeing reportedly spent about $18 million on lobbying last year, and its political action committee contributed more than $2.2 million in the last election cycle. Lockheed Martin spent about $16 million on lobbyists, and its PAC donated more than $3.5 million in 2009 and 2010.”

So this explains why and how the government keeps shoveling out the money which it can’t really afford. And there’s no question that the space program really helps certain states where the centers are located.

But just think for a moment what could be done if the money was spent on something here on this planet. The United States has fallen behind on infrastructure. Yes infrastructure, basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function.

But that’s just it, our society is no longer functioning. We have no high-speed rail systems to boast about. One system that is planned for California is not going so well, and Republicans have cut the budget for others to follow.

So how can America afford to sponsor any more space programs?

How much does a shuttle cost to launch? Estimates project that each one costs about $450 million plus per launch. It costs approximately $1.7 billion to build a shuttle.

And this one’s really a killer. When a shuttle is scheduled to launch but it doesn’t, it’s called a launch scrub. Care to guess what a lunch scrub will cost? Each launch scrub can cost as much as $1.2 million.

Figure the math here. Five shuttle launch scrubs could equal more than $5 million. That’s no small sum of money.

NASA has been a wonderful organization and its presence has no doubt benefited America. But we are truly living in a time when corruption is the status quo, unemployment is rampant, and the infrastructure is being ignored for the most part. While politicians blindly ignore the crumbling of a once great nation, strong leadership has taken a backseat to a lack of courage and true wisdom.

Can America really afford a space program?

The author of this article had this to say about NASA:

“NASA is a prime example of a government entity that received too much money, which I’m sure every NASA official will dispute to his or her dying days. NASA spent over $1 million to develop an instrument that would write in space, I assume something akin to a ballpoint type pen. The Russians, who in comparison have a pittance to spend on space, use a pencil at a cost of $.04.”