[bumby]

Sorry if it was a bad assumption. I just can’t square the two points you’re making. You say we can still have a space program but funding should be less? As in less than one half of one percent is too much? You may not realize it but the there are multiple directorates within NASA and only one is primarily focused on gateway (the human exploration directorate). So it’s a fraction of a fraction of a percent that goes to that. The rest of the money goes to other directorates that have priorities that may align more with your priorities. For example, the aeronautics research directorate performs fundamental research in areas that can decrease greenhouse gas emissions from air travel. The Earth science directorate is heavily focused on climate change. If you look at what is actually left over for exploration, to an extent it’s in agreement with your stance that it’s not really a priority compared with the percentage of GDP spent during the space race when it was a national priority. By only giving a pittance of GDP to exploration when it used to be orders of magnitude higher, we’re saying exploration is no longer a priority.

I think the people who claim otherwise might benefit from looking at the actual relative funding.