NASA: Should they get more funding?

2/18/21 7:00PM

NASA has successfully landed its latest rover Perseverance on the surface of Mars, completing its 292 million-mile journey from Earth.

With the first major milestone successfully navigated, Perseverance is now set to spend at least the next 687 Earth days (one year on Mars) exploring the surface within the Jezero Crater, which is believed to have once been a large lake on the surface of the planet.

‍Should NASA get more budget?

‍The initial success of Perseverance raises the age old question about NASA; should they get a bigger slice of the federal budget? Last year NASA got $22.7bn from the federal government, which accounted for a little under 0.5% of the total federal budget.

That's no small sum, but in relative terms it is a fraction of the 4.4% of the budget that the Apollo program received at its peak back in the 1960s.The hard thing with space exploration is that the payoffs are often non-linear and unpredictable. Spending an additional $10bn could pay off dramatically with a huge leap forward in our scientific understanding, or it could not.

‍NASA seems to be increasingly aware of how to win more public support, and therefore funding. Live streams, social media campaigns and interactive multimedia have all been deployed to great effect during the Perseverance mission.

Interestingly, as pointed out by The Atlantic almost a decade ago, public support for the moon landings has generally increased through time. We seem to value the achievements more the further we are from them.

Jake Lahut

PAIN AT THE PUMP

Analyst: US could see $5 gas by Memorial Day, $6 per gallon on the table

Gas could hit $5 per gallon by Memorial Day, $6 by later in the summer: 'Nothing's impossible at this point'

Gas station in front of the Gordie Howe International Bridge under construction.

Tom Jones14h

The UAE’s OPEC exit will hit the group in the barrels

After just shy of 60 years in OPEC, its membership even predating its status as a nation-state, the United Arab Emirates yesterday announced its shocking departure from the oil production group, effective May 1, as the knock-on effects of the Iran war continue to play out across the Middle East and the energy landscape.

For context, the UAE produces the third-highest amount of oil in the group, per April data and OPEC’s latest set of annual statistics.

According to the cartel’s 2025 Annual Statistical Bulletin, the OPEC group was collectively exporting some 19 million barrels of crude oil a day last year, with the United Arab Emirates accounting for some 14% of that daily output.

UAExit means UAExit

The nation, whose energy minister told Reuters yesterday that the decision was taken “after a careful look at current and future policies related to level of production” and wasn’t made following discussions with any other country, made up a healthy share of the group’s total confirmed crude oil reserves, as well.

Of the 12 nations in the core group, which was founded by just five oil superpowers back in September 1960, only two (Iraq and Saudi Arabia) exported more barrels of crude oil daily, pumping out 3.36 million and 6.05 million barrels, respectively, each day to nations around the world.

For its part, the UAE said it will “continue its responsible role by gradually and thoughtfully increasing production, in line with demand and market conditions,” per the official state news agency. Clearly, the nation now wants a little more control of just how much oil it can pump around the world, with the UAE having to eat a large proportion of lost revenues due to its healthy abundance and OPEC restrictions.