What If NASA Had the U.S. Military’s Budget?

Space exploration has never been cheap, but what if NASA received a multibillion-dollar budget increase instead of the U.S. military?

NASA brought people to walk on the Moon, flew past every planet in our Solar System, and delivered the first inhabitants to the International Space Station...

What else may NASA have accomplished with a larger budget? Say, the United States military budget?

How near would Mars colonization be? Would you consider vacationing on the Moon? Why not go to other solar systems?

In 1969, NASA paid more than $25 billion, or over $170 billion in current dollars, so that humankind could step on the Moon...  Once a tiny stride for man became a big leap for humanity, however, the funding of the American-led space agency began... to decrease.

NASA receives less than $20 billion each year to explore (and occupy) space. Is it sufficient for humanity's ambitions?

Not if you want to purchase a plot of property on the Moon. What if... a printing mistake in the Federal budget resulted in the massive U.S. military budget being diverted to the space agency?

What might 600 billion dollars buy? The International Space Station is t he biggest artificial satellite ever to circle the planet.

Since its inception in 1998, over 200 individuals have lived and worked at this site. However, it may be defunded by 2024, at which point nobody will use it.

With an additional $100 billion, NASA could continue ISS research for at least another two decades. A budget comparable to that of the military would cover this.

In addition to allowing the space station to stay operational, it would also let the dispatch more astronauts. And there would still be sufficient funds for NASA's largest ongoing initiatives.

Developing the Space Launch System that would transport us to the Moon and even beyond? Sure!

Putting together the most powerful telescope current technology can achieve? Not an issue!

Then, there is Mars. NASA and SpaceX might resurrect the unmanned Red Dragon mission, which would signal the beginning of the settlement of Mars.

The cost of sending the first people to Mars would be around $450 billion. A crewed expedition to the red planet would become NASA's next "Apollo" with a yearly budget of $600 billion.

We would establish a human colony on the Moon and use it as a home base for deep space exploration. It would also serve as a guide for the colonization of Mars.

We would forward the launch of the Europa Clipper, a mission to Jupiter's smallest moon in search of clues of extraterrestrial life in the ocean of liquid water under its ice shell. Perhaps Europa would become the next target for crewed expeditions.

Just consider... Routine commercial space travel... Missions to distant solar systems without crew...

Increasing biological and physiological research to determine how people may live in space... Wouldn't it be extraordinary?

So to put it in a sentence, we would have a Mars colony along with definite evidence of alien life in our solar system in just a couple of years plus a Moon base that will assist with further deep space missions.

Reference(s): Business Insider, The Balance, thespacereview