Why We Think NASA’s Budget Is Huge (When It’s Really Tiny)

Photograph taken of NASA's sign outside Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the Kennedy Space Center.

Humanity has always been obsessed with looking up. From Copernicus proving the Earth revolves around the sun to Newton mapping gravity, we can’t help but stare into the cosmos.

That fascination is on full display this month with the August 12 total solar eclipse sweeping across Greenland, Iceland, and Europe, alongside the annual Perseid meteor shower. Both events are tracked closely by NASA — America's publicly funded civil space agency.