Here is why NASA should have a larger budget. It is currently less than .5% of the federal budget, and has been steadily decreasing since the 1990s. NASA is very important and deserves more funding.

- The United States is the world leader in space exploration, but we have competition. Russia, India, and China would like to take our place.

- We need to be the first to Mars in order to maintain our position as world leader in space. If we don't go to Mars, someone else will.

- The Apollo missions were very successful and resulted in tons of new technologies, like smoke detectors or laptops. Going to Mars will result in similar technological advancements.

- There is a possibility of useful resources on Mars and other planets that we could mine.