Budget information of NASA

NASA

Main article: Budget of NASA

NASA's budget from 1958 to 2012 as a percentage of federal budget

NASA's share of the total federal budget peaked at approximately 4.41% in 1966 during the Apollo man-on-the-Moon program, then rapidly declined to approximately 1% in 1975, and stayed around that level through 1998.^[51][52] The percentage then gradually dropped, until leveling off again at around half a percent in 2006 (estimated in 2012 at 0.48% of the federal budget).^[53] In a March 2012 hearing of the United States Senate Science Committee, science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson testified that "Right now, NASA's annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar. For twice that—a penny on a dollar—we can transform the country from a sullen, dispirited nation, weary of economic struggle, to one where it has reclaimed its 20th century birthright to dream of tomorrow."^[54][55]

Despite this, public perception of NASA's budget differs significantly: a 1997 poll indicated that most Americans believed that 20% of the federal budget went to NASA.^[56]

For Fiscal Year 2015, NASA received an appropriation of US$18.01 billion from Congress—$549 million more than requested and approximately $350 million more than the 2014 NASA budget passed by Congress.^[57]

In Fiscal Year 2016, NASA received $19.3 billion.^[58]

President Donald Trump signed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 in March, which set the 2017 budget at around $19.5 billion.^[58] The budget is also reported as $19.3 billion for 2017, with $20.7 billion proposed for FY2018.^[59][60]

Examples of some proposed FY2018 budgets:^[60]

• Exploration: $4.79 billion

• Planetary science: $2.23 billion

• Earth science: $1.92 billion

• Aeronautics: $0.685 billion