Should NASA's budget be increased?

[politicallefty]

Yes, I think the budget should be substantially increased. However, the mission of NASA as a whole should be changed. I'd start with significant private-public partnerships between NASA and the private sector. I don't think the private sector can really exist without the government. However, NASA would be a far better agency with an altered mission and a strongly supportive private sector.

I'd rather NASA change its mission to look towards permanent settlements (such as Mars within the next 15-20 years) and places where scientific knowledge can have significant growth. There is a huge potential for the discovery of life. We need to seriously explore Titan and launch a mission to explore Europa's probable subsurface ocean.

[politicallefty]

Are you talking about private sector space exploration/research or just in general? Because I fail to see how the aforementioned private sector industry would cease to exist without NASA.

Sorry that I was unclear. I was, of course, referring to the private sector when it comes to space. I think NASA and other government agencies are vital to ensuring that private space exploration sector exists. It's not that I believe NASA is necessarily vital to ensuring that space exploration and research happens. However, I do not believe the free market alone is anywhere near enough to sustain such an industry. As I said above, NASA's mission should be changed and public-private partnerships should be heavily pursued. We need both government and the private sector if we're going to take humanity beyond Earth (let alone discover life on other worlds).