On the other hand, $928 billion went to defense and the military last year βMore than the entire NASA Budget, $20 billion, went to air-conditioning the tents in Afghanistan.
Even with its meager sum, NASA has returned astonishing results. Since 2000, NASA has successfully sent all six of its probes to Mars, returning the clearest pictures yet of the red planet. The Opportunity rover has far outlived its 90-day mission, still returning data after over eight years. Next to the Martian icecap, the Phoenix lander found ice inches beneath the soil.
Other probes are equally successful. Cassini currently circles Saturn, probing into the mysteries of the gas giant. Hubble still takes astonishingly beautiful photographs after nearly two decades of service. New Horizons is currently on its way to Pluto, poised for its arrival in 2015.