Smart Girl Dumb Questions Is NASA Worth 25 Billion Bucks? with Casey Dreier
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Oct 14, 2025 In this engaging chat, Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at the Planetary Society, dives deep into the societal impacts of NASA’s $25 billion budget. He discusses how space exploration fuels innovation, from GPS to solar panels, and the importance of funding space science over human spaceflight. Casey also addresses the politicization of NASA funding, highlighting bipartisan resistance to budget cuts. With a nod to the historical significance of the Apollo era, he emphasizes that private companies like SpaceX can’t replace the essential work of public-funded science.
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Rocket Launch Conversion
- Casey Dreier describes seeing a rocket launch in person as a visceral, transformative experience that made him commit to preserving spaceflight.
- He felt moved by thousands of people building and launching a skyscraper-sized machine purely for curiosity.
Space As Civil Religion
- Dreier frames human spaceflight as a form of civil religion that evokes symbolic meanings beyond technology and budgets.
- This symbolic power makes space policy emotionally charged and politically unique.
Curiosity Launch Changed A Career
- Dreier recounts that seeing Curiosity's 2011 launch converted his general childhood interest into a career commitment.
- That single experience made him decide to actively work to keep space exploration alive.
