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Microgravity: living on the International Space Station
Microgravity: living on the International Space Station

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3 How much does space exploration cost the USA?

According to the website ‘National Priorities’, in 2015, the US President proposed the spending plan shown in Figure 3.

Described image
Figure 3 Pie chart of the distribution of US expenditure in 2015.

Using the data shown in Figure 3, complete Activity 3.

Activity 3 US national spending in 2015

Timing: Allow approximately 10 minutes

Choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.

a. 

interest on debt


b. 

science


c. 

social security, unemployment and labour


d. 

military


e. 

medicare and health


The correct answer is c.

a. 

1%


b. 

2%


c. 

3%


d. 

4%


e. 

6%


The correct answer is a.

a. 

US$15 billion


b. 

US$29.8 billion


c. 

US$44.8 billion


d. 

US$74.6 billion


e. 

US$78.6 billion


The correct answer is d.

The exact figures are unavailable, but this gives an approximate order of magnitude. You will now look at how much space exploration costs the whole world!