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.
Using the data shown in Figure 3, complete Activity 3.
Activity 3 US national spending in 2015
Choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.
1. Which department has the largest allocation of funds?
a.
interest on debt
b.
science
c.
social security, unemployment and labour
d.
military
e.
medicare and health
The correct answer is c.
2. What proportion of the budget is allocated to science?
a.
1%
b.
2%
c.
3%
d.
4%
e.
6%
The correct answer is a.
3. How much money in total is allocated to energy and environment, and science?
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!