Why Is NASA Spread Throughout The Country?
NASA is a massive government agency responsible for developing some of the most complicated technology in the world. The agency does this with many different facilities located around the country. Each facility has a purpose to help accomplish different goals including landing rovers on Mars or putting humans back on the Moon.
There are multiple reasons why NASA is spread throughout the country rather than all together in one location. Some of the main reasons are a benefit to the economy, local talent, and specialized tasks. Each encourages the agency to spread out its facilities and launch complexes.
While the separation across the country provides some benefits, it also has some downsides. It can be a lot harder and slower to produce technology when facilities are so far apart. However, NASA has managed to accomplish incredible things throughout time working around the country.
Where Are NASA Facilities?
NASA has a large array of facilities located across the country. Starting with NASA Headquarters which is located in Washington D.C. This building is just a few blocks away from the U.S. capitol and is responsible for overlooking a lot of NASA’s different operations. This headquarters provides leadership for the agency’s activities. Next, is the Ames Research Center located in California. More specifically NASA built this facility right next to many high-tech companies, entrepreneurial ventures, universities, and more. Ames personnel work on everything from mission design, to fundamental research, to developing critical new technologies, and analyzing scientific data. This facility is widely recognized as the leader in a lot of different fields. Then there is the Dryden Research Center also located in California. Unlike the Ames Center, this facility is located in a desert far away from large populations and buildings. Dryden flies a large variety of aircraft for testing and different aerospace innovations.
Another facility includes Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field located in Cleveland Ohio. This center conducts a lot of research around aeronautics technology and developing spaceflight systems. Specifically, Glenn has led research focused on liquid hydrogen rocket engines. Next is the Goddard Space Flight Center which is also positioned right outside of Washington D.C. This campus contains over 50 buildings and research laboratories all meant to help scientists better understand the universe. Goddard has accomplished a large list of things including building instruments for spacecraft, learning more about our planet and solar system, and much more. The final facility I wanted to mention is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory or JPL. JPL is one of the more widely known parts of NASA because of its work throughout different projects. Specifically, JPL has managed and operated nearly every major U.S. interplanetary exploration mission.
Purpose Of Different Facilities
NASA is a massive agency that is responsible for many different achievements. The agency is best known for rocket launches and bigger projects such as Mars rovers or large space telescopes. While these different accomplishments are very impressive, it is not the only thing NASA does. Additionally, NASA has many different projects and goals focused on different aspects of science and more. This means the agency as a whole does a lot. This is part of the reason why there are so many different facilities. Each facility has a purpose and employees who help execute specific goals.
However, because of NASA’s wide range of activities, the facilities end up with very different locations, technology, and focus. As I mentioned before NASA has facilities located in the middle of highly populated and busy areas while others are in the middle of a desert. An example of this could be Dryden Research Center located in California. Here rather than focus on different smaller technology and developments they create and test larger aircraft. This is exactly why they are located in a large desert far away from the general population. The Ames Research Center on the other hand is quite the opposite. This facility works to get the best talent and smartest minds to help develop and innovate new technology.
Benefits Of NASA Located Around The Country
Economy – One of the big benefits of NASA, in general, is the effect on the economy. In 2020 NASA released a report showing that the agency generated more than $64.3 billion in total economic output during the fiscal year 2019, supported more than 312,000 jobs nationwide, and generated an estimated $7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes throughout the United States. This report went on to talk about how NASA not only benefited the country as a whole economically but also specific states. The report mentioned that “Every state in the country benefits economically through NASA activities. Forty-three states have an economic impact of more than $10 million. Of those 43 states, eight have an economic impact of $1 billion or more.” NASA’s large array of facilities around the country provides tens of thousands of jobs to almost every state. These jobs are provided to some of America’s most talented and smartest individuals. It also significantly helps the local economy in each state where NASA is operating.
Local Talent – Another reason why NASA is spread throughout the country is the local talent. One common theme when looking at a lot of the NASA facility locations is their proximity to universities or schools in general. When possible, the agency often tries to get close to places where they can provide jobs and get a highly educated workforce. Students will graduate from school and go right next door to get a job at NASA. As I mentioned before NASA employs some of the brightest and most talented minds in the country. This is no coincidence and NASA has worked to try and ensure they keep getting new talent. As the agency spreads around the country they are able to continually get different talent. This is necessary if NASA wants to continue to innovate and develop next-generation technology.
Specialized Tasks – The final benefit I wanted to mention is specialized tasks. NASA launches rockets, planes, develops technology, tests equipment, and more just to name a few. These different goals and tasks require different environments and facility locations. An example could be the Kennedy Space Center located in Florida. There are many reasons for this location that make it the perfect spot to launch rockets. One is the distance from the equator. The farther away you are the more work the rocket has to do when getting into the correct orbit. Another factor is what’s beneath the rocket after launch. Here in Florida after the launch, the rocket flies over the Atlantic Ocean. This prevents any dangerous consequences if something were to go wrong. Finally, it’s better because of Earth’s rotation to launch rockets from West to East. Florida’s position on the East coast also promotes efficiency and safety.
Downsides Of Facilities Location
While there are a lot of benefits to NASA being spread throughout the country, there are a few downsides as well. One of the biggest is the impact it has on the time and speed of the agency. During the development phase and especially when a rocket is ready to be put together, everything has to meet in one location. Here different parts and technology are transported from all around the country into a single spot. This can slow down the operation quite a bit and also cause some problems. The ideal scenario, in this case, would be to produce each part of your rocket in the same place right next to the launch pad. However, even with this inconvenience, NASA has still managed to complete its goals and accomplish incredible achievements.
Conclusion
NASA is a massive agency that works to develop some of the most complicated technology in the world. The agency is also located throughout the entire country rather than all together in a single spot. Some of the main reasons for this are benefits to the economy, local talent, and specialized tasks. Each encourages the agency to spread out throughout the United States. This decision does slow down the agency a bit over time but they have still managed to achieve incredible things. As time goes on we are likely to see NASA spread out even more throughout the country and even the world.