People Believe NASA Funded As Well As US Military

QuantumG writes "An essay on the Space Review site is reporting that a just-completed study indicates the average citizen has no idea how much funding NASA gets. Respondents generally estimated NASA's allocation of the national budget to be approximately 24% (it's actually closer to 0.58%) and the Department of Defense budget to be approximately 33% (it's actually closer to 21%). In other words, respondents believed NASA's budget approaches that of the Department of Defense, which receives almost 38 times more money. Once informed of the actual allocations, they were almost uniformly surprised. One of the more vocal participants exclaimed, 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"

I boldly post

[McGiraf]

where no one posted before.

Vocal Participant

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the more vocal participants exclaimed, 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"

Must be talking about Iraq

What do you mean

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the more vocal participants exclaimed, 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"
We've gone to war, where you wanna be!

24% (it's actually closer to 0.58%)

[niceone]

So, 12%?

Re:I boldly post

[dgun]

That's not a troll. A troll for Slashdot would be something like:

OMG!1!@ Vista is awesome! I'm so glad Bill Gates invented computerz.

Or would that be flamebait?

Re:The even more surprising thing is

[dgun]

Well of course not. Those particular expenses are on the Visa. Thank God we can just print more money, huh?

Americans know lots of things.

[hyades1]

Americans might not know NASA versus Defense Department budgets and all that useless crap, but I bet the majority could pick Britney Spears' crotch out of a line-up.

Re:Americans know lots of things.

[xkillkillx]

Leave Britney alone!

We have been to ...

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Typical uninformed citizen moans 'No wonder we haven't gone anywhere!'"

Not True! We have been to Iraq, Kuwait, Afganistan, Panama ... Soon we will be going to Iran, Pakistan... What rot these guys are talkin' 'bout?

Re:Federal budget vs. GDP

[Anonymous Coward]

... but rather how they compare as a percentage of GDP

Why does it make sense to divide this statistic by GDP?

Dividing by GDP is statistical trick used in the US to make numbers look lower. Did you know that the USA has the lowest IQ per GDP on the planet? What does that prove?

Re:US military spending

[Gigiya]

I bring up the reality of what is happening in the US in common discussions with people.

You must be that guy at work.

Re:Americans know lots of things.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey,

Better than picking a line-up out of Brittney Spears crotch!