NASA is at the thriving heart of a 180-billion-dollar "space economy" that benefits life on Earth, the head of the much-maligned US agency said Monday ahead of its 50th birthday.
Launching a lecture series to mark next year's anniversary, NASA administrator Michael Griffin said the space agency was "a critical driver of innovation" which has enduring relevance on terra firma.
"We don't just create new jobs, we create entirely new markets and possibilities for economic growth that didn't previously exist," he said.
"This is the emerging space economy, an economy that is transforming our lives here on Earth in ways that are not yet fully understood or appreciated."
NASA has been often criticized by US lawmakers for pursuing quixotic, costly and dangerous space missions at the expense of other budgetary priorities.
A congressional hearing this month revived some anti-NASA catcalls after claims that astronauts had been drunk on flight missions — although the agency's safety chief last month dismissed the allegations as groundless.
The claims of drunk-flying had dented confidence at NASA with the space agency only just recovering from the 2003 breakup of the shuttle Columbia, which killed all seven astronauts aboard.
In his speech, Griffin vied to refocus on the real-world benefits brought about by NASA research.
He cited a report by the Space Foundation as saying the "space economy" was estimated to be worth about 180 billion dollars in 2005, with more than 60 percent of that coming from commercial goods and services.
Thanks to the work put into space exploration, advanced breast cancer screening can catch tumors in time for treatment, while heart defibrillators restore the proper rhythm of a patient's heart, Griffin said.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) of satellites now has a myriad of uses well beyond its initial military applications, while space-oriented technologies are now being used to increase farming crop yields.
"The money we spend — half a cent of the federal budget dollar — and the impact of what we do with it, doesn't happen 'out there,'" the agency's boss said.
"It happens here, and the result has been the space economy. So if America is to remain a leader in the face of burgeoning global competition, we must continue to innovate, and we must continue to innovate in space."
