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The US government spends $20.2 billion annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than NASA’s entire budget of $19 billion. High temperatures and fuel costs contribute to the expense.
The US government spends more money on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan – about 20.2 billion US dollars (USD) annually – than it does on NASA’s program. NASA’s entire budget is only $19 billion a year. One of the reasons air conditioning costs so much is the extremely high temperatures – normally around 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.7 degrees Celsius) in the summer. Air conditioners in remote locations also run on fuel rather than electricity, and a large amount of fuel must be transported to such locations, adding to the cost.
Read more about NASA and the cost of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq:
In 2010, an estimated 33,000 US soldiers were sent to Afghanistan at a cost of nearly $1 million per soldier.
NASA’s budget reached its peak as a percentage of the US budget in 1966, when about 4.4% of the US federal budget went to NASA. Since 1975, with the exception of 1991-1993, the budget has never exceeded 1 percent of the US federal budget.
Ignoring transportation, medical care and protection costs, the Pentagon said it spent just $15 billion on energy for all of its military operations.
