Socio-Economic Impacts

Abstract

This report characterizes socio-economic impacts to the nation from NASA investments as it pursues its vision and mission. The report is based on a study identifying objective, concrete measures reflecting NASA’s wide range of impacts. NASA’s expenditures ripple throughout the economy, supporting critical industries, creating new businesses and jobs, and attracting students to science and engineering. NASA invests in technologies and discoveries for the future, and in the process, it delivers social and economic impacts that benefit the nation today. No single metric can capture the returns from NASA’s activities, given their many dimensions. This report organizes NASA’s socio-economic impacts into six categories and highlights important outcomes in each one.