The federal budget request for the exploration portion of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for 2013 is $3.9 billion. The federal budget request for the exploration portion of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) for 2013 is only $19.6 million.
There are so many places on this earth that remain unexplored and could possibly lead to cures for diseases, new species, research to help the environment, etc. It seems only fair that this kind of exploration should be funded as well as space exploration.
This petiion is to take some of the federal funding to space exploration and spend it on earth/oceanic exploration.