Exactly. Meanwhile, the Space Shuttle doesn't happen without the NRO getting on board. Mercury doesn't happen without the Manned Orbiting Laboratory paying for most of its development. I'm not saying NASA is deliberately misleading anybody. I'm saying NASA isn't really relevant to the question of what the USA does in space. Look - NASA's budget is $18b a year. The NRO's, best as anyone has been able to determine, is $10b... but the NRO launches zero NASA payloads while it was originally envisioned for NASA to launch 100% of NRO payloads. Yay NASA. I've known three people who worked at JPL. I was part of the team that did this: ... but to argue that NASA exists solely for scientific benefit of all mankind is "just absurd."Unfortunately, those people has very control over where the money goes