I'm going to flex my inner geek for a moment, and celebrate the end of mission for NASA's WISE spacecraft. WISE (short for: Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer), is an orbiting telescope that captured images of the cosmos in multiple infrared wavelengths, allowing it to view objects that are obscured by various objects that absorb or block visible light. This typically means it took pictures of stuff that is REALLY far away. Today, the final shutdown command was sent to WISE, putting it into hibernation with the potential of future use.
WISE is but one of many projects that NASA has used to teach us more about the Universe which we are all a part of. While cosmological timelines are often in the millions (if not billions!) of years, the fruits of these projects provide volumes of knowledge regarding the evolution of planets, stars, galaxies and other objects; each of which have varying degrees of effect here on our little rock a few doors down from the sun.
Technology developed by NASA over the past decades has spawned quite a few innovations that some of us get to use every day. Some of NASA's funding comes through licensing these products to businesses here on planet earth, creating products that improve safety and efficiency.
Our GOP friends seem to think that NASA's contribution to the country isn't worthy of having adequate funding. Actually, they kind of just lop the head off of science stuff altogether. While I agree that most departments could stand to tighten the belts a little, a 62% cut to the National Science Foundation's budget is a little overboard, don't you think?
PS: Here's the most recent list of budget cuts I could find. I'd appreciate a more up-to-date version if such a thing exists.