[uxbridge]

One might have been able to argue that between 1958 and 1984 there were constitutional problems with it, but since 1984 certainly not.

One might argue that? The National Aeronautics and Space Act not only had "constitutional problems (euphamisms like that make you sound like a lawyer)...it was (and still is) unconstitutional

The Act's Declaration of Policy and Purpose makes clear it has nothing to do with national defense...it carves out defense applications of space research and makes clear that those will remain with the Department of Defense. No...the Act specifically cites the "general welfare" clause as its authority...you remember that clause...the one FDR cited for several of his New Deal intiatives (that Constitution was a real impediment to FDR's socialist policies)...an argument Madison cited as an absurd misconstruction of the Constitution

Ahhh...but, by the time NASA was enacted in 1958, the federal government was long past caring about Constitutional limits on its powers

[mnehring]

You are absolutely right. There is NOTHING in the Constitution that authorizes Congress to do anything for the advancement of science.

Except that pesky Article 1, Section 8, Subsection 8 authorizing Congress to promote the advancement of Science and the Useful Arts.