6-year-old boy starts petition to save NASA

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A 6-year-old Denver boy who has big dreams of growing up to be a NASA astronaut has started an online petition in the hopes of saving the space agency from losing funding.

Connor Johnson recently learned that Congress was threatening to strip NASA of funding, putting Johnson’s hopes of being an astronaut in serious jeopardy. The youngster was so concerned about the situation that he started an online campaign to save the space program.

It wasn’t his first choice.

"My whole idea was writing off to the President and then I decided to give my whole piggy bank to NASA. I have about $10.41," Johnson said.

After that idea went by the wayside, his family helped him start a petition.

"To get a response from the White House, I need 100,000 signatures," Johnson said. As of Monday afternoon, he had nearly 5,000.

Here’s Johnson’s petition:

“Increase NASA funding. So we can discover new worlds, protect us from danger and to make dreams come true. Increase the funding for NASA so that children can dream of exploring the universe. Science funding is the future of our country.”

In response to the same funding threat, Bill Nye, known to most as The Science Guy, wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama and read it aloud in a video that has since gone viral. In his capacity as CEO of The Planetary Society, Nye urged the president to preserve funding for planetary exploration.

[KUSA] [Petitions.whitehouse.gov]