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America Should Spend More on Space Exploration Essay

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Space exploration should be funded at even greater levels than at present. It has provided scientific, technological, and economic benefits for all mankind. Furthermore it will continue to provide these benefits as long as we continue to explore.
The American space program as well as the United States economy is facing many challenges at this time but we need to look at what the long term costs of not continuing a robust manned and unmanned space program will be. The solar system holds many mysteries and an untold amount of untapped resources that if not explored and utilized by the United States will be utilized by other Nations. With finite resources on Earth any nation that is able to tap into new resources will be at a tremendous …show more content…

Our loss of standing as the number one space faring nation will also greatly impact the nation on a psychological level. Americans have always been pioneers, innovators, and technological leaders; if we lose that standing it could cause a national identity crisis. Now we will break down the costs and benefits of the United States space program to help us better understand whether or not we should continue to fund it with taxpayer money.
Space Exploration: Scientific Benefits The purely scientific benefits of space exploration and research have been vast. These advancements have influenced everything from communications, earth sciences, weather prediction, astrophysics, astronomy, planetary research (Moon, Mars, etc.), archaeology, solar research, asteroids and comets, environmental sciences, and medical science. The world today would be a poorer place without the scientific advancements achieved through space exploration and research. Scientific research has not only come from NASA or other national space agencies. Commercial space operations are quickly becoming a force to reckon with in space exploration. Companies like SpaceDev founded by Jim Benson are developing and implementing private enterprises that are making space research and data more cheaply and easily available. SpaceDev started developing the Near Earth Asteroid Prospector which would have been used to get within less than 1 kilometer

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