Space Exploration
One could believe that by renowned astrophysicist Carl Sagan, who claimed that “if we ruin the earth, there is no place else to go,” mankind must either obtain a conscious rationale for human behavior towards the earth--which seen throughout history, has never been the case--or focus on the topic of space exploration; that is, of course, if humans desire to lengthen mankind’s lifetime. The exploration of space is home to, really, two distinct viewpoints: exploration of the briefly known is vital to humanity’s survival, or space exploration is more or less a waste of time and a burden to taxpayers and/or the governments involved. Thus space exploration can be seen controversial topic--because there more is more than one side to take on the matter. One reason as to why space exploration is necessary to be funded by the federal government is because humanity is doomed without such support. In the article ‘Why We Must Leave Earth,’ intellectual Richard Gott supplies viewpoints from acclaimed scientists, astronauts, CEOs, about the need for humanity in places other than Earth. One specific instance in which he takes the side alluded to in the title is as follows: “We might have conquered the planet but it is just a tiny island in the universe, and species confined to a single island are often found on the endangered list.” This quotation directly supports the claim of humanity’s status if it is discontinued of federal and/or private funding. A specific piece of it provides humanity’s place in space: on a single island in the ever-expanding, vast cosmos. This shines light on the intellectuals who are aware of what has happened to previous species confined to the same limits of mankind today. It also inadvertently supports the claim that humans can and must expand outward. This next piece of evidence is featured as Gott explains how crucial human exploration of space is to the survival of humanity. Conversely, after providing this piece of evidence, Richard Gott goes into detail about now-extinct Earth species. It is as follows: “The fact is that we are vulnerable to the same types of catastrophic events that have wiped out other species on Earth.” This statement is very similar to the previous
We are discussing space exploration, and looking at it through the lens of social science and the lens of the humanities.
Stars, mankind has been staring up at them for thousands of years. Over those many years dreams and mythology have been created to explain those lights in the heavens. Mankind grew sick of just staring, and decided to find ways to discover more about it. Eventually over hundreds of years mankind has, been able to send men to the moon, launch satellites into space, and even send rovers to Mars. These feats of science would have been unimaginable hundreds of years ago, and to others that heard of it was only science fiction. With all these accomplishments, it seems humanity has a bright future of further discovery, but a recent development has surfaced regarding Space Exploration. That debate regards the future of space Exploration, and whether or not It should be continued through NASA or private companies. Various opinions have come from all over the scientific and astronomy concerned world. Others side that NASA should continue its lead into the future, because of its contributions to discovery and the scientific world. Others blame that NASA’s lack of progress in previous projects has lead to a disbelief of Nasa, and a turn to Private industries due to their smaller budgets and recent success. Even some see a balanced future of NASA working with private companies, and even healthy competition that will allow a faster progress into the future. Mankind has always had the desire to reach the unreachable, and it cannot go forward
Many critics believe that NASA and space exploration should not be the main focus of the government. However, NASA is not just about flying rockets and putting men into space. There is science and engineering that is being developed to push humanity forward in life. This space program is essential to answering philosophical questions, creating new technology for practical everyday use, the international collaboration with other countries, and the long-term survival of the human
Planet Earth is not going to last forever. Sooner or later the human race will have to look for somewhere else to call home. Whether it is from overpopulation, global warming, or even the sun exploding, one day humans will need a new home. Of course, this probably will not be the case for a large amount of time; nevertheless, scientists have already started to examine various options for possible space colonization. Sending a colony into space is no small task, so there are loads of problems and obstacles that humanity will need to hurdle to do this successfully. In order for humanity to permanently create settlements outside of Earth’s atmosphere, there needs to be advancements in many different
Have you ever wanted to soar? Fly? Glide through the skies of the earth or even the great unknown called the universe? Well thanks to todays’ technology and the company founded on July 29 1958, NASA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), we can now undertake that dream; you can finally take to the air.
The Space Race was a 20th century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States of America and the Soviet Union. This competition was held between 1955 until 1972 and enabled these two rivals to advance their ability of spaceflight and their exploration out of the Earth’s reach. The competition covered several ways in taking human life out of Earth’s orbit and to successfully bring them back home in the process. The Space Race brought about several controversial topics relating to how the USSR copied the methods conducted by the United States, how the United States retaliated against the USSR and the man landing was purposely staged or not. These factors contribute to a large extent on how the space race was won. The Space Race
While many people support funding NASA and agree with the organization’s goals, there a good number of people who do not. A common reason for this is that they believe that the space program should focus on discovering things that can benefit us immediately, not in the future. This is a valid argument because there
Exploration is a key aspect to ensuring the constant and consistent development of the human race, but is it really necessary to branch out into the cosmos rather than focusing on the Earth itself. Expanding is essentially the ability to understand the unknowing and to grasp unworldly ideas, but without the means to reach those goals: justification, funding, and manpower, what is the point of committing funds to an unforeseen mission such as Space Exploration. Space Exploration is an issue that Humanity faces because it targets the what ifs about the future rather than focusing on the dangers of the present. Drought, famine, poverty, and war, will all continue to plague the world, and will remain tackling issues on present day Earth, and by using immense funding and manpower on what is not certain, is detrimental to humanities growth. Although, yes, NASA has created breakthroughs with innovations in relation to technological advancements, it is not certain that exploring space will ensure new innovations, because space itself is still theoretical and far too vast for ideal comprehension. Proper funding is mandatory for growth and expansion, but not important for the funding of Space exploration, rather it is more important to focus on pressing matters ranging from genocides: The Rwandan Genocide, to extreme poverty and famine: humans on Earth who do not have enough to live. If funding is granted to Space exploration by the public, it will remove essential funding to those
The concept of space exploration was first introduced to the American public in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy famously stood before congress and vowed that America would put a man on the moon “within the decade.” With hopes of defeating the Soviet Union in the “Space Race” and gaining a leg-up in the Cold War, NASA funding reached its all-time high in 1965-1966 when about four percent of the federal budget was devoted to exploring space. Since then however, funding dedicated to exploring space has nose-dived to about one-half of a percent of the federal budget (Tyson), with plans to cut that figure by an additional $260 million in 2017 (cite NASA funding cuts). Experts in the space-sciences field argue that increased funding in space exploration would re-ignite the American economy and return America to the scientific prominence it was once known for, while, on the other end of the spectrum, naysayers suggest that exploring space is an economic sink-hole that the United States can no longer afford to deposit to given its own earth-bound troubles.
Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to
It’s believed that NASA contributes in many ways, such as our economy, scientific morale, our vision as progressive Americans, and overall progression of knowledge. Most of these ideas have to do with the greater good of now, and our future. Michael McBrien cautions us against removing funds, and in fact suggests increasing funds because our world benefits in ways beyond what’s obvious. Examples of things that would be affected by the defunding of NASA are well paying jobs and defending against NEO’s (Near Earth Objects). The problem in the article is when McBrien shows his obvious bias for government programs when he says, “The cost of NASA, as is true of almost any government agency, is worth it.” McBrien has now showed the readers that, beyond the intention to persuade people about NASA funding, he is pro-government-spending in other areas as well. This resonates because it leaves many readers who more conservative, but believe in the idea of funding NASA, isolated and weary to buy into the
The amount of accomplishments America has achieved in the area of space research is staggering. We have sent man to the moon, landed rovers, and discovered uncountable celestial bodies just by telescope! There are many benefits of space exploration, making it absolutely worth the cost. Some of these benefits are creating new beneficial jobs, and expanding our knowledge. While some argue there are drawbacks to space exploration, I think that the benefits outweigh these drawbacks. In addition, we desire to explore the unknown. As Georgia Douglass Johnson said the the poem “Your World”, in stanza 1 “Your world is as big as you make it”. This means that we can do whatever we want, as long as we’re determined.
Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the unknown. From sailing to distant lands to someday setting foot on other planets, the spirit of exploration is the same. Bur now with the current economic situation and the high cost of sending people to space, NASA is being looked at as a way to free up some much needed funds. Although, there is many problems here on planet Earth that need addressing, the benefits of space exploration far out weight the disadvantages. Space exploration has given us more advanced technology, advances in the medical field, and a boost to the economy and these facts cannot be disputed.
In the early 60s, President John F. Kennedy led America into a space race against the Soviet Union. American men and women across the nation backed this goal, allowing NASA to take great leaps in advancing its space exploration programs. This unified nation fulfilled its goal, and Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. However, since then, America’s space exploration has only declined. Funding for NASA has been drastically cut, thus greatly limiting the opportunities for exploring the cosmos. Understanding and exploring the universe is detrimental to the advancement of the United States and opens the door for vast possibilities. If the government chooses to limits its own advancement, then that responsibility must fall
Humans have always been interested in space and the wonder in which it may hold. In the past, humans worshiped the stars as if they were gods while also studying their position to give them guidance for their lives. Their interested in space has fathered the desire to know more. Today, space has been seen by many as the new frontier or the home beyond earth. Society have even taken a step forward through the creation of stories in books and movies based of the idea of humans living in space and the present of alliances. Yet there is still controversy on the need to continue space exploration when our own planet has so many detrimental problems. There is an ongoing debate on whether not the money used for space travel could be better beneficially use for other causes. It is true that space exploration costs billions of dollars a year alone according to NASA current budget, which is constantly increasing. However, what many refuses to understand is that without space exploration many of the innovations that we have today would not have existed. While there have been, many failed attempts involving space exploration that has caused a tremendous amount of money to go down the drain. However, many people fail to realize the benefits of space exploration and the possible future it may