The argument presented, while interesting, makes several errors in reasoning that undermine its effectiveness. For this argument to be considered valid, it must state all of its premises more clearly. Further, it recommends a course of action based upon a chain of cause and effect, which is not internally supported. Last, it contains self-contradictory reasoning, which needs to be untangled before the argument will be truly convincing.
The most striking feature of this argument is its sweeping assumptions. The author of the argument attempts to argue that funding for space colonization must be increased, because of the possibility of a cataclysmic event wiping out all life on Earth. However, the author does not indicate why the continued survival of life in the general sense—or, more to the point, a relatively small group of individuals—would be important to the general masses presently on Earth, if life on this planet were to be wiped out. The author assumes that the need
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Supposing it is granted that Earth-bound life, particularly human life, needs to be spread to other planets; it does not follow that it is within our power to colonize other worlds, nor that increased funding for space exploration and colonization would let us achieve that goal. It is possible that current funding is sufficient; it is also possible that no amount of money would be enough to achieve an impossible goal. The funding could well be money wasted chasing a worthwhile cause, and without the author mentioning specific uses for the money, we cannot say otherwise. If the premise is that we need to preserve some form of terrestrial life in general, then it does not follow that humanity needs to establish a foothold on other worlds. It could easily be concluded that we should ensure some hardy form of terrestrial life, such as bacteria, be sent
Going back to the moon has been a question in the scientific community ever since man landed on the moon in 1969 and not returning since the 1970s. Scientists have debated whether not going back to the moon is a something we need to do. “Yes America has been there. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth going back... NASA’s plan for the moon include just short, Apollo-style stopovers but eventually a moon base." (Doeden 10) Going back to the moon is something that people should be very passionate about. It was a great achievement to travel to somewhere seen as unreachable even today. But some people think that we are passed going to the moon and we should look farther into space. Many science enthusiasts want to see people going to Mars or an even
The topic of going to mars is highly discussed among scholars and ordinary people due to the reason that it is believed that Mars can support human life. Due to the fact, that global warming is on the rise has caused many scientists to believe that eventually the earth’s ecosystem will plummet, making life on earth for humans impossible. Many scientists argue that extra research on mars is needed due to the fact that the human race would eventually be forced to migrate outside of earth, if there is to be a continuation of the human race. However, the funding for such research is immense as it is, and it is projected that this “budget will increase by 20% by the government within the next few years.” This astounding increase in budget, has led to many uncertainties as to why the government funds such an expensive research for humans to leave earth when that money could be spent on the problems relating to global warming. Here on earth it is a fact that global warming is a serious issue regarding the future of the planet. Therefore, the government funds should be allocated to research ways to emit less carbon dioxide or to try and find cleaner and safer ways to create energy for the growing human population. Another reason to stop funding the research and exploration of mars is that most space exploration is caused by human curiosity. Human curiosity has led multi-million dollar institutions like NASA to explore the deep wonders of the world and discover new technologies which changed the world. Despite, the curiosity and the technologies that exploring the universe has brought, this interest is extremely expensive and time consuming. At times the curiosity led space exploration projects were made to look like a patriotic act due to political reasons. As a result, these projects were believed to be well-worth spent since it brought great
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
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.
Have you ever wondered about the possibilities of finding a planet like Earth which can sustain life? Through the continuation of space exploration, we can continue to look for earth-like planets and learn much more about the mysteries of the universe. Space programs and exploration have helped mankind to develop useful knowledge in different fields such as digital technology and medicine. According to Mindy Townsend, a writer for the social networking website Care2, we have to give credit to NASA for the development of the cell phone camera, which was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), one of NASA’s research centers. (par. 2). Likewise, Townsend also gives credit to NASA for the technology used in the development of CAT scanners, microscopy, and radiography (par. 6). However, many people still argue that space exploration is a waste of money because they claim that money can be spent on other priorities such as education and health care. Even though space exploration is expensive, the United States government should continue funding space exploration to promote innovation in technology, find extraterrestrial natural resources in the near future, and protect planet earth from outer space threats like space debris and excessive solar radiation.
In even the most primitive civilizations, the extra-terrestrial has had immeasurable influence on society. Mankind has always had an urge to explore the great unknown, and answer the most fundamental questions of our existence. Space exploration deserves not only to be a top priority in our nation, but much more funding than it already has, because it is rooted with history that has taught us many things and will continue to do so, it will help us advance technology beyond the scope of commercial innovation, and it can answer the greatest questions that every civilization has tried to answer.
Ideas such as colonizing another planet is not unheard of and if humans do not consider the possible impacts in a new environment, this can be detrimental. The article “A NASA-Funded engineer's plan to colonize Mars” from CNN was written by Kate Springer in 2017. One statement that made was, “I believe building in space is going to become commonplace in less than 50 years. There's an abundance of energy and materials (in space) -- all we have to do is design self-replicating factories and build a lot of objects. In a short time, our capability to manufacture in space will be many
The Space Race was a time of great exploration, and created many new techniques in the studies of science and technology. Many new techniques of engineering and technological advances resulted as positives of the Space Race. The cause of this great exploration and learning was fueled by rivalry and competitiveness of two governments, the Soviet Union and The United States. The Soviet Union and the United States were in a race to see which could reach space supremacy first. This rivalry unfolded in front of millions of spectators, and instilled a sense of competiveness into the viewers. During the mid nineteen-sixties, the achievements of the United States space program caused them to leap ahead of the Soviet Union space program, which was very unexpected. The achievements by the United States during the Space Race in the nineteen-sixties created a gap in space exploration between the Soviet Union space program and the United States space program because the United States was able extremely motivated by government forces and was able to achieve great technological advances in their space crafts.
The essay fails to address several aspects of the assignment and demonstrates a lack of clear understanding of the concepts and facts. It contains serious flaws.
On the contrary, opponents of NASA may speculate that overpopulation or ruining our planet will not occur, therefore the time, effort, and money spent on exploring Earth-like planets is useless. In actuality, overpopulation and the diminishing of Earth’s resources and health are working hand in
“Give up Guns for Spaceships.” Reader, do not misunderstand me, I’m not saying to suppress constitutional rights, for we should protect ourselves. However, there is a need to shift our human and economic security to Biosphere Sciences and Green Economies, so society can provide clean air and water, healthy food, housing, education and ample health care to its citizens. We must provide for our communities, in return local jobs are created and a civil society is advanced that will be ready to explore the cosmos and ensure humanity’s
First and foremost, I think civilians should be able to go to space because it could help NASA find out more about planets. The article stated that “That may lead to more support of NASA and its space research…” NASA could also find out if there is life on the other planets. There could be animals on Mars! This could lead to us living on other the planets! If animals can live there we can live there too. Right? Another possibility is that
I have gathered you all here to persuade you that space exploration is indeed worth the risk despite what a few people think. Those people think that exploration is a complete waste of time and money, but I would have to completely disagree with them because it has many benefits for the human race. Exploration is worth the risk, because it will give us information and resources that we didn’t have access to before we explored that place.
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