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ENG 122 Final Paper

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Space Exploration: Why Bother?
Name
English Composition II
Fawn vonFrohling
May 25, 2013

Space Exploration: Why Bother? It is unarguable that there are problems here on Earth. From terrorism to health care and the economy, America and the rest of the world have problems that need to be solved. While there are problems here on Earth, the United States should continue to fund space exploration because it contributes to national security, stimulates the economy and leads to further technological advancements. America cannot afford to stop exploring space in an effort to solve other problems. Instead the U.S. needs to take a look at how space exploration is already working to solve those other problems. According to Steven J. …show more content…

Those same satellites are the ones that would give U.S. leaders advanced warning of a weapon launched toward America and provide sufficient time to launch counter weapons from Alaska. When the so called space race began with what was then the Soviet Union, America quickly established itself as a leader and an innovator in exploring beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Taking the lead in the space race was an important step for America. James Lewis (2007) said, “space programs are an element of national power - they increase prestige and provide technological prowess that can expand a nation’s influence and leadership on the international stage” (para. 4). To put it in very simple terms, what being a leader in space means for America is that the Americans have the space toys that all the other countries want to play with. What is the advantage, in terms of national security, of having the best toys? Oddly, the advantage is not having the ability to gather better intelligence than the other guys. Michael Griffin (2007) put it this way: “The greatest strategy for national security, more effective than having better guns and bombs than everyone else, is being a nation that does the kinds of things that make others want to do them with us” (para. 14). The International Space Station (ISS) is the clearest example of Griffin’s statement. According to NASA (n.d.), America spearheaded the launch of

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