Manned versus Unmanned Flights Essay

For many years humans have been exploring space to discover the unknown and fuel their curious and adventurous nature, but the decision of whether space exploration is worth the cost is strongly debated. Due to various arguments and evidence space exploration is strongly supported is proven to be worth the cost. Some of these reasons include space exploration being able to expand our knowledge and it being able to generate wealth. With these reasons the argument of whether space exploration is worth the risk can be easily decided.

Our bodies are not built for space. The exposure to radiation can cause cataracts, brain damage, and cancer. Weightlessness can cause muscle mass loss, bone mass loss, and bad circulation. Author of "Humans may dream of traveling to Mars, but our bodies aren't built for it," Charles Wohlforth and Amanda Hendrix explains "Doctor-astronauts working on the International Space Station in 2009 also discovered that living in weightlessness can damage the optic nerve. In the absence of gravity, cerebral-spinal fluid stops circulating. On voyages of more than a year, that could lead to blindness or contribute to dementia," [3]. This is a big problem when it comes to space travel, and should be NASA's biggest priority.

Although space exploration is now being emphasized on and invested in, what does this do to benefit earth or even every individual who lives on Earth? Many writers, engineers, mathematicians, and chemists can agree that space exploration is going to provide more research for medicine and environmental factors. Others may also argue that the risks of exploring another planet will be too damaging because the life or atmosphere as it is will not be the same after humans have made their print on it.

Is is worth risking lives to explore the unknown during high risk missions? From 1967 to 2003, NASA had 3 disasters, resulting in the death of 17 people (one being a citizen). When confronted with the restraints that space programs have when studying certain topics in space, safety should be a number one priority. It is ethically wrong to send astronauts into space, without informing them of the risks of their mission. NASA should also weigh the risks of the mission with the anticipated outcome to decide if it ethically acceptable to go through the mission at all.

Some people think that space exploration has no values, but according to John Kennedy “ So research in space medicine holds the promise of substantial benefit for those of us who are earthbound.” This evidence shows that people may think that space exploration doesn’t have values but it could tremendously help us with medical research. JFK made another valid point stating that “ Whatever the difficulties, they will be overcome.” This information shows that it may become difficult at times and that may make people want to quit but that should make them strive to get better and get the job

In his “Remarks At the Areospace Medical Center” speech, J.F.K states, “Medical space research may open up a new understandings of man’s relationship to his environment”. Space exploration could and will give the U.S many (medical) discoveries and advances. Space exploration gives the U.S access to many resources (like minerals) and alternate habitats, if needed. Dr. Vernikos states “Our ability to explore and sustain human presence there will not only expand earth’s access to mineral resources, but should the need arise, provide alternate habitats for humanity’s survival “ (“Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost” Lines 25-28). Space exploration could allow the U.S to discover new history-changing things as well as give us access to resources (such as minerals) and alternate habitats, this will give the U.S everlasting benefits, that others countries maybe even the entire world does not

While this is a deeply rooted concern for NASA, the organization plans to make progress in making human space travel safe and productive. In 2016, Former President Barack Obama wrote an article on CNN’s wire service with gargantuan hopes for the future generations of space travel to develop in the future. In the article entitled, “ America Will Take the Giant Leap to Mars”, Obama proposes that the United States will be capable of sending astronauts to Mars by the year 2030. To support his statement, he comments, “I’m excited to announce that we are working with our commercial partners to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts on long-duration missions in deep space”(Obama 1). Here, Obama is acknowledging the fact that astronauts have been, and are, affected by radiation and loss of gravity when exposed to “deep space” for long periods of time. He is also revealing that through years of research and development, the government is prepared to safely send America’s astronauts to other planets for the purpose of exploration and advances in many technological fields. Yes, astronauts’ health

But American presence in space is not just a power play; the scientific and technological benefits of space exploration remain its most invaluable quality. In the past, space initiatives have yielded countless meteorological benefits, including the prediction and management of hurricanes and other natural disasters. Surveillance, mass banking and communication, military intelligence, and environmental studies are all areas expanded through American space presence (Dubner n.p.). Not to mention the medical advances: Joan Vernikos, a member of the Space Studies Board of the National Academy and former director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division, notes, “Studying humans living in the microgravity of space has expanded our understanding of osteoporosis and balance disorders, and has led to new treatments” (Dubner 13). Space travel has also aided in the invention of medical technology. The beneficiaries of instrumentation such as digital mammography, outpatient breast biopsy procedures, and the application of telemedicine to emergency care can thank manned space missions for their current implementation. For every dollar we spend on the space program, the U.S. economy receives about $8 of economic benefit, according to Hubbard, who also believes space travel “serves as a stimulus for children to enter the fields of science and engineering” (Dubner).

This shows the real problems that we face and not enough money is being funded into these problems. In conclusion, it's clear to see that money used for space exploration is something that should be something that would benefit our entire society. You might not think it but space exploration can be very dangerous. First, "Source 3: The Dangers of Space Travel" states that "It has been revealed that the level of radiation that astronauts will be exposed to could raise their chances of cancer" (17). This demonstrates how dangerous space can be already on earth you have chances of cancer, but increasing that chance by a landslide just for the exploration of space.

Have you ever thought how great it would be to go to space, well if so, you should think again. If we do get the technology to go to space, it could lead to brain dangerous for the astronauts who go to space, that due to the radiation particles in the space atmosphere. We should not spend valuable resources on space exploration.

It has become such an iconic idea, that most if not all children in the last 60 years have thought that they would be alive to see the expedition, if not be part of it themselves. Of course, space travel is not a simple there and back scenario. As seen in the American Apollo program, there are many places throughout a mission where things can and most defiantly will go wrong with technology. In addition, there are inevitably even more challenging obstacles for a mission to face once they get into space. These challenges include loss of muscle, bone, and suppression of the human immune systems and over time we have found that these bodily effects seem to become progressively worse the longer an astronaut travels through space. Before we even begin discussing when we should attempt land manned space missions on other planets, we need a better understanding of the effect of long term space travel and occur in the first place and find ways to combat them so that prolonged space travel is not destructive to the human

There are still new discoveries being made all the time, especially with the length of time that astronauts are spending in space increasing. A revolutionary study, conducted by NASA will send one identical twin into space for a full year, while the other remains on Earth. Measurements will be taken of both twins before, during, and after the year, which will hopefully provide even more insight into exactly how prolonged stays in space affect the body. One specific experiment that will be done will involve giving each twin identical flu vaccines. This will allow researchers to study and compare their immune reactions [2]. Human space travel is important for the advancement of humankind and the furthering of our knowledge about space. Understanding how microgravity affects the body and finding solutions to keep people healthy in space are areas that have much work to be done, but are improving due to the dedication and hard work of researchers and astronauts

In his Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center speech, John F. Kennedy made two cases clear: space medicine and technology will make life on earth healthy and happy, and that the U.S. should be a leader in space. These statements that he addresses are valid, as JFK himself provides his audience with orthodox evidence. Because of this sound data, his claims are genuine and believable.

How long would a “long term” space flight be? According to our records, the longest that human has been off Earth is almost 438 days, and it is the mission operated by Russian space station Mir. (Beings not Made for Space, Kenneth Chang, 2014) Long-term space flight requests that astronauts have to be exposed to the real space environment, which includes microgravity, the significant increase in radiation, variation in temperature and space view. Due to these changes of space environment from that of the Earth, astronauts will face the changes on their body and health, some of the changes would be negative. For example, astronauts will see the significant changes in their body; their whole bodies will expand, the mass of their bones and muscles would lose, and some of them might have farsighted eyes. To build a better space environment, scientists have been working hard to find out what is causing the health issues and ways to solve them. They have done well-known researches such as “Twins Study” between Mark and Kelly Scott. The latest technology that involved is called artificial gravity; it is considered desirable for long-term space flight as well as human habitat in space.

Abstract— The development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) technology has increased at an incredible rate in recent years. The market currently includes many different varieties and classes of UAVs, but none currently offer long range beyond line of sight flight over cellular networks. The only existing networks currently utilized for long-range flight are i-Fi networks. However, flying over Wi-Fi has range limitations that restrict the full use of the UAVs. Therefore, the goal of this project is to design a UAV control system using existing cellular networks as the primary mode for communication. In order to accomplish this objective, an Android OS based application that is capable of sending and receiving signals between two Android smartphones will be designed. One of the phones will be on the UAV itself and the other in the hand of the pilot. Through these devices, the user will be able to control the UAV while also receiving critical information from the drone— such as Global Positioning System (GPS) location, live video feed, system statuses, and flight diagnostics from the UAV. A hardware interfacing circuit will be designed to interpret the control signals from the phone and pass them to the UAV for flight control. Additionally, a crash avoidance algorithm incorporating the position of other flying UAVs will be integrated into the system. This will provide a platform to reduce the number of user based crashes as well as reducing the risk of damaging a UAV.