Persuasive Speech: Is Space Exploration Worth The Risk?

Space travel, the thing of the past or a thing of the future? Space exploration is something of both. Space exploration is a waste of money and an endangerment to people. The money used for space exploration is a waste of money and should be used for something more helpful than exploring the space.

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.

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

I chose to do research on the Space Exploration: Apollo missions. I know that by going into space we were able to discover many things; learn more about our universe and our place with in it. I discovered that the primary driving force behind the Apollo project was geopolitical rather than scientific; but Science has been and will continue to be a major beneficiary to human space flight. "Exploratory space flight puts scientific ideas, scientific thinking, and scientific vocabulary in the public eye. It elevates the general level of intellectual inquiry." The whole scientific enterprise has the greatest possible interest in encouraging this process. Because of science they were able to do analysis of the material brought back from the moon,

The biggest affect increased space exploration would have could be its change on the education landscape. In 1998, NASA scientists Adriana Ocampo, Louis Friedman, and John Logsdon explored NASA’s effect on education in their article, “Why Space Science and Exploration Benefit Everyone.” Though their writing is nearly 20 years old, Ocampo, Friedman, and Logsdon explain why handcuffing NASA creates a “brain drain” in America –

“Space exploration is a force of nature unto itself that no other force in society can rival.” (Greene) The famous astrophysicist and astronomer, Neil Degrasse Tyson, one said these powerful words. To paraphrase, Neil Degrasse Tyson meant that space exploration is unlike anything else as it compels people to explore... explore the unknown and themselves. (Greene) Ever since I was little, I have always admired outer space with all of its stars and comets and wanted to learn more about it. Due to this, I am very informed about this topic and have done more than sufficient research through various websites and articles on the Internet. Essentially, space exploration is extremely worthy of large investments due to the increase of technological

Imagine that you’ve had cancer for two years, and one day your doctor says “In the most recent space exploration, we have found a cure for your cancer.” Wouldn’t that be amazing? In order for these advancements in medicine to happen, space exploration must be a priority. The issue of space exploration is a complex one because of the risks, and there is an ongoing debate due to differing opinions on the subject, as shown in the article, “An Ethical Guide to the Galaxy” and in the JFK speech, “Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center.” Space Exploration is worth the cost because medical space research may open up a new understanding of a man’s relation to his environment, it may revolutionize the technology and techniques

The most obvious argument against manned spaceflight comes from the risks to an astronaut’s health. Astronauts on a round trip mission to Mars (180-day flight to Mars, 600-day stay, 180-day flight back) would experience about 1.01 sieverts of radiation exposure, a level which would increase their lifetime risk of developing fatal cancer by more than 3% and would consequentially violate NASA’s existing health limits (Institute). Other health concerns include impairments to vision, loss of bone and muscle mass in microgravity, and the psychological impact of extended space travel (Putic). In addition to these hazards, there may be additional risks associated with long-term space travel which are unforeseeable before the mission begins due to a lack of experience (Kramer). These

Space exploration negatively affects human society, and space in many more ways than it does positively. The 15 U.S naval expeditions from 1840-1860 approached one quarter of the annual federal budget, by far exceeding even the Apollo commitment. The U.S should not fond space exploration because of the cost, the lives risked, and dangerous organisms coming to earth.

As humans, we are born with a natural desire to learn and discover. With space exploration, we are able to do just that. In an online essay called “Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost”, Dr. Joan Vernikos,

Take the risk!!! Exploration is the reason we have so many great people. Exploration is worth the risk, because it develops new knowledge, creates change, and amazing people come from it. First of all, exploration is worth the risk because it develops new knowledge. “Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center,” it states that, “I give you three examples: first, medical space research may open up new understandings of man's relation to his environment.”

Stephen Johnson explained that on the other side of the space argument, support for space exploration comes with “Favoring private space endeavors, such as commercial launch systems, space tourism, and mining the Moon for resources” (Johnson, Stephen B). Space could possibly supply resources that we could use in everyday life, but this remains as a maybe, and cannot be confirmed. However, some believe that if a prediction such as that will be acted upon in the near future, it might as well come soon, due to the advancements that modern times have made on technology. Though that stands as an argument, it does not triumph the fact that "[Space] is a difficult, expensive, and potentially dangerous place to operate, [one which] requires a lot of technical skill and money to build, launch, and operate satellites” says Nancy Gallagher, an associate director for research at University of Maryland (Eisendrath, Craig). No amount of predictions can see into the future, therefore no one knows have safe, money-saving, or really just intelligent space exploration may prove. Furthermore, education and money only fill in so many gaps in space, and space as a whole, should remain unscathed by humans. Despite the fact that space might provide valuables for humanity, no predictions can be made about space exploration and be safely

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

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.

The mysterious vastness beyond Earth has allured many scientists to explore and contribute much of their effort to the understanding of space. Although humans have been looking up at space for thousands of years, the physical exploration of this frontier has been only going on for the past few decades. Our current understanding of space is unparalleled to any time before in our history, but we still only know a small fraction of what there is to learn. Governments around the world spend about $40 billion dollars a year (Rockefeller, 2010) hoping to undertake tasks such as “human exploration of the solar system” to discovering the origins of life itself (Tatarewicz, 2009, p. 531). Recently, the private sector has also shown interest in space exploration in order to engage in profitable activities such as harnessing minerals from asteroids. Although it is easy to debate about the benefits and negatives of space exploration in its entirety, it is simpler focus on one aspect of it - the direct effect it has to those down on Earth. Rather than trying to decide whether or not going to other planets is worth it, this paper will argue about the value of the terrestrial benefits of space exploration. It is an important topic to think about as programs such as space exploration change lives and help acquire knowledge. Despite the large costs associated with space exploration, the multitude of discoveries in the past few decades has greatly improved daily life on Earth, the jobs the