The Benefits Of Space Exploration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is perhaps the most well known space agency in the world. Since its formation in 19581, it has pioneered in space science, yet is also renowned for its large budget. NASA has the highest budget of any space agency, $18.6 billion2 in 2015, the equivalent of every American paying $54 towards the agency3, meaning 0.14% of total GDP is spent on NASA3 . This money is spent on the ISS, sending astronauts, probes and satellites into space, astrophysics and planetary science research, maintaining and developing NASA’s space telescopes (the Wide Field Infrared Survey telescope searching for dark energy and exoplanets, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope) and developing spacecraft2. Space exploration is an incredibly expensive process with one shuttle launch costing $450 million4 however NASA’s colossal budget benefits the USA greatly; the agency employs 18,000 people5 as astronauts, engineers, scientists and teachers and G. Scott Hubbard, former director of the NASA Ames Research Center estimates that every dollar spent on NASA returns $8 to the economy6.While this figure is an estimate, it demonstrates NASA’s worth and capacity for money making. NASA works on pioneering research and as its patents and licenses return to the US treasury, it

To conclude my argument I can definitely say that space exploration is worth the cost. It generates wealth for America and can broaden the knowledge of many people across the country. As Kennedy said in his speech, “...we shall climb this wall with safety and speed and we shall explore the wonders on the other side.” With all the progress that has been made, humans can decide that space is indeed a

How would you like to explore a never-ending frontier filled with endless potential and possible benefits for humankind? When put this way, space exploration sounds like an enticing adventure. However, is it all that it’s chalked up to be? We’re here to answer that question. There’s a specific issue that we need to consider when referring to space exploration; should we continue to fund NASA? We acknowledge that some people may already have strong opinions on this, and we ask you to keep an open mind and try to avoid bias. After all, we’re discussing our future.

Although it is true that there is no concrete outcome “for using taxpayer money” to fund space programs, it does not mean in any way that the money is not being used to help our society grow (Source H). The bulk of the money funded to space exploration goes towards the incomes of thousands of skilled employees who create such successful space missions. It can be assumed that less than one percent is being used from the federal dollar on manned space programs, as space exploration falls under the “All others” category which spends six percent of every federal tax dollar (Source C). Space exploration programs have the potential to discover new technologies and expand on what we have here on Earth, but in order to succeed, there needs to be slight altercations with how each federal tax dollar is spent. National defense gets nineteen percent of each federal tax dollar – a proportion that is too extraordinary considering the United States has access to a nuclear arsenal which is far less expensive and just as effective as maintaining conventional forces (Source C). The United States is pretty much the military for half the world, so instead of collecting all the money from our tax payers here in America, we should collect from other counties that we protect as

America’s funding for NASA during the space race in 1966 was 4.41% of the federal budget yet in modern times this expenditure has fallen to only 0.5% of the federal budget. One might ask why, but the greater question is why isn’t anything being done about this dearth of funding for NASA. America should once again fund the exploration of space with a renewed ferocity because of the various educational, economical, and technological benefits of having well-funded space agencies.

Since humans started populating the Earth, exploration has always been on their minds. Before the 19th century, expansion was kept within Earth’s atmosphere, but as of the 20th-century exploration has expanded onto the whole galaxy. In 1961, Russia sent their first human outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, thus initiating the space race. The space race’s first goal was to get a human from and to the moon, alive and well nurtured. Unlike pre-19th century expansion, this exploration would not bring back any goods or materialistic value. Even though the Space Race may have helped those who lived in Russia and America, to others it was seen as a waste of money because of the lack of materialistic value; money that could be spent otherwise. Their motivation fueled

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.

It is impossible to stimulate our economy or to find new things in space without a space effort. The space exploration has only begun and it has only been happening for four decades so why stop something that only has truly begun.

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.

The world today revolves around technology and is in an ever upward spiraling path of new advancements. This path is now at what some people call the “final frontier”, or the space age. The discoveries being made on this front are overwhelming in comparison to the technology that the world had only twenty years ago. Space exploration was once left up to the governments, as they battled to be the first country in space, but with national debts raising and the cuts made in response, space exploration is beginning to become new grounds for private business owners. Private companies are already beginning to send off rockets at a fraction of the cost that government does, but if more money was put into the government space program, then they

Haven’t you ever dreamed of living in space or on another planet? If many individuals don’t take a risk to colonize space that dream might never have a possibility of becoming a reality for them. Numerous amounts of future generations won’t be galvanized by all of the past accomplishments, and won’t actively pursue their space dreams. There won’t be any new accomplishments related to space if society doesn’t make decisions that allow us to simultaneously work with new technology associated with space and new space theories. Society should be in favour of the chance of space colonization. People should be in favour of the risk of space colonization because of the possible solutions to overpopulation, new scientific breakthroughs, and more natural resources.

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

This peer-reviewed journal article talks about the positive consequences of developments in future space exploration in scientific perspective. The author states the development of future space exploration by using resources from the solar system will produce varies beneficial results, such as space tourism, asteroid resources, and so on. The main beneficiary among all the others is science. Supported by space resources, the growth of space economy can provide the cost of building scientific instruments, outposts, and infrastructures in space. Improvement in scientific technology leads to further discoveries and knowledge. Which shows the symbiotic relationship existed between science and space resources.

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