The cosmos has always been fascinating. From the Maya to the Egyptians to the Greeks, reading into what is beyond our terrestrial existence has been an ongoing process. We’ve come a long way from using the stars for calendars and religion. Our advancing technology allows us to probe, and explore. It would be a shame not to go searching, given that it is a very human thing to do.
There is no doubt that the prospects of discovering an alien organism or a second Earth are exciting. And we keep getting closer. History is flooded with major astronomical discovery. Of course, this had not been without controversy (as Galileo knew all too well). The modern controversy regarding space exploration is not of religious concern, however, but a
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According to The Borgen Project, it would take 30 billion dollars a year to put an end to world hunger. (6) The NASA budget is around 18 billion a year. (7) Surely, if space exploration was shut down and the money was reallocated, it major dent could be put into solving the world’s hunger problem.
Even Martin Luther King Jr objected: "If our nation can spend $35 billion a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam and $20 billion to put a man on the moon it can spend billions of dollars to put God’s children on their two feet right here on earth.” (14)
But is such comparison worthy of debate, or is a non sequitur?
Putting the numbers in context
In reality, is NASA’s budget really all that much? It comprises merely 0.5 per cent of the United States of America’s annual federal budget of around 3.5 trillion dollars. (7) It is almost nothing when compared to the 737 billion dollars per year spent on Defense. (6) Wouldn’t that part of the national budget be better to chip away at?
Surely, if the political will was there, the leaders of the world could band together to get rid of all the bad humans have caused and fix all the mistakes that were made in the ongoing history of humankind. The reality is that such a reality will never be realized, since it would involve a complete overhaul of the global socioeconomic system. Inequality is a consequence of capitalism, but it doesn’t seem like too much to spend a trillion or so dollars to patch things up? Yet, the main issues
President John F. Kennedy, in an address to Congress in 1961, said “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth” (“Excerpt from an Address”). He inspired people to push the limits of what was possible, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) finally completed his challenge eight years later. The financial burden of such space programs was balanced by an intense desire to learn and discover, which led to advancements across all areas of life. Today, in a time of federal financial struggles, some are calling for an end to NASA’s expensive programs. However, the United States should continue to fund them
Exobiology is the science that is concerned with the search for life in outer space; it may be called as astrobiology as well. The search for life in outer space has consumed the imagination of the humankind for long time ago. Nowadays, humankind has made a progress and found major discoveries in the quest for life existence in the universe and outer space because of the advancement of the technology. However, in the past, exobiology was considered as a science without a subject, where the people and other scientists laughed at and ridiculed the famous scientist and biologist Joshua Lederberg when he originated the term exobiology. Some people argue that life exists elsewhere in the universe, however, others believe that life only exist on Earth. A new study reveals that our galaxy, the Milky Way, has 100 billion or so stars, where 17 billion of them are Earth-size alien planets, and probably many more. The huge size of the galaxy increases the probability of life existence in the outer space. Are we alone in the universe? This question has captured the imaginations of scientist, theologians, and astrobiologists. However, they don’t know the answer yet. Understanding the complete definition of life and how life originated, and determining the techniques used for searching for life existence in outer space and evidences found can help to answer the question of “Are we alone in the universe?”
Some may say that funding NASA is a waste of money. There are many problems that people experience that need more immediate attention. Some individuals in the United States experience homelessness, hunger, health issues, and a lack of insurance. It is pretty obvious that the
Understanding the heavens has been a continual mystery to humans. Throughout human history, individuals have been curious about life other than on planet Earth. The question that remains is if humanity is alone in the universe. This question is very important because after all, the universe is still expanding. In addition to the expansion of the universe, astronomers have discovered at least six potential habitable worlds in our own solar system (CITE). It is natural to wonder if other worlds might also have intelligent life and civilizations. Many claims have been made that we have already been visited by aliens in UFOs, however, while plenty of evidence has been offered for scientific examination so far none of it has been enough to convince us that the claims of visitations are real (Bennett, 260). However, this doesn’t mean that there is no intelligent life beyond our home planet. Due to this, taxpayers should fund programs to begin the search for extra-terrestrial life in the universe. The reason why there should be programs that fund the search for extra-terrestrial life in the universe is because extra-terrestrial life can help enhance our understanding of the universe.
In the 2017 fiscal year (Oct. 2016-Sept. 2017), the budget for NASA was 19 billion US dollars [1]. However, the total budget for the United States in 2017 is 3,650 billion US dollars [2] making the NASA budget only .52% of the United States budget for the 2017 fiscal year. Even though 19 billion US dollars seem like a large amount of money, in comparison to 1966, the height of the Apollo mission, the budget for NASA was 5.9 billion United States dollars [3] which was .83% of the National budget of 708 billion dollars [4]. Also, with the 122 million citizens [5] reported to pay federal taxes in the United States, each taxpayer only contributes about $12.98 a month to NASA, so if NASA were to disappear, the average taxpayer could afford
If the United States does not invest more money in the space program the human race will cease to exist. Recently there have been a system of planets discovered that could maintain life. However, without proper funding NASA will not be able to reach them. Currently with the fastest rocket NASA has it would take over 50,000 years to get there. This timeframe could decrease drastically if the space program receives more money.
Picture a typical 5th grade class at a career day. The young boys and girls are full of jitters and excitement to learn about the future careers of their choice. Some will choose the typical banker or lawyer approach, but what about the child who dreams to be an astronaut? Is this a realistic goal? Is there even a need for space exploration in today’s world? The answer is yes. Space Exploration is still central to discovering the vast universe.
One claim that by Jerry DeGroot makes says, “Forget giant leaps for mankind, NASA is a machine for spending money… While most Americans have moved on, NASA is stuck in the 1960s. That explains the desire to go to Mars, an aspiration given the seal of presidential approval in 2004. Bush's project, priced at $400 billion, was inspired by his desire to stay ahead of the Chinese in the new space race… During a recent radio programme, a NASA astronaut asked me how the American people might react if the next man on the moon were Chinese. I replied with a question: ‘why are Americans so insecure?’ If the Chinese want that worthless rock, so be it...”. DeGroot says, “If the Chinese want that worthless rock, so be it…”, but the point isn’t to go to the “pointless” rock to say Americans did it first, the point is to prove that humanity is capable of amazing things and we can move the world forward with some
It is human nature to want to explore and fathom the unknown. The decrease in attention and focus on space exploration is an issue that needs to be addressed in this country and world. Since the cancellation of the Apollo space program there have been many discoveries about the vastness of the universe but there has not been any true plans put in motion to explore our universe let alone our solar system
In the United States, Social Security comes first, taking about 21% of the federal budget in 2006, with national defense coming second at 19%. Then, comes income security, Medicare, health, and the interest incurred by the national debt before "all others" comes. "All others" (taking 6% of the federal budget) refers to a multitude of things, including space and technology, but also including international affairs, administration of justice, natural resources and environment, agriculture, and energy, among others (Chamberlain). It is clear that when compared to major federal expenditures, money funneled to space exploration is so fractional as to not be concisely accounted for. The question regarding money, however, is not how much, necessarily, is being spent, but if it itself is necessary. The question of necessity is, itself, difficult to answer no matter the evidence provided. When the Social Security Act was first introduced as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, some thought it was unnecessary. Some argue, today, that the US overspends on its defense sector and has since it entered WWII. Space is different, though, because it is so very new to us. It is almost completely unexplored, and surely has a vast wealth of resources useful to those on Earth, but it is neutral, and no one nation can claim any of those resources. Ultimately, space is a playground for science, and it can be difficult for the average American (who is not employed in a space technology industry) to justify funding a venture that seems to be without
Although some people believe we need a space station, others believe that we shouldn’t. Instead of using all of this money for adolescents that never have but one pair of shoes every year. These children live in poverty. Some of them will not have enough food, some of them die, because they won’t have enough food, or water.
One of humanity’s defining sentiments is a belief that our species is the culmination of millions of years of universe expansion and evolution, the epitome of intelligent life. As we begin to explore our own galaxy, how would humanity react if our findings were to indicate something to the contrary? In his stories “The Sentinel” (1951) and “Crusade” (1968), Arthur C. Clarke shares his viewpoint on this issue. Clarke illustrates his belief that when extraterrestrial intelligence is discovered, it will occur outside of the so-called ‘circumstellar habitable zone,’ that this discovery will forever change humanity’s view of our place in the universe, and that extraterrestrial intelligence will
Even though many people (astronauts) have very vigorous emotion for space and spends a great deal money on space ships. Other people have different ideas. We as a United States need to barcade the money they are spending on building space stations on other planets and spend the money to children's hospital and starving people around the world.
The annual budget for NASA in 2015 was just above 18 billion, 18.01 billion to be exact. “House voted this week to give NASA the 18.5 billion it requested for FY 2016” (King). NASA's total inflation-adjusted costs have been more than $900 billion since its creation in 1958 through 2014 (more than $16 billion per year). (Flower). Therefore, NASA has used considerable amount of money about 900 billion dollars since its opening till 2014 to complete various manned and unmanned missions and space research. Imagine there was no NASA but a program or a department of government that would receive average of 16 billion of dollars to make this country a “poverty free” nation to eradicate the 45 million of American living below poverty line. What if
government funds about a trillion dollars a year to all the different departments. The government tends to go overboard and invest a lot, but NASA's productivity over the years has lacked the intangibles needed to be able to find NASA funds necessary. NASA funds range in the billions, and each space shuttle is equivalent to enough “electricity to power a U.S. city of two millions people for a year”(Yost 4). It’s the hard working people that pay to fund NASA, in return the common people get little or nothing because NASA is unable to pay back to the people. Remembering, NASA not only spends money, but “ the sweat of our laborers … genius of our scientists… hopes of our children” (Yost). There are many children that dream about going to the moon, but those hopes are crushed because few people are able avoid getting cut in the last stages, and still NASA is receiving high funds to do nothing. Abundant funds to NASA are not needed, and instead should be used to pay for the countries debt and the future of the common