Unmanned Robotic Spacecraft Exploration Is More Than A Financial Analysis Exercise

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.

We don’t know if there is a disease out in pace that could well be fatal. Being on a long trip to Mars could cause degeneration in muscles, bones, and your heart. Astronauts also need a bunch of exercise as well. Without it, he/she is likely to experience heart problems because it would be too weak to return to Earth’s gravity. Lastly, there is a LOT of radiation exposure in space. Gary Marin, director for advanced programs at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration said, “Being away from the Earth for three years would mean every cell of your body would be transversed by a galactic ray, and we just don't know what that would do to people." All these health risks add up to an astronomical danger. We need to test how our body reacts to long trips in space before we take take the big leap for

Neil Armstrong 's 1969 lunar landing was one of humanity 's greatest accomplishments. Since then, we have found that an infinite supply of knowledge and resources await us just outside our atmosphere. Today, however, critics are beginning to argue more and more that the cost of space exploration is too high, and therefore new technological developments should be left to the private sector. Whether funded privately or by the government, funding of space exploration is imperative because NASA is essentially the only agency with the technological capabilities to support aircraft manufacturing, air safety and air transportation. Space exploration has also resulted in remarkable innovations that has played a key role in aeronautics research, preventative medicine, and allows scientists to study asteroids, along with other space debris and their impacts on Earth.

Along with the technological advances and new theories of the last century, humans have developed a need to explore beyond the known of the final frontier. This resource of knowledge has led to superstitions and concerns about what could happen if people pursue this want of space exploration. Among these concerns are national finances, the world’s health, and ethical standpoints of what really could be waiting on the other side for those who dare venture into the unknown.

Three main clusters that are developed under this idea of space exploration is the benefits that are gained, ethical code and what it means with regard to the future of the human race. In this paper I will talk about what major projects are being worked on and who will benefit from these. This will also include what laws of space are and ethical code. This will also identify the differing viewpoints on space exploration and whether the big picture is worth the small steps being taken as to advancements in space technology and sciences.

Space has always been an unknown to the humanity, and therefore humanity has in insatiable desire to know as much as possible about the area beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Exploring space can lead to many new and exciting discoveries such as (see hubble, planets, kepler, moon rocks etc). When the United States first entered the realm of space in the [1960s], NASA had much funding. However, the motivation of this funding was not for science – it was political, as the government was determined to beat Russia in the Cold War Space Race. Today, as there is no political motivator as great as the Cold War, NASA is faced with a lack of funding and must make hard decisions. They must decide between the adventure and excitement of sending manned missions

It is the year of 2050; earth’s resources are dwindling. As the population increases, society is panicking as to how they are supposed to survive on earth, being that their pure existence has consumed almost all of the necessities to live on the planet. Now the question is, what do they do now? We have been in search of a habitable planet to live on. Robotic missions will be key to researching, gathering data, and figuring out if life on another planet is a plausible option. Radiation exposure and the weather in space are big concerns as to if the human race will be able to even establish planet that is safe to inhabit. Will the human race survive?

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

For my original, scientifically-correct science fiction article that I will be writing later on this quarter, I plan to describe the dangers that astronauts face when traveling to outer space. Not only are there numerous unknowns that may arise as challenges, but there are very real health risks that must be addressed. Among those risks are the effects of long term space travel, and the lack of adaptation by the human body, as well as the high amounts of radiation that are present outside of the protection that the Earth provides. To better understand the radiation exposure that astronauts must deal with in space, I will define the risks of exposure to

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

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

The articles, “Why We Shouldn’t Go To Mars,” by Gregg Easterbrook, “Remarks at the Dedication of the Aerospace Medical Health Center,” by JFK, and the NASA Political Cartoon, analyzes the pros and cons of conducting research in space. Although, many believe

As humans, we always push to explore for new discoveries, it is in our blood to explore and push scientific boundaries. Space exploration has allowed us to expand our technology, foster a curiosity in humans, discover new worlds, and most importantly push even further to discover life in a new planet. With the advancement of new technology and innovators, there has been a significant discussion whether sending humans with the support of robots is the most efficient method. However, there are great arguments made that sending exclusively robots on space exploration is the best strategy. There is

In the letter to the magazine editor, the author makes the assumption that what makes manned space flight more costly and dangerous than unmanned space flight is the presence of a human operator. The author fails to cite any research or evidence that this is the case. While it may be the case that the introduction of the human factor to space flight increases danger and cost, it may instead be a lacking on the part of the equipment, caused by a kind of comfort in knowing that there will be someone to manipulate the equipment should there be any sort of failing.

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