Opinion Essay
Option #2: NASA spends money on both manned space flight (like the Space Shuttle) and unmanned robotic probes. Now that the Shuttle fleet has been retired, should NASA develop new rockets to send people back to the moon? Should we send people to Mars? Should NASA focus on unmanned missions instead? Is money spent on space exploration beneficial to society? State your opinion about the proposals currently being considered to send astronauts to the moon or to Mars. In 2011 NASA’s budget was recorded at about eighteen billion dollars, .5% of the $3.4 trillion federal budget of the United States. This statistic can raise a few questions: Is it worth it? Why is the US spending so much money for space exploration when there are so many problems back at Earth that need to be solved? After further research I can safely conclude that space exploration, and manned missions to the moon have been very important in order to make scientific discoveries for the
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Robotic probes have a big advantage for getting to a certain destination. Since space exploration began, there have been hundred of probes deployed into outer space, for the purpose of making new discoveries about our galaxy but mostly about our solar system. These fleet of probes along with human effort have made so many discoveries. NASA has also made many inventions and improvements that we can take for granted every day. Memory foam, portable vacuums, water filters, freeze drying, insulin pumps, infrared ear thermometers, better software, solar energy, smoke detectors, artificial limbs, and even ct scans were would not have been invented or improved without NASA and its discoveries. Many people think that space exploration is a waste of time and that we should not be spending our money on all of this when there are people starving back on earth but much of these discoveries and inventions have proved beneficial to
history. It managed to send the first human into orbit and to the moon. The discoveries, NASA have made in the recent decades have enabled us to have more knowledge of planets and stars, and resources way beyond this planet. In another hand, reasons as to why the U.S. Government should continue to fund NASA 's space program is a huge deal today. With the ideals that American tax dollars should be spent on more important things and that companies are now able to construct their own rockets that are able to send people on excursions into space, really is what challenges government support and true betterment of
Bill Nye, the “Science Guy,” asserts, “NASA is an engine of innovation and inspiration as well as the world's premier space exploration agency, and we are well served by politicians working to keep it that way, instead of turning it into a mere jobs program, or worse, cutting its budget.” The United States of America’s government is currently in an economic debt encompassing billions of US dollars. Unfortunately, the government has attempted to balance finances by cutting the funding for most programs, including NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA, in over half a century, has brought the most economic, technological, and social benefits than any other program held here in the USA, as well as any other extraterrestrial program in the world. The last thing this nation needs is the cutting of NASA finances. NASA should be receiving more funding because the Earth will not last forever and humans will need a place to live, there’s a curiosity within humans about the vast universe they live in, there is evidence to suggest life on other planets, the USA’s superpower status will be improved, and the economical income NASA brings is more efficient than any other governmental or educational program.
The word race is defined at its core as a competition between runners, horses, vehicles, boats, etc. to see which is the fastest in covering a set course. Well, interestingly enough, a race of a different kind occurred between two countries from the years 1957 to 1969. The competition was unclear, and the opponents were on two entirely different continents, not something as simplistic as two horses. The United States and the United Soviet States of Russia both set out as arch rivals in the “Space Race,” a quest for dominance beyond the known Planet Earth. Ironically enough, just as communism was spreading to all parts of the world, the United States always sought to squash this form of government, despite somewhat dire consequences. Now, with
These are the reasons why I believe there should be more investment in space research and technology. It would be a time consuming and financially draining quest, but the pay off in new technology, applications, resources, and expansion opportunities make it a goal to strive for. As our rate of consumption of Earth’s natural resources continues to increase, it is imperative that we invest in the research of outer space as a possible solution to sustaining the human race.
Colonizing Mars, it seems like a distant achievement. Some say impossible, some say it will happen soon. Since Elon Musk has entered this field of exploration colonization of Mars has seemed even more plausible. Still, problems have surfaced to make this much more difficult than it has to be. This makes some believe this to be impossible or unlikely for the time. Despite what side you are on we can both agree that we want to advance in space exploration.
Space exploration should be funded at even greater levels than at present. It has provided scientific, technological, and economic benefits for all mankind. Furthermore it will continue to provide these benefits as long as we continue to explore.
More cost effective modes of space transportation are completely necessary to make further exploration possible. One new, cost effective design is the aerospaceplane. These spacecrafts are totally reusable and can take off and land like a normal plane (Booth 80). Anything reusable cuts costs. Many commercial spaceflight companies are interested in this design because so much money can be saved. There are also military uses for aerospaceplanes, just a few of these extremely fast and efficient vehicles could replace fleets of regular bombers (80). Another cost effective option for space travel is the solar sail. Solar sails work because solar photons have pressure that pushes the sail away from the sun (100). A spacecraft with a solar sail could reach Mars in the same amount of time it would take a rocket, so it is a cheap, renewable method of travel (100). This is exactly what we need to make it to Mars. It is cost-effective and works as well as any other propulsion system. There is still much farther to go in space. So much more to discover. At the speed of a current spacecraf it would take 80,000 years to reach the nearest star to Earth (108). How are we supposed to learn about other places when it would take about 2,000 generations of scientists before we could finally reach a star? Faster space travel is needed to make any new deep-space discoveries. There really are cost-effective options for space travel. Once we have
According to Space.com the Federal Government approved a budget of $16.6 billion for NASA in 2014. Approximately 1/3 of that will be spent on space exploration.
NASA’s research and innovation looked promising, but it came at a cost. Money, resources, and spacecraft accidents, most famously Apollo 13 all hindered NASA’s research. In the 21st century, the debate over funding for NASA is at its peak since the birth of the organization in 1958, especially when there are numerous problems throughout the world. Is the money spent on space exploration worth the advantages and advances it contributes to society? When considering this topic, one might ask themselves, why explore space?
Curiosity has driven human exploration for thousands of years. With huge advancements in technology and science over the last 75 years meant that humans have been able to feed their curiosity of the unknown with space exploration. Space exploration has created jobs, provided education, helped with commercial advancements (memory foam, smoke detection and even the household cordless drill) as well as providing information that we now take for granted. With the action of space exploration with it came an opposite reaction, this reaction was of negativity towards NASA and money spent on space programs. A lot of this negativity was a result of the public reacting to the amount spent on space exploration with funding last year alone over 17.5 billion
I analyzed information about this so it could be a helpful tool to explain if it’s worth the cost. I found out that it’s worth the cost, but some are against it. People that gone into space discovered new things that we haven’t learned. Next, our world has a lot of great technology because of space exploration. For examples, the shiny bags that hikers and campers place in first aid kits come from space exploration.
The 1960's brought new advancements for all of Earth. Machines and men were sent into space, and this sparked a new government agency, called NASA. Space was a new frontier, and virtually everyone was interested in exploring it. Over the years, the interest in space exploration has weakened, and NASA was almost terminated from existence, although there have been many advancements in it over that time. Space exploration should continue because it could help solve many problems on Earth, such as overpopulation and lack of resources. Exploration of the final frontier must continue in order for human life to continue.
Most people think that the costly downside to funding space exploration is a reason to avoid spending money on sciences and instead spend it on problems here on earth, but such funding for space exploration actually promotes economical as well as scientific benefits. Space exploration is an important expenditure for the high cost because of the potential for numerous benefits such as the possibility to find useful resources to cultivate, space exploration and satellites produce many thousands of jobs in our economy, and it creates and discovers newer and better technologies through research and development.
By being in a very technologically advanced era, scientists can invent revolutionary devices never thought of. NASA is doing that right now and has been doing that since it began. They are not only climbing the stairs in space exploration but in the medical industry, too. Nevertheless, they are forever changing millions of lives by using all they have discovered. Most of all, they are teaching people a life lesson, to always use the things you have for the greater good. NASA has achieved profound success ever since their start in 1958 and they will continue to make discovery and innovation their first and foremost goal for years to come.
Space exploration is very beneficial to humankind because it creates new technologies, it brings different countries together, and gives people a better understanding of our Earth.