Dreams of exploring regions of the cosmos have been a vision for hundreds of years. The twentieth century signaled a shift from dreams to reality. By World War II, Germany’s “rocket would grow from an experimental plaything to a weapon of war” (Sparrow 11). Following the war, global superpowers, the United States and the U.S.S.R, raced to develop advantages over each other using discovered German rocket research. In turn, the events ignited the United States’ efforts toward space. Space travel progressed to suborbital flight and the moon landing in the 1960s, but spaceflight developments now stand at a halt as failures and costly disasters leave the space shuttle in the past. Private corporations want to embark on the journey of space, venturing …show more content…
Spaceflight has an effect on the pride of many Americans. A new direction of the United States’ space program toward privatization might affect national pride because the United States would not have a national space-exploration effort. Instead, multiple private corporations would advance that national effort. Margaret Lazarus Dean and Robert Polito note:
[ . . . ] as long as spaceflight is run by a government agency, any American child can reasonably dream of flying in space one day. For many of them, that dream will shape their early lives in important and beneficial ways. If spaceflight belongs to private corporations, space travel will be a privilege of the incredibly wealthy, and space obsessed children will have no particular motivation to do their algebra homework or serve in the military, knowing that their only hope of earning a seat lies in getting rich.
…show more content…
Most space-junk burns away in low-orbit from reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, but a problem arises with trapped debris, stuck because of no pulls of gravity. Miscellaneous items such as retired satellites, parts of rockets, and items such as loose bolts, blankets, and equipment dropped by space travelers on previous voyages collect above the orbit at a rapid pace. According to Steve Olsen, the debris is continually accumulating in addition to “about 4,000 space launches” (20) by the United States and Russia alone. The launches have left a large trail of space-junk. The impact from striking space-junk could cause tragic disasters and serious damage to spacecrafts. While the addition of launches only adds to such possible tragedies (20), private space companies are making an effort to clean up after themselves. The private corporations Spacex and Airbus are working on the Remove-Debris mission to remove space junk. Additionally, the corporation’s mission includes a plan “to start maturing and developing the technologies so in the future we can use them for this important application” (Forshaw and Flag). Technologies include tether devices that would drag space-junk into orbit for the atmosphere to burn it (“How”). In turn, this benefit enables prevention and safety for future space travel and exploration in private
October 4, 1957: The Russia launched Sputnik into space. Thus began the seemingly-eternal battle for control of space exploration. Who would get the first man into space; to the Moon, to Mars? Everything that could be done by either country was being done to give the edge. It soon became obvious to all that neither country was going to back down from the challenge. However, a lot has changed since 1957, governments have slumped, privatized exploration has taken charge. . . what happened? Where is space exploration going? Where is the human race, today?
The space race that originally begun with the launch of Sputnik in 1957 had come to an effective end. During the Space Race there was heavy competition between the countries. Even with a strong lead, The Soviets had taken heavy loss to competition after they had made four failed attempts to launch a lunar landing craft between 1969 and 1972, including a spectacular launch-pad explosion in July 1969. From beginning to end, the American public’s attention was captivated by the space race, and the various developments of technology by the Soviet and U.S. space programs. The Space had drawn national and international attention.
A successful space program is needed in America, and here’s why: we are losing our grip on the title of the world superpower and a new age of economics and politics is coming faster than we are prepared for. To be prepared for this new age we need the funds, which can be found in our space. The most deadly of those threats: asteroids. Don Yeoman, an employee at the Jet Propulsion Lab, a NASA facility, tracks over 600,000 asteroids every day.
Space trash is any discarded object in space that is harmful to every living being on earth. Since the nineteen-fifties we have been launching items into space. With our hopes and dreams in hand we hoped for the best but that is not what happened at all. There are millions upon millions upon millions of space junk in space. Now there is no possible way to get rid of all the debris, but with the cooperation of all nations we can help to stop the spread of this debris once and for all. Space leaders are in danger of all the harmful objects we have put into space. Space trash comes in many different forms which cause danger to current and future explorations in space.
In order to avoid being hit by space debris, scientists developed the collision avoidance technique. They are also looking for ways to remove the debris from Earth's orbit. Most importantly, tracking these objects is key to solving all the problems. The amount of space junk accumulates daily due to the high volume of junk-to-junk collisions.
Introduction In the mid-20th century, after enduring multiple global conflicts that reconstructed the socio-economic and political divisions of our globe, humanity turned its gaze skyward, fascinated by the endless possibilities presented by the final frontier of the unknown: space. This fascination was fueled by intense geopolitical competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, as the two surviving superpowers raced to demonstrate technological and ideological superiority, masking their true tactical warfare desires. Influenced by the Soviet’s unprecedented advancements in space technology, NASA’s strategic decisions were heavily hindered and sheepishly followed in an effort to be on the Moon. As the 20th century concluded, space
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
When considering this topic, one might ask themselves why explore space? We explore space to compare other planets with the earth and to study the sun, to explore the universe while finding if intelligent life exists, for satellites to improve communications, weather forecasting, navigation, resource monitoring, and “to create a focal point for a new intellectual renaissance” (Ruzic).
Human fascination with the stars is as ancient as Babylonians and has been suggested to be older than Stonehenge. From “be fruitful and multiply” to “live long and prosper,” the instinct to protect and propagate the species has manifested in religion, art, and the imaginations of countless individuals. As human understanding of space treks out of the fantastical and into the scientific, the realities of traveling through and living in space are becoming clearer. Exploring, investigating, and living in space pose an expansive series of problems. However, the solutions to the problems faced by mankind's desire to reach beyond the horizon, through the night sky, and into the stars are solutions that will help in all areas of life on Earth.
In America, space travel is a controversial issue that many discuss. Although exciting, some people find it unnecessary and a waste of money. There are also many risks associated with space travel and many issues are more important than space travel that should be focused on. There are ethical, diplomatic, and economic issues that need to be considered before making decisions about space exploration.
I would like to add that as the contamination of space continues to grow it will increase the risk of collisions that cause damage to the spacecraft. With the existing technologies it is a difficult task of improving the state of the space environment but any reasonable step to preserve space for the future generations will involve steps to reduce pollution.
Space debris is the collection of useless objects in orbit around Earth. It includes all from erosion, spent rocket stages, old satellites, collisions, and fragments from disintegration. A large number of technical studies are currently developing concepts of active removal of space debris to protect space assets from on orbit collision. Since orbits overlap with new spacecraft therefore debris may collide with operational spacecraft.
The idea of travelling into the unknown has puzzled life since it could move. Where we can not quite, is what intrigues us the most. Ancient civilizations, like the Chinese, have made rockets for celebrations, and for the chance to “catch some air.” Leonardo di Vinci himself tried to make a machine that could hover. Coming up to recent history, we have many countries developing rockets to go to the stars. The three main countries involved being Germany, Russia, and the United States of America (Brief). Germany’s attempts made little to no history, but the United States and Russia got involved in what we know today as “The Space Race.” Each country trying to be the first to go into space, have a man orbiting Earth, and get on the moon. Russia struck first with Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to go into space, intentionally. The United States played catch up and one year later sent Explorer 1. The Russians were a...
An Astronomy topic that has always been intriguing is space travel. The ability to rocket into space, look down on Earth, and “…explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” (IMDB) is an adventure that people dream of experiencing. On July 20, 1969, an estimated six million people watched Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the Moon (Nixon Library). Presently, people are paying Virgin Galactic $250,000 to reserve a seat on a spaceship that is expected to tour suborbital space in the near future (Virgin Galactic). Although space travel continues to be of interest, there is also some controversy. Controversies include: the allocation of government resources for space exploration, government verses commercial spacecrafts, and the need to colonize other planets for the survival of humanity. The intrigue and the controversy of space travel are the reasons for this Astronomy conversation.
Did you know that without space exploration we wouldn’t have a lot of our knowledge or technology? I always wanted to help make a rocket fly one day, or be apart of space a corporation.