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 might be able to get to that point to. This is beginning to raise the question for taxpayers, “Should the government continue using taxpayer money to fund the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or should space exploration be left up to private companies?” While the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has achieved extraordinary things in the fifty-five years since it was created, but in today’s day in age, with the United States government seventeen trillion dollars in debt and the government shut down, the weight of space exploration should be left up to the up and coming private space companies which is evident through the current achievements that private companies have already made.Counterexamples can be brought up in this argument and some people still believe that the space frontier should be just left up to the government. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk the moon, suggested before his death that, “the death of the government shuttle program and the rise of p... ... middle of paper ... ...ance/>. Gordon, Mike. "Engineering Ethics: An Insider’s Account of the Columbia Disaster." Introduction to Aerospace. Skurla 110, Melbourne. 8 November 2013. Lecture. Karpoff, Jonathan M. "Public Versus Private Initiative in Artic Exploration: The Effects of Incentives and Organizational Structure." 109.1 (201): 38. EBSCOhost. Web. 15 Nov 2013. Reichhardt, Tony. " NASA's Funding Shortfall Means Journey's End for Voyager Probes ." 10 Mar 2005: 125. ProQuest. Print. 15 November 2013. Williams, Carol J. "Latest Rocket Failure Spurs Concern about Russia's Space Program." Los Angeles Times. 2 July, 2013. Print. Yamamoto, Ian. "Space X Dragon Capsule Proves Private Funding is the Future of Space Exploration." PolicyMic. 20 April 2012 Web. 15 Nov 2013 .
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), was booming in the late 1960 's because the U.S. invested over 4.5 percent of the Federal Budget (Bolden). Unfortunately, in the recent years the Government has slashed funding for many of NASA’s projects in an attempt to cut back on the deficit and boost the economy. Despite the plummet in NASA 's budget, the program has proved that it 's prominence in the U.S., space programs like NASA continue to face difficulty in increasing its funds. Although, NASA leads Evidently, the government doesn 't think NASA is worth more than 0.47 percent of the federal budget. NASA is being underfunded and its funding should be substantially increased to make ends meet. This trend needs
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.
Martin, M.W. and Schinzinger, R. (2005) Ethics in Engineering. 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
[5] Roger M. Boisjoly, “Telecon Meeting (Ethical Decisions – Morton Thiokol and the Challenger Disaster)” [online], Washington, DC.: National Academy of Engineering, May 15, 2006 [cited March 16, 2010], available from World Wide Web:
Dubner, Stephen. "Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost?." Freakonomics: The Hidden Side of Everything. New York Times, 11/1/2010. Web. 18 Jul 2010. .
Private space travel should be encouraged. Private space exploration can lead to many positive benefits for our country. With the no longer continued support of public funding to NASA the threat of losing our space programs as a whole is in jeopardy. Putting an end to our space programs would destroy the continuation of space related research and all hopes of the United States reaching Mars. Privately funded companies would allow for continued research, hope of one day putting humans on Mars and most importantly explore many new things that were once never an option with government funded programs. The encouragement of private space travel is vital for our country.
Safety in the ethics and industry of aerospace technology is of prime importance for preventing tragic malfunctions and crashes. Opposed to automobiles for example, if an airplane breaks down while in mid-flight, it has nowhere to go but down. And sadly it will often go down “hard” and with a high probability of killing people. The Engineering Code of Ethics states first and foremost that, “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” In the aerospace industry, this as well holds very true, both in manufacturing and in air safety itself. Airline safety has recently become a much-debated topic, although arguments over air safety and travel have been going ...
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.
Kennedy Space Center Story. 1991. The. 15 February 2010 http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/story/kscstory.html>. The "Reading Eagle" JFK Cites Red Threat: Declares Russia Will Lead Space Race for Some Time 13 April 1961: 1. The life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky.
Faster space travel is needed to make any new deep-space discoveries. There really are cost-effective options for space travel.
Kovalenko, Natalya. "Space Junk Endangers Mankind's Usual Course of Life." The Voice of Russia. 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
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?
Since the beginning of time, mankind has sought after learning about and exploring the universe. This yearning drove us to achieve such great things as the journey to the moon and the discovery of water on mars. Nowadays, several people argue as to whether or not space exploration is worth the effort. I believe that it is humanity’s instinctual nature to pursue a better understanding of ourselves, and our universe. Further understanding of our universe will lead to the discovery of new technologies and ways to secure humanity’s survivability. As such, this essay will argue that space exploration is a necessity to our kind and that NASA should be progressively more financed.
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.
Mechanical engineers have a responsibility of ensuring they abide by general ethics as that have been laid down by engineering bodies such as the American Society of Mechanical engineers. Engineers have to sound alarm whenever safety violations are breached or when the organization does not perform required procedures that may endanger lives. It is the engineer’s duty to inform members of the public whenever legal bodies fail to nullify projects which may cause disasters.