The Pros and Cons of Human Spaceflight

1170 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Economic benefits of space exploration

As humans our desire to visit space has never ceased, but our scientific advances have so far only allowed manned visits to the moon. There are many political factors that influence the ongoing attempts to engineer space tourism and future missions to Mars. High costs and risks involved in spaceflight due to the longevity in space and the effects of cosmic rays have been many of the setbacks in making it a reality. The United States is currently unable to conduct human spaceflight after losing its capability to launch upon the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011. China National Space Administration and Russia Federal Space Agency are the only two government facilities that continue sending humans to space. Should spaceflight agencies continue manned missions to outer space? Global issues among many other problems have been improved due to necessary collaborations made in the name of science and exploration of foreign territory; revolutionary innovations have been engineered in order to secure the safety of astronauts, and our environment has been harmed in the process as gases that break ozone molecules apart are released into the stratosphere.
I wondered: Is it wise to continue the funding of NASA for future space travels? To answer my question I decided to research the monetary costs of traveling to space. I found that the costs for visiting alien planets are extremely high. I decided to look up a rough estimate of how much a trip to the moon would cost for tourists and was astounded to find out that it is around $100 million (Gilman). I also came across a news article about President Barack Obama signing a 17.6 billion dollar NASA budget that will be used to focus on missions beyond Earth's orbit (Clark). Since articles t...

... middle of paper ...

...9/benefits-of-space-exploration/>.
Lali, Mehdi. "Analysis and Design of a Human Spaceflight to Mars, Europa, and Titan." AIP Conference Proceedings 1208.1 (2010): 557-565. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 February 2014.
.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “FY 2014 President’s Budget Request Summary.” nasa.gov (2014): astro-7. Web. 6 February 2014. .
Rosenthal, Elisabeth. “Doctors Trying Coral for Skeletal Repairs.” The New York Times 2 July 1991. Print.
< http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/02/health/doctors-trying-coral-for-skeletal-repairs.html>.
"Spaceman in a Crater." Bones. Dir. Jeannot Szwarc. Fox. California. 9 May 2007. Television.

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of NASA Funding On NASA

    1056 Words  | 3 Pages

    NASA is being underfunded and its funding should be substantially increased to make ends meet. This trend needs to be changed and re-evaluated. About $2.9 trillion is spent on health care alone (Millman). The U.S. government spends a mere $17.7 billion on NASA and spends more than 36 times that on defense $647 billion, with nearly $20 billion alone in 2011 spent on air conditioning tents. Since NASA’s Cold War glory days, the budget has gone from 4.41% of the total budget in 1966, to less than 0.45% today, its lowest ever.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech on Oceanic Exploration

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • NASA Spending Essay

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, Continuing NASA and the programs run by it, is harmful to American society and Government. NASA harms the economy. NASA also harms the environment in which we live. And the money that NASA spends could be used to help solve problems in our country, not on another planet. Only if we work together, fixing our own problems first, respectfully with each other, as one body, one world, and one planet, then we will be able to reach out into space. We will be able to explore it safely, efficiently, and environmentally soundly.

    Read More

  • Space Technology: A Critical Investment For Our Nation's Future?

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    The question regarding the value in financially supporting large American institutions, such as NASA, has indeed generated prevalent debate. Bobby Braun addresses his individual view on this issue in his article entitled “Space Technology: A Critical Investment for Our Nation’s Future,” published on October 27, 2011, in which he argues that the United States government must continue to invest in NASA. Braun strengthens the logic and persuasiveness of his argument by incorporating facts and examples about the benefits of NASA’s contributions to American society in order to support his central claims and by asserting the long-term influence of NASA’s existence as well as a powerful call to action in order to emphasize the significance of the organization to the reader.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Space Race

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Space Race was not a waste and was beneficial in many ways to Americans. It is often debated whether or not the Space Race was a waste. People have viewed it as a waste of time, money, and resources. Those people only see the disadvantages that it had. For example the expensive cost and abundant resources that came with sending a man to the moon. America spent over $25 billion on the space program and many believed that there were far more pressing matters down on Earth that they should not explore space (Space, 2015). However The Space Race was beneficial to mankind in various ways. The Space Race changed the face of science, international politics, and technology forever (Schefter 2005).

    Read More

  • Space Colonization Pros And Cons

    1538 Words  | 4 Pages

    With the advances in technology and humanity’s ever growing need, the concept of space colonization is being discussed more and more as a possible solution to many of the problems that the planet Earth is facing. W. H. Siegfried, in his article “Space Colonization—Benefits for the World,” adopts the viewpoint that space colonization would be beneficial to the human race. Lynda Williams, on the other hand, chooses to view the idea of colonial space as unreasonable at this time in her article, “Irrational Dreams of Space Colonization.” Both of these authors make reasonable arguments, however, Williams provides a much more effective, well organized, and logical point of view.

    Read More

  • Space Technolgy Programs

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a country we need to start investing more money and research into space technology. Programs currently exist for this effort, but the potential for research and progress is limited by a lack of funding; compared to other government funded programs, aerospace funding is pitiful. Continued research in space technology is a necessary step in our growth and development not just as a country but also as entire human race. If we are to achieve this goal, it is necessary to increase funding for space research and technology and consider the possibility of colonizing outer space. If we limit our existence to the planet Earth, and continue to drain the resources on this planet, we will destroy the only home we have.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of NASA Budgeting

    1769 Words  | 4 Pages

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, is a key aspect to the United States and the world in so many more ways than people realize. They help protect the us with satellites to monitor the Earth and what is going on with it that we can not see, they help out our country as well as the rest of the world and the everyday lives of the people, and they help inspire and grow the minds of the youth in our world today. They do this all and much more with a miniscule budget, think of what they could accomplish if given double or triple their current budget. This may seem a little overkill and it may be argued that they would never use this and the budget should even be lowered, but that is not the case at all. Currently NASA's budget

    Read More

  • Why Should Humans Explore Space?

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to accomplish this feat. 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 between 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?

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Astronauts

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the dawn of human civilization, people have explored almost everywhere around the world in some way, including space. Astronauts have based their job description on research and exploration, which does sounds entertaining, but the hazards and work involved are dangerous itself. Education for these individuals is difficult but worth it if he/she would want to go to space and go research. The work environment is either small or scary depending on what kind of person they are, and might be sick or exciting for some people. Without astronauts and people to explore the boundary of the galaxy, we would be without knowledge of things outside of the people's world, making them beneficial to society .

    Read More

  • Why Is Space Exploration Worth The Effort?

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main argument against space travel is that the money used could be better put on other matters. This is, in fact, very untrue. Looking at NASA’s 2015 budget of $17.5 billion, it may seem like a lot, until you realize that the US military budget for 2014 was $581 billion (5). Furthermore, it was estimated that each dollar in NASA’s budget was equivalent to 8 – 10 dollars of economic benefit (6). If an organization can bring about economic value at 10 folds the original budget, it would be logical to continue funding it, if not increasing the funds.

    Read More

  • Space Exploration and Travel: Necessary or Waste?

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Source K) Flowers, Sarah. “Understanding: Space Travel.” Rev. of Understanding: Space Travel. PoQuest. N.p., Aug. 2000. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. .

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Space Exploration

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the unknown. From sailing to distant lands to someday setting foot on other planets, the spirit of exploration is the same. Bur now with the current economic situation and the high cost of sending people to space, NASA is being looked at as a way to free up some much needed funds. Although, there is many problems here on planet Earth that need addressing, the benefits of space exploration far out weight the disadvantages. Space exploration has given us more advanced technology, advances in the medical field, and a boost to the economy and these facts cannot be disputed.

    Read More

  • Should Money Be Spent on Space Exploration?

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Benefits of Space Exploration

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    Space has always been a pivotal and utmost important subject for many years. In the past, scientists have made monumental advances in this field such as sending people into orbit and landing a man on the moon. Of course, this has only barely been explored and we still have a lot more to see of the ever-vast outer space. One of the most significant topics of all of science has only been touched and there’s still more to come.

    Read More

More about The Pros and Cons of Human Spaceflight

Open Document