Written by Gabriel Grace
To be a man is to be curious. “The important thing is not to stop questioning,” said Albert Einstein. Being curious humans, many have considered the desire to travel around the world, curious of every corner of the planet they are living in. The world is definitely big, making the universe even bigger. The universe is believed to hold many mysteries. “There are things that are known and things that are unknown; in between is exploration,” Anonymous. Humans’ activities in space have been a great help to improve the quality of life on Earth. Every day, space exploration fulfills people’s curiosity. In the latter half of the 20th century, it is said that rockets were finally developed to be powerful enough to overcome the force of gravity, opening space exploration. Space exploration needs to be supported as it gives people benefits in education, great inventions, and to protect the Earth.
Space exploration is believed to have given a big help to many scientists to answer various scientific questions. Without space exploration, humans would not be able to know the answer to questions such as the existence of planets outside of Earth, whether or not humans can breathe normally in space as they can on Earth, or is the sun a star or a planet. As important as space exploration for scientists, it is also believed to be important and influential for the people. Space exploration is a trigger for humankind to think more about the universe, questioning many things, such as whether there is life elsewhere in the universe or not or why Earth. Rhett Allain (2012) stated that human exploration into space is more than the exploration of space. It is about inspiration. It is about making heroes. It is about making everyone wants to be a hero. Rhett Allain is a great admirer of the speech made by Neil deGraase Tyson. The speech puts Rhett Allain into thinking that rules and laws or even standardized testing are not making education any better; instead, it is when people strive for a better education to be able to do things. It is when people dream.
Space exploration has led mankind to invent numerous inventions which are considered crucial which resulted in the interest from many countries, resulting in a number of countries putting a lot of money for space exploration. Many people question a lot if it is a wise decision to support and continue space exploration as they do not see the benefits of space exploration, or let us just say, they do not know. There have been various inventions created due to humanity’s attempt of space exploration that most people use in their daily lives whether they know it or not. Some of the inventions which are created as a result of space exploration are CAT scanners, computer microchips, cordless tools, insulations, joysticks, insoles, smoke detectors, solar energy, water filter, and telecommunications.
Space exploration does not exist solely for both educational purposes and creating inventions. Space exploration also protects the place humans are living in, Earth. “According to NASA, typically about once every 10.000 years, a rocky or iron asteroid the size of football field could smash into our planet’s surface and possibly cause tidal waves big enough to inundate coastal areas, but it’s the real monsters, asteroids about 100 meters (109 yards) across or bigger that we really have to fear,” Patrick J. Kiger (2014). One would never know when such threats would come if there is no space exploration. It is also stated by Patrick J. Kiger that humans may need to colonize space to survive. According to UNEP (2012), the reason why humans may need to colonize space is because Earth has a carrying capacity, which is between 8 and 16 billion, and it already has a population over 7 billion. The continuation of mankind’s survival might be depending on this matter.
Many people are against space exploration due to the cost of it. Some believe that space exploration uses up a lot of funds. Many believe that space exploration is only a dream one could not achieve and huge amounts of money are gone and wasted only to be used for it. Instead, many think that it is more important to explore Earth first and solve its problems before stepping one step for space exploration. Space exploration is, in fact, not a waste of money. Tariq Malik (2013) stated that Barack Obama unveiled a proposed federal budget in for 2014, including $17.7 billion in funding for NASA in the coming years. The budget includes $105 million to support a new mission, which is to capture an asteroid, and park it near the moon, hoping that astronauts can explore it by 2025. In addition of capturing an asteroid, the budget request also includes about $200 million in cuts to planetary science, which has upset some scientists and many groups. However, it is said that it does increase funding for Earth science missions and new human spaceflight projects, such as the Space Launch System mega-rocket and Orion space capsule.
People should support space exploration as it gives people benefits in education, great inventions, and to protect the Earth. Space exploration holds its own benefits in various aspects. It improves mankind’s knowledge, it helps us with its great technologies, and it is also protecting the planet humans are living in. Nations can even work together peacefully. As it has also satisfied many people for answering questions that are hard to be answered, it is wise to continue space exploration for a brighter future. Until then, it will continually support the education, develop more great inventions, and help mankind discover the unknown.
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