Space Exploration: Is it worth the cost?

 

Miona Milenkovic

29. May

Science 7A

Mrs. Medenica

Is Space Exploration worth the cost?

Have you ever been to the moon, or maybe some other planet. I know I haven’t. Well other people have and have discovered a lot about the outer space which you might not know about. They have discovered so many planets galaxies, as well as stars, black holes and moons. Scientists already know all that and are about to start learning even more. Yet is it really that important? Have you ever asked you self a question; how much does space exploration really help our cities? Or what are the benefits and what are our limitations?

Scientists all over the world work together to build many different contraptions and machines to be able to discover all those amazing facts involving space. I know that you must be thinking, from one side it’s probably cool and interesting for you, but on the other side, it is very expensive.  Millions of euros and dollars are used up a day just to plan and create all those rockets, space shuttles and space stations. On the top of that, only launching them takes up a lot of energy, time and money. So question that is raised, is space exploration really worth all that attentions it’s getting?

If you don’t believe me that it’s expensive, well here is the proof. Only one mission called the Messenger mission cost 280 million dollars. Launching only one shuttle out of 130 into space costs 450 million dollars. And the most shocking of all, to build only one of the “five-strong fleet” costs 1.7 billion dollars. Lastly but certainly not least, the entire space station costs about 142 billion dollars not including the small parts and missions. Even though some of these numbers aren’t that high, compared to some other topics, however that money could be used for much better purposes. Money can’t grow on trees, which is why we need to use it wisely.

Even though it is expensive, there are some good parts to this mess; many benefits of space exploration exist. Some of them are bringing all countries of the world together through team work, when they share knowledge, experience and many learning’s. Some more tangible benefits are for example predicting the weather more accurately. That doesn’t only mean predicting rain or sun, but also hurricanes and other natural disasters. Also the satellites which are up in space can easily predict information concerning infestation of fields by different types of bugs.  Medicine also benefits from space exploration. To start with, spacecraft materials have really helped and improved our medicine. Different metals which are used to build rockets and space shuttle are successfully used in medicine today. So as you can see even though space craft is quite expensive, it helps and improves our daily lives.

            There are many different ways to study space. Many new contraptions and machines are built every year to improve our knowledge. So our first option, and the most obvious one, is of course, sending humans into space. However there are many bad and good parts to this option. First of all, we get the clearest pictures of space with a naked eye. Seeing something with our own eyes is much different from pictures taken from the Hubble. It lets us use all of our 5 senses, touch, smell, taste, see and hear, however with pictures, we only se one sense, sight. Now you decide which one is better. Nevertheless, taking people up to space is a huge risk. Something can always go wrong. One part of the rocket might not be properly adjusted, or maybe someone else does something wrong. Even if you get up to space alive, that doesn’t mean you will stay alive. There are many dangers out there which we might face.

            Another approach to space exploration is much safer then the first one. It is sending robots, or any type of machine which will do the same job as if humans were up there. Again, there are benefits and drawbacks to this point. Robots would be much more accurate than telescopes, but not as accurate as humans. However doing this might save many lives. However giving money for that to be made is an issue. Paying for it and not knowing if it will break in space is a huge risk, and not being able to fix it is a huge problem.

Lastly, the least expensive is using telescopes. The first thing which popes into your mind are probably those little home telescopes; well no, I am talking about huge ones like the Hubble. As I said before, telescopes are probably one of the safest ways to explore space. Yet when it comes to collecting data and information, it is not the best choice. The only things which you will get are pictures but nothing to support and materialize your conclusion and learning.

If I was a member of the government there are many things which I would change. I would change how cities are organized; even though that is not speaking of my topic it is very important to me. If I was responsible for spending all the money on anything I desire, space exploration wouldn’t be on top of my list, however not on last on my list either. I would rather spend money on homeless people on the streets and children from orphanages. I strongly believe that everyone deserves to get even a bit of education, fresh food and water, as well as respect. That would probably be on top of my list. After that come the sick and disabled people. Even though they are not able to do much they need our help and attention, as well as animal shelters and stray animals. Nevertheless through space we have gotten much more good and useful medicine as well as warnings for death traps such as hurricanes. With that money I would also fix any transportation such as buses and roads. And lastly I would give out money to all those people who work hard to make our society a much better place, because without them, our town would be a mess.

Bibliography:

"Benefits of Space Exploration." Space Exploration. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 June 2012. .

" In these uncertain times, BBC astronomer Mark Thompson shares his opinion about the funding of space exploration in light of global tragedy." Discovery News. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 June 2012.

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