Space Exploration

For many years humans have been exploring space to discover the unknown and fuel their curious and adventurous nature, but the decision of whether space exploration is worth the cost is strongly debated. Due to various arguments and evidence space exploration is strongly supported is proven to be worth the cost. Some of these reasons include space exploration being able to expand our knowledge and it being able to generate wealth. With these reasons the argument of whether space exploration is worth the risk can be easily decided.

Bacterial and fungi infections are easy to cure with the use of antibiotics, where as viruses can be hard to cure or vaccinate against, such as the common cold. Bacteria can be found everywhere and anywhere Soil, Water, Plants, Animals, material and even deep in the earth's crust. Bacteria feed themselves by making there food with the use of sunlight and water. We would not be able to live without Bacteria. The human body consists of lots of friendly bacteria which also protect us from dangerous ones by occupying places in the body. Some of the most deadly diseases and devastating epidemics in human history have

Neil Armstrong 's 1969 lunar landing was one of humanity 's greatest accomplishments. Since then, we have found that an infinite supply of knowledge and resources await us just outside our atmosphere. Today, however, critics are beginning to argue more and more that the cost of space exploration is too high, and therefore new technological developments should be left to the private sector. Whether funded privately or by the government, funding of space exploration is imperative because NASA is essentially the only agency with the technological capabilities to support aircraft manufacturing, air safety and air transportation. Space exploration has also resulted in remarkable innovations that has played a key role in aeronautics research, preventative medicine, and allows scientists to study asteroids, along with other space debris and their impacts on Earth.

The concept of space exploration was first introduced to the American public in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy famously stood before congress and vowed that America would put a man on the moon “within the decade.” With hopes of defeating the Soviet Union in the “Space Race” and gaining a leg-up in the Cold War, NASA funding reached its all-time high in 1965-1966 when about four percent of the federal budget was devoted to exploring space. Since then however, funding dedicated to exploring space has nose-dived to about one-half of a percent of the federal budget (Tyson), with plans to cut that figure by an additional $260 million in 2017 (cite NASA funding cuts). Experts in the space-sciences field argue that increased funding in space exploration would re-ignite the American economy and return America to the scientific prominence it was once known for, while, on the other end of the spectrum, naysayers suggest that exploring space is an economic sink-hole that the United States can no longer afford to deposit to given its own earth-bound troubles.

Although space exploration is now being emphasized on and invested in, what does this do to benefit earth or even every individual who lives on Earth? Many writers, engineers, mathematicians, and chemists can agree that space exploration is going to provide more research for medicine and environmental factors. Others may also argue that the risks of exploring another planet will be too damaging because the life or atmosphere as it is will not be the same after humans have made their print on it.

“Now is the time...for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth.” This quote from John F. Kennedy expresses his belief on the future impact that the space race will have on Earth, and now we can see that his prediction was correct. Although, his prediction is not the only effect of the space race on the rest of humanity. The demand for space exploration has grown and evolved from the Space Race, which in turn has also sparked new advances in multiple fields of science and changed our society now and in the future.

Before, biologists assumed all microbes are bad for the human body (automatically thought of pathogens), caused many diseases and harm our body fundamental systems. In addition, the biologists think that our body is already built which had all the functions required to maintain our health. However, the attitude has changed over the last decade. The biologists characterized the most prevalent species of microbes in the body, and found out that these collective microbes do not threaten us, and they also are important part of human bodies.

Humans obsess over the exploration of the unknown. The majority of our vast solar system remains unexplored. Most humans don’t have an idea what could be waiting for us outside of our atmosphere. Nonetheless, space exploration is not necessary unless our world is either perfect or destroyed. There is no need to throw away billions of dollars on space exploration missions when there are other necessities that need to be sought to first.

Humans have dreamed of leaving the earth and traveling space for many years, and up to this day they have taken many steps in the right direction. Yet, with every new frontier they approach, new problems loom over the horizon. Some of these problems arise right here on Earth. Some of the issues have been resolved, such as escaping the forces of gravity to reach outer space. Most of the problems are far more arduous and the solutions need more time to be worked out properly. In “The Coming Schism” by James E. and Alcestis R. Oberg, they posit that humans can colonize space. Humans need to buckle up and build the technology which will help to solve problems that would arise to

For example, Richard Conniff propose the concept of preventing human diseases by adding bacteria to crops. Therefore, with the increase of new research about microbes, we as a whole are able to find an alternative to our agricultural methods and genetic engineering. I believe that in the future, we as a society will learn more about ourselves and what’s around us and find creative ways to resolve our problems. To bring this discussion back, Richard Conniff suggest to us that with the new understanding of microbes, we would be able to cure human diseases or even stop them from harming us in the first place. To be able to do this, Richard suggest on adding bacteria to crops. Ultimately, the foods that we put in our mouths will help us from getting sick and we should be careful about what we eat, because “you are what you eat.” However, as society advances, it still leaves us with a question regarding the health risk the crops that contain the bacteria in it and the effects it has on human beings. Will we as a society be able to eat the crops that contain the bacteria to prevent human diseases and not have any side effects to the

The space race that John F. Kennedy started created millions of jobs, and put the United States in a good economic standpoint. The Apollo missions alone created four hundred twenty thousand jobs and cost the United States twenty one billion dollars. Another eighteen thousands employees were occupied at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. In 1960, NASA made up fifty seven percent of the jobs in Hancock County, Mississippi. Which is where Stennis Space Center. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi is where NASA tests its rockets, and space shuttles they are going to launch at Kennedy Space Center. Johnson, Langley, Goddard, and Armstrong also created up a good percentage of United States employers. Seventeen percent of the Jobs in Huntsville, Alabama came from NASA. NASA were not the only ones employing jobs for the United States space program. Boeing also created thousands of jobs, which helped the United States economy. Boeing was the second largest employer during the space race. Boeing employed about five hundred

Microbes aren’t really mentioned much today, but back when the New World was discovered, these Microbes were causing a lot of trouble in the Old and New World. So let’s go back to 1494. In Europe, a very dangerous disease known as Syphilis came about. This disease was most likely coming from sexual transmission and even killed children once born. In the New World, we assume that everyone was healthy, but there are signs that Syphilis was already there. We don’t know if that’s true, but that evidence is still there in case the claim is fact. Then by the time Columbus arrived, his team spread the smallpox disease to the Native Americans.To make things worse, Cortes came in and starved all the Aztecs and the city was destroyed in seventy five

There is also a huge risk of the spread of sickness because astronauts live in such close quarters. “During space travel, exposure to microgravity, radiation, and stress alter human immunoregulatory responses, which can in turn impact an astronaut’s ability to prevent acquisition of infectious agents or reactivation of latent infection. In addition, microgravity affects virulence, growth kinetics, and biofilm formation of potential microbial pathogens.” (Mermel, 2013) This just shows some of the possible risks astronauts may encounter during a prolonged space flight such as one to the moon or another planet. Because of all these risks NASA has created an extensive screening process and materials to help counter the spread of disease and infection in a space craft. These advances not only help astronauts but they also have applications for us on earth. We have already seen many of these “spin off” technologies like the implantable pacemaker, Lasik eye surgery and the MRI and CAT scan.

As the possibility of space colonization and development begins to loom large, more and more people are beginning to question how such development will be pursued and what effect it will have on humans and the environment. Scientists are considering the feasibility of space colonization and its worth of study compared to other fields. Ethicists and environmentalists wonder how ethical it is to change the space environment and what consequences come with doing so. Politicians face the question of governance and law-making in the space frontier. The viewpoints toward space colonization are not simple to categorize as pro and contra, rather they are multi-layered and based on several fields of study, in

The mysterious vastness beyond Earth has allured many scientists to explore and contribute much of their effort to the understanding of space. Although humans have been looking up at space for thousands of years, the physical exploration of this frontier has been only going on for the past few decades. Our current understanding of space is unparalleled to any time before in our history, but we still only know a small fraction of what there is to learn. Governments around the world spend about $40 billion dollars a year (Rockefeller, 2010) hoping to undertake tasks such as “human exploration of the solar system” to discovering the origins of life itself (Tatarewicz, 2009, p. 531). Recently, the private sector has also shown interest in space exploration in order to engage in profitable activities such as harnessing minerals from asteroids. Although it is easy to debate about the benefits and negatives of space exploration in its entirety, it is simpler focus on one aspect of it - the direct effect it has to those down on Earth. Rather than trying to decide whether or not going to other planets is worth it, this paper will argue about the value of the terrestrial benefits of space exploration. It is an important topic to think about as programs such as space exploration change lives and help acquire knowledge. Despite the large costs associated with space exploration, the multitude of discoveries in the past few decades has greatly improved daily life on Earth, the jobs the