The Importance Of Space Exploration
“Is it vital to explore space or not?”
Space has always been a source of inspiration to explorers, scientists and individuals from the time of Isaac Newton who changed the way we understand the Universe till the modern space exploration which reaching areas once only dreamed about.
Let’s just imagine it’s the year 2040, and we have tickets to a far-flung planet or on a floating hotel somewhere on the Andromeda nebula. Would you take it? It might sound alluring for some of us to escape the problems here on Earth.
I came up with the idea to write an essay about space travel after visiting the Cosmic Samara Space Museum. Having received a ton of positive emotions and important historical facts I would say that research into space exploration has made sufficient impact in people’s life.
However, there are many people who feel that research into space traveling has not made significant impact in the average individual’s life to justify its expense. In my opinion, there are valid reasons to ask this question but overall the cultural and scientific effect is all-encompassing. I will discuss both views and provide a logical conclusion.
To begin with, the main advantage of space exploration is the possibility of finding another habitable place in the Universe for humans to live. The reason for this is that Earth has limited natural resources; thus, it is important to find an alternative place to live in before all its resources are exhausted.
On the surface, the idea is clear. But if we pull back the curtain a bit, this trend and even tendency in movies like Interstellar bring up the idea that the foremost reason for leaving the planet is because we messed up Earth.
I really love the famous film Interstellar, it is by far the best movie I have ever seen, because of one of the most unique and genuinely original plot, the soundtrack and the choice of actors. But this dangerous line of thinking creates a moral hazard. We shouldn’t consider the option to leave Earth and be able to go to Mars or any other planets after we damaged the environment and polluted Earth. For us, Earth is currently the only habitable place in our reach. So we need to maintain Earth, and it starts with the individual, the same way collective thinking starts in individual thinking. Do you think your action doesn’t matter?
Currently the environment is so contaminated that urgent measures should be taken. If individuals do not confess that our planet is our home, we will never be able to take adequately care of it. For example, I always remember to save energy by switching off lamps, computers and etc. Our next obligation is to separate waste and throw bulk in the designated areas. Driving vehicles can also be environment friendly. For example, we have to avoid accelerating the engines too rapidly.
It’s essential not only to serve yourself with excellence but to share it with the world. Focus on the stuff that Earth and its inhabitants need.
“When I orbited the Earth in a spaceship, I saw for the first time how beautiful our planet is. Mankind, let us preserve and increase this beauty, and not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin
Another warning trend is to refer to the question where will the human race go when planet earth is full? There have been many theories put forward about the human population moving to outer space. Marshall Savage (1992, 1994), for example, has projected that the human population will reach five quintillions throughout the solar system by the year 3000, with the majority living in the asteroid belt.
“Earth is the cradle of mind, but one cannot live in the cradle forever.” — Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
On the one hand, humans have a right and a moral duty to save our species from suffering and extinction. Colonizing space is one method of doing so and the next logical step in space exploration and human growth. But on the other hand, some people think that humans living in space is pure science fiction. In one widely promoted plan, Mars needs to first be warmed to closer to Earth’s average temperature (from -60 °C/-76 °F to 15 °C/59 °F), which will take approximately 100 years. Then the planet must be made to produce oxygen so humans and other mammals can breathe, which will take about 100,000 years or more. And those two steps can only be taken once Mars is thoroughly investigated for water, carbon dioxide, and nitrates. To sum up, it’s difficult to adapt to a totally alien environment.
Another reason for space exploration, we need satellites in space to collect information about climatic changes and to spot extraterrestrial objects that approach Earth. Satellites also help the functioning of broadcasting stations and navigational systems on Earth. So without these we would not able to follow global events as they happen, nor about the approaching storms and hurricane warning or detect a meteorite. In addition, this research has led to the development of new lightweight materials that offer heat protection so we would enable to protect food for the long time. Thus, space exploration has eventually developed many new useful technologies that benefits us in everyday life. Nevertheless, a lot of money is required to maintain these satellites and in general unravel the mysteries of the Universe. Undoubtedly, there are many critical matters that need to consider and other important areas for investments like healthcare and the environment which are the sensitive area of every country. Individuals and the government should consider spending much money on, say, down-to-earth projects, for example, develop the infrastructure of the healthcare sector and protect the environment. Currently, there is the increasingly large number of people who need expensive medications, complicated medical surgeries. Unfortunately, just a small number of centers are supplied with the necessary means. It is just worth remembering “cosmic” amounts for the space missions which lead to underinvestment to crucial to societies’ well-being areas. Shouldn’t we prioritize our needs?
In conclusion, I would like to say that space exploration is a rather controversial topic. While the majority of people think it is a good idea to explore space, there are also opponents of space travel who claim that space exploration may potentially wipe out humanity in the long run. One important advantage of space exploration is that it gives humanity the opportunity to exploit additional resources in outer space, but individuals must maintain our current environments and prevent from serious degradation. Another benefit of space travel is that we may also find planets that we could colonize in the near future. But in fact, all attempts to find extraterrestrial life have failed up to this point in time and there is little reason to believe that this might change. Another important advantage of space travel is that it allows us to detect serious threats that could potentially wipe out humanity. For instance, through space exploration, we may be able to detect a meteorite that is on collision course with our earth. In turn, we could take measures to prevent this collision. Space missions also imply significant costs. In fact, it is quite expensive to explore space and depending on the lengths and the goal of the respective mission, many millions or even billions of dollars have to be spent. Opponents of space missions often claim that money could be far better used for healthcare projects on our earth instead of wasting it for space travel.
However predictable this may seem to be I personally think that we should focus on warning trends that we have here, on Earth. We should make sure that we reduce the pollution levels and we have high quality medical support which will save people’s lives. After that, it can make sense to explore space in a variety of ways.
