why space exploration is a waste of money essay

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Space exploration pros and cons: Are space programs a waste of money?

Source: Image : ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA  

Space exploration is a hugely expensive affair. Should we spend money on space exploration when we have so many problems on planet Earth? We debate the pros and cons of space exploration and the reasons for investing in space agencies and programs. 

Should we spend money on space exploration?

The launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket into has brought back media attention to space exploration . Elton Musk's private aerospace company is in the process of becoming a major player and a partner for many space programs. However, most of the efforts to discover whats out still depend mostly on public funding. 

Space exploration is costly, and many argue that in times of belt-tightening, we should focus on solving problems here on Earth, especially since the knowledge gained from space exploration has few immediate benefits. On the other hand, pronponents of space exploration argue that the knowledge to be gained is invaluable, and that it is in the very nature of humankind to explore. In addition, proponents of these programs argue that they have had significant benefits and resulted in the discovery or popularisation of many useful new technologies . Furthermore, space exploration could be the only way to escape  human extinction in case living conditions become unsustainable on Earth.

Today there are six big government space agencies with the capacity to create, launch and recover satellites: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), Russian Federal Space Agency ( Roscosmos or RFSA),the China National Space Administration ( CNSA ), the Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO ),  the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) and the European Space Agency ( ESA ) which integrates several European space agencies. Among them only NASA, ROSCOSMOS and CNSA have full capacity for human spaceflights and lunar soft-landing.  In addtition to these there are many other government space agencies with variable capabilities, most of them have only the capacity to operate satellites, a few of them also have launch capabilities and can operate extraterrestrial probes. Some of these space agencies are competing to be the first to send humans to Mars  and investigating if there is intelligent life on other planets .

These space programs and agencies are very costly. It is estimated that the total annual budget of space agencies is $41.8 billion. Among them the highest budgets correspond to:

• NASA (USA, $19.3 billion)
• Roscosmos (Russia, $5.6 billion) 
• ESA (Europe, $5.5 billion)
• CNES (France, $2.5 billion)
• JAXA (Japan, $2.5 billion)
• DLR (Germany, $2 billion)
• ASI (Italy, $1.8 billion)
• CNSA (China, $1.8 billion)
• ISRO (India, $1.2 billion)

Are all these costs justfified? Are there better ways to spend public funding? Should we mainly rely on private investors such as Elton Musk to promote space expliration? Will capitalistic incentives lead the way towards space exploration? In order to help make up your mind we outline next the most important benefits and problems of space exploration.

Space exploration pros and cons

• Knowledge generation.  Thanks to space exploration programs we are discovering many things that help us understand the universe. For instance, learning about planets, comets, stars, etc. can help us find solutions for some of the problems our civilization will face, such as overopulation  and the need to colonize other planets.
• Exploration and discovery are beneficial. Humans have always engaged in exploration to satisfy their sense of curiosity and look for opportunities. During the Age of Discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries, countries such as Spain and Portugal heavily invested in expeditions, but thanks to them they became super-powers and gained many riches. Later, during the second age of explorations in the 18th and 19th century, the discoveries of pioneers such as Captain Cook or Livingstone heavily contributed to scientific discovery.
• Artificial satellites are crucial tools in modern society. For instance they are used for defence purposes and to fight against terrorism. Satellites help us also monitor the effects of global warming  and detect wildfires. Space agencies are necessary to operate satellites.
• Scientific advancement and by-products. Space exploration programs help introduce and test new technologies. Much of the research carried out to find solutions for space travel have applications elsewhere. For instance NASA research has contributed to develop velcro, fire-resistant materials, medical devices to relieve muscle and joint pain, new precise thermometers, artificial limbs, new air conditioning systems, land mine removal systems, improved radial tires, etc. 
• Space race may save humanity. Life on Earth may be threatened by climate change, pollution, depletion of resources, infectious diseases or nuclear war. Further, space exploration is necessary to find another planet on which humans could pursue their lives. Space programs help also find solutions to adapt human lives to the space or other planets.
• Space industry jobs. The space industry employs directly about 120,000 people in the OECD countries and 250,000 in Russia.
• Few direct benefits to space exploration . True, space technology has helped us launch satellites and introduce many useful products, but do we need to keep pushing forward? The direct intellectual gains from learning about far away planets or satellites such as the moon can hardly compensate the costs. Historical exploration on Earth allowed collect and trade resources. Bringing resources to Earth is not possible with the current technology.
• Space travel is hazardous.  Many lives have been lost in space expeditions. Space missions are very dangerous and can often cost lives and stress to the families of the astronauts or cosmonauts. Should highly qualified professionals and scientists risk their lives traveling outside Earth? 
• Failure is common. Many of the space exploration fail. Probes and satellites crash, exploration robots are lost, rockets blow up in the air, etc. It is frustrating to see how so much money and time are wasted in unsuccessful missions.
• Danger of establishing contact with alien life. One of the main goals of space exploration is to find out if there is life outside Earth. However, establishing contact with other civilizations can be extremely dangerous and could jeopardize human life. If we flag our existence to technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, we may be somehow exposing ourselves to their attacks and invasion. The wanna-be colonizers could be colonized. Primitive life-forms such as virus and bacteria could also provoke epidemic diseases.
• New source of international tensions. The space race is not over. There is a growing international competition to be the first in fulfilling some challenges in space exploration. Sovereignty over other planets and satellites, and over their resources, will become a controversial issue. With the advancement of technology domination of the outer space may tip the balance of power on a bipolar or multipolar Earth.
• Priorities and opportunity costs.  Even if there are benefits to space exploration, spending so much money and effort in reaching other planets is highly questionable. That money and brain power could be used to solve other more important problems for us. For instance governments could invest much more to prevent global warming, reduce crime rates and find a cure for cancer or Alzheimer's Disease.

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The UNESCO Courier

Is the space effort a waste of money?

Colossal strides in civilization in the past have followed each major advance in man's observation of the skies. Astronomical discoveries, time after time, have influenced and, in some cases, shifted the very course of history.

By Gene Gregory 

As the Apollo 11 and 12 spacecraft raced toward their rendezvous with the moon last July and last November, these most ambitious of man's ventures were the focus of a sharp and lively debate back on earth about the real meaning and value of space exploration.

Twelve years had passed since the Soviet Union launched the space age by firing Sputnik I into earth orbit on October 4, 1957. The United States had spent some $44 thousand million on space programmes, $24 thousand million on the Apollo project alone. Hundreds of thousands of top scientists and technicians had been striving together in by far the largest team of specialists ever mobilized in a single undertaking.

Yet the basic question was still being asked: "Is this trip really necessary?"

Was the moon landing a pointless "stunt", however adroitly executed, or a breath-taking demonstration of man's unlimited capabilities? Would the billions allocated for space be better spent on solving pressing problems here on earth? What, in short, is there in all this running around in space for those of us who remain earthbound mortals?

Arnold J. Toynbee, the esteemed British historian, expressed the concern of many serious-minded sceptics for whom the moon landing symbolized a yawning gap between technology and morals.

"In a sense," Toynbee remonstrated, "going to the moon is like building the pyramids or Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. It's rather scandalous, when human beings are going short of necessities, to do this. If we're clever enough to reach the moon, don't we feel rather foolish in our mismanagement of human affairs?"

But others contend that there is money enough for the moon and tasks on earth, too. And some go further to point out that the conquest of space has done much, through the development of new ideas, new attitudes, new techniques and new structures for the management of large-scale undertakings, to prepare man for a major offensive against the unsolved social and material problems at home.

"If you look at the thousands of years of civilization," Sir Bernard Lovell, director of Britain's Jodrell Bank Observatory reminds us, "you will find that only those communities that have been prepared to struggle with the nearly insoluble problems at the limits of their technical capacities those are the only communities, the only times, that civilization has advanced. The Roman Empire decayed when ¡t ceased to be progressive in this sense, and there are other examples. To a certain extent, you see the beginnings of it in the United Kingdom today, but fortunately not in the United States and certainly not in the Soviet Union."

Queen Isabella of Spain was confronted with something of the same sort of question nearly five centuries ago when she sold her jewels to assemble the resources necessary to finance the trip to the Indies of Christopher Columbus and his crew.

Her prime motives may well have been the glory and riches she expected to accrue to Spain. But the great results of this historical venture were not the spice and gold it brought to Spanish coffers, nor the vast territorial acquisitions which gave Spain dominion over the first global empire in history.

Far more important, the Columbian explorations marked the beginning of a major new cycle in the development of the world, enhancing man's mastery of the seas and bringing together in one great community, however unhappily, the entire human race.

It is not too much to contemplate that similar experiences may be awaiting us as we embark on the contemporary venture into unknown space. This is not simply because outer space provides a new dimension to potentially new resources, nor because the possibility of finding life on other planets has suddenly become much more real. Of even greater importance is the vast accumulation of new technology and new techniques resulting from the first decade of space exploration. Not unnaturally, the sheer spectacular quality of the moon landing tended to focus the world's attention on the heroic aspects of the achievement.

Somehow, the casting of the Apollo 11 and 12 voyages on millions of television sets around the world gave it the character of a sports event. Focus was on the astronauts, champions of a new interplanetary Olympiad, and on the faultless performance of the spacecraft. In the process, the real significance of space exploration became obscure.

If the experience of the past three or four thousand years has any value, it tells us that in freeing himself from the millennial confinement of the earth's gravitation and its atmosphere, man has added a vast new dimension to his environment and to his character. In broadening his horizons, he has in a qualitative sense altered his very being and completely changed his relationship to the rest of nature, and this in turn presages sweeping changes in every field of human activity.

Colossal strides in civilization in the past have followed each major advance in man's observation of the skies. Astronomical discoveries, time after time, have influenced and, in some cases, shifted the very course of history.

Now, the impact of space exploration the most momentous of all human adventures promises to usher in a new stage of civilization the broad outlines of which remain undefinable, if for no other reason than that the exploration has only begun. The potential of the universe for mankind is as completely unknown today as was that of the New World after the return of Columbus to Spain.

As Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist, has put it: "Once you raise the question that other land than this earth is possible to live on, that other places are possible places to found colonies, or that there may be other living creatures somewhere, you have changed the whole place of man in the universe. You've altered everything. This involves a considerable reduction of human arrogance and a tremendous magnification of human possibilities."

Just as the age of earth exploration completely transformed the political matrix around the globe, the space age will radically. Alter the present global political constellation and institutions. The nation state, already ill-suited to human needs in the last half of the twentieth century, can hardly be expected to effectively serve man's goals in space.

The on-again off-again trip to Mars, originally scheduled for the 1970s, will very likely be too expensive for either the United States or the Soviet Union to undertake alone. By combining in this and other projects in the conquest of space, it is possible to co-operate where prejudices and conflicting interests are least involved. In this age of global problems, the necessity of co-operation in space as human beings with predominantly common interests cannot but have a feedback on earth. If and when space exploration becomes more than a marginal activity, its higher priority is bound to give new stimulus to international joint ventures in space.

Already COMSAT (Communications Satellite Corporation) and INTELSAT (the international space communications organization of 70 member countries) have established a pattern for international public utilities in space communications. American and Soviet rockets are launching European, Australian and Japanese satellites into space. And some 40 tracking stations around the globe, involving varying degrees of international co-operation, participated in the Apollo project.

But if no one knows where this new adventure in space will eventually take us, what new worlds will be discovered what new horizons will open as man colonizes the moon or other planets, or what advantages may be found in manufacturing instruments and equipment in the vacuum of outer space, the first decade of the Space Age has given us a foretaste of what is in store for the future.

Since 1967 hardly a person on earth has not been directly or indirectly effected in one way or another by the results of the space exploration. Liberated from the forces that have kept us earthbound throughout recorded history, we now have capabilities (intellectual and material) that are immeasurably greater than ever before. These new capabilities open unlimited opportunities for the development of human faculties and the satisfaction of human needs.

A whole galaxy of earth satellites is now providing global services which have already brought vast improvements to communications, weather prediction, geology and geodetics, navigation and oceanography. These and other vital tools for the enhancement of man's control over his environment are available not only to the advanced industrial countries that have developed them, but have had immediate benefits for all countries around the globe providing developing countries with tremendous new capabilities for more rapid economic and social advance.

New technologies products, materials, processes, manufacturing techniques, operating procedures, and new standards born of space requirements are being transferred from their original space application to industry, commerce, education and public health, replacing products or practices currently in use to provide those which will better fill the vast variety of human needs.

But, most important, effective techniques and structures have been developed for the "forcing" of technology transfer, and private industry, universities and governments now have at their disposal vast computerized data banks of knowledge and data on virtually every field of the physical and social sciences, technology and the humanities.

But an even more important aspect of the Space Revolution is the last one: techniques for directing massive projects undertaken by thousands of minds in a close-knit, synergistic combination of government, universities and industry. Taken together these techniques are potentially the most powerful management tool in man's history, changing the way civil servants, scientists and managers approach virtually every task they undertake.

About the authors

U.S. engineer Gene Gregory is also a writer specializing in economic and technological questions.

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Debate: For and against space exploration - is space research a waste of time?

This house believes that in a time of collapsing national economies and worldwide austerity measures, investment in space is a bad use of resources.

For: investing in further scientific exploration of space is a waste of resources.

By Robin Hanbury-Tenison

The amount of money being spent on space research is in the billions and it has achieved extraordinarily little except for a bit of improved technology which would probably have come about anyway by other means. Whether or not global warming is real, and whether or not we are facing imminent catastrophe on this planet, we are certainly facing serious issues here on Earth, and they are getting worse as we simply watch them. These include the disappearance of the rainforest , the pollution of the oceans, and increased desertification of an area about the size of England every year. These are the general crises that are coming to the planet, quite apart from the economic ones we're so obsessed with at the moment.

I have for some time considered space research a gross waste of money, time and effort that could be much better applied to the management of our own planet. I'm currently writing a book about what remains of the Central American rainforest of the Petén and looking at ways of protecting it. But the only way you can really protect rainforest , and I've been trying to do this for 40 years, is to make it more valuable standing than cut. The Petén is interesting because this is where the Maya were. Their civilisation collapsed in about 900AD because they over-exploited their environment.

We know that all civilisations collapse after about 500 years, prior to which you have big cities, people in the countryside servicing the cities. But inevitably the greed of development leads to the extinction of a culture. This is exactly what is happening to us today. We're experiencing climate change, famine, drought, warfare and we're investing money needed to solve these problems in Space.

If the collapse of civilisations is a recurrent theme, then at we should be looking for ways of managing the planet's resources in order to make how we live sustainable. The way to do that is not to go charging off into Space, wasting unbelievable quantities of money in pursuit of some chimera that we might in one day come back with some valuable mineral. Science should be devoting the sorts of sums of money that it is pumping into space to working out how to mange the climate here on Earth.

There has been research going on for 65 years into climate management. We know how to seed clouds and we know how to make it rain when we want it to rain. The Chinese and the Russians are very switched on to this and they know how to do it. The Chinese used it to prevent rain during the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, and it never rains on the Victory Day Parade in Russia. So the technology for managing the weather is in place and I think we should devote massive resources to developing that technology and taking it from the military into the civilian world.

The big elephant in the room in all this is the issue of population. We all know it will rise to 10 billion or so in the next few decades. The only way to reduce population is prosperity, because we prosperous countries do not breed so fast. The way to do that is to give people enough to eat. The way to do that is to make it rain. We should reallocate the funds currently being spent on Space research to the rather simple notion of making it rain where and when we want it.

Now there will be pro-space lobbyists who agree with every word of this, but will complain that I want to take their money off them. But there isn't enough money to go around. In terms of expenditure on weather management since the Second World War there's only been tens of millions spent on research – as opposed to tens of billions on space research.

If you put the money that is wasted in space into the hands of climatologists you could have lasting benefits for mankind. I don't think space science is bad science, I just think it's a waste of time.

Against: Investing in further scientific exploration of space is a good use of resources that will ultimately help to stimulate global economies

By Piers Bizony

We're living in a tremendously virtual age where many young people think that all of the discoveries that they need to make will happen on their laptops and smartphones . For me, it's more important than ever to reintroduce a sense of physical exploration, to get out there into strange, hostile and challenging environments. There is probably 99 per cent of deep oceans and all of space to left explore, and it is only by putting humans into new physical locations that we'll be able to make genuine and crucial scientific discoveries. Human presence in science is almost the definition of science. It's a human endeavour to gather knowledge, not just a machine endeavour to gather data. The robots we send into these environments don't know what to look for, and above all they don't know how to be surprised by something like the strange glint of a rock.

Some will say that we're in the deepest economic crisis since the 1930s and we simply don't have spare pocket money for this. But, the first thing to remember when looking at the recent announcement that Nasa is to put $1.6bn into a project to get its astronauts up the International Space Station, is that this is actually not a very large sum of money.

Besides, one of the most successful responses to the Great Depression of the 1930s was to pump money into infrastructure and technology – it was called Roosevelt's New Deal. It was controversial at the time, but by the end of that decade, the USA was the most powerful nation on Earth. What are governments for if they don't invest? It's much better to put taxpayers' money into jobs and new technologies than simply bailing out banks.

The benefits of continuing to conduct off-world scientific exploration in the short term are Earthly. They have to do with forging new and unprecedented diplomatic relationships between countries, while getting engineers with different backgrounds and traditions to work together.

It also ensures the development of a good technology base, not only among companies, but among young people who need something to inspire them through the educational system. These people are more likely to be interested in building a space ship than something less glamorous. Space science also keeps coming up with new challenges in terms of materials, communications and so on. Solving these challenges feeds back into the terrestrial economy. People are under the illusion that investing in rockets involves little more than sticking money into the pipe and then setting fire to it. But that's not at all the case. The money gets circulated here on the ground. There has never been a space programme that hasn't been a good economic stimulus.

What the current team of scientists is doing at the moment is developing a framework to teach us how to maintain a long-term presence in space. It started with how to build structures in space, and they're now beginning to conduct scientific experiments up there. It has taken some time for the science to feed back to us, but this is because constructing the Space Station itself has been complicated.

The short cycle of governments means that it's not always in their interest to look to the long term. But when there are international alliances it's harder for any given government to withdraw from projects and ruin everything for everyone else. Nasa called in international allies to help to justify it and in so doing put itself in a position where it didn't want to disappoint any of those allies by cancelling large chunks of the programme. It's these alliances that are the key to ensuring the long-term potential for space exploration.

And so the question of investment in space isn't one of throwing good money after bad. In terms of science, 99.999 per cent of all that we need to know is off-world. It's inconceivable that we don't send more human beings out there to find out more about it.

Image credit: NASA .

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The Illogical Case for Space

Over the past few months, I’ve written a half-dozen columns examining the ethics and rationale behind a variety of space initiatives. But there’s one central question that I have yet to tackle: Why should we care about space exploration in the first place?

Some space enthusiasts choose to ignore this question altogether. If you ask them why you ought to care about space, they might look at you like you’re crazy — “Well, why wouldn’t you? Are you, like, against science or something?” But when billions of taxpayer dollars are going into space-related research every year, and the benefit to the public is not always evident, the “why” question needs to be addressed.

Unfortunately, the common arguments in favor of space exploration have glaring holes in their logic.

Take a hypothetical space enthusiast. He might begin his defense of space spending by citing all the useful technologies that have been created as a result of space exploration. This point is indisputable — the list of technologies that NASA has produced or refined is extensive , ranging from portable laptops to baby formula. But if our primary desire is the production of useful consumer technologies, a space agency doesn’t seem like the most intuitive place to invest. Plenty of other industries could produce similar technologies if given NASA’s multi-billion dollar budget, and they likely could do so more efficiently, given that the development of these technologies is only one small part of NASA’s overall mission.

The space geek might then point out that going after NASA for financial reasons is misguided. After all, NASA’s funding only makes up 0.5 percent of the total U.S. budget; if you really wanted to save money, you’d best look elsewhere. But this is where we wade into politically divisive waters — what exactly can we scale back instead of NASA? If you said (as I’m inclined to) that the military is the most deserving of a budget cut, you’d immediately lose the attention of many conservative listeners. A call to slash social spending would be dismissed by the progressive bloc. It would be nigh-impossible to find any element of the U.S. budget that could be slashed with bipartisan support — that is, perhaps, besides NASA itself.

At this point, the space fanatic might pull out one last desperate card: Space research is necessary in order to protect the human race. If we never branch out to other planets, then we’re all sitting ducks waiting to be wiped out by the next extinction event. And, indeed, this might be true in the long term. But in the short term, we don’t have the capability to transport humans to another planet en masse, and making a distant planet fully habitable is certainly out of reach. So, for now, it’s more important to keep Earth safe than to start colonizing another planet; fighting existential threats like climate change is actually feasible, and climate research could certainly benefit from an annual budget of $22.6 billion.

So, it seems, our space enthusiast has failed to provide a convincing defense of space spending.

Now for the dramatic twist — that hypothetical space advocate was actually me, about two days ago, when I sat down to write this final column. At first, I wanted to write a traditional defense of space spending, but I quickly realized that every argument I constructed or encountered online had major holes in its logic. As a result, I was forced to ask myself: Does my deeply-held passion for space exploration actually have no logical basis?

And, I realized, the answer is yes. The very act of exploring space — launching humans on giant hunks of metal to go wander around distant space rocks — is a deeply illogical undertaking. Still, millions of humans across the globe are inspired by daring space missions, even if those missions offer no tangible benefit to their own lives.

To me, this is because space research — from the search for extraterrestrial life to figuring out how to get humans to Mars — is more of a spiritual pursuit than a pragmatic one. It excites and fascinates us; it satisfies our collective desire to learn more about the unknown — to go where we’ve never been before. Space allows us to explore our deepest questions about the nature of our role in the universe.

Asking why we should fund space exploration is like asking why we should fund art. Arguments rooted in pragmatism miss the point — that space exploration is for the heart and soul.

That said, not everyone will get the same fulfillment from space, like not everyone finds value in the same work of art. So, it’s important that we space advocates be flexible in order to keep our dream alive.

When pragmatists point out that the money currently going towards space seems excessive, we should say, “You know, you might be right,” and look for alternatives — like an emphasis on less-expensive unmanned space exploration or partnerships between NASA and private companies. When they tell us that some space initiatives — like terraforming — are unrealistic, we should abandon those goals. And when they ask what tangible benefits can be reaped from outer space, we should point out the potential opportunities to turn a profit — like asteroid mining .

These are all ideas that I’ve explored in this column. I’m obviously one of the people who finds great spiritual fulfillment through our exploration of space, but I completely understand that not everyone feels the same way. I urge my fellow space enthusiasts to recognize that our passion is not shared by everyone; in response, we should always be looking for cheaper and more efficient ways to carry out the big goals that we would love to see accomplished.

If we want to take the next giant leaps, we mustn’t step on too many toes.

Daniel L. Leonard ’21, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a joint History of Science and Philosophy concentrator in Winthrop House.

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Space exploration: Colossal waste of money or one giant leap for mankind?

Following Elon Musk’s brilliant, yet also brilliantly expensive Falcon Heavy launch , there was again social media outrage decrying it as a huge waste of resources that could have been better used on Earth. It’s something I’ve heard a lot here and there from both liberals and conservatives: “Why should we invest so much in something that barely affects us?”

I’m not that surprised when this question comes from supporters of the current administration. Our supremely well-qualified EPA Chief, Scott Pruitt, just recently stated , “We know that humans have most flourished during time of warming trends. I think there’s [sic] assumptions made that because the climate is warming, that that necessarily is a bad thing.” Trump has also tried to hide and censor scientific facts that go against his platform, even cutting funding for many major science agencies .

This makes it even more strange that some liberals are against the scientific progress that space exploration brings.

The common “bleeding-heart liberal” argument is often that “since money isn’t being spent on poor people or starving children in Africa, it’s a waste.” For example, Nathan Robinson describes these launches as “indefensible wastes of money” in his article that sums up much of this childish reasoning. Robinson tries to casually equate Musk’s position about space exploration with the idea that “anyone who mentions the colossal waste the project involves, or the various social uses to which these resources could be put, [should] be dismissed as a killjoy.”

He’s exactly right. These people are indeed killjoys, and should be educated on the benefits that research can bring. In addition to being applied to Elon Musk and other rich entrepreneurs, this argument is also used for reasons that we should defund NASA.

What Robinson fails to address is the fact that the research and development that is needed to undertake such a massive project directly benefits us back on Earth. This is something I believe cannot be overstated enough: Even though we might just see something like a rocket launch as “cool” or an “oh wow” moment, in reality so much preparation and research goes into it that will inherently flow back and benefit us. Imagine a life without prosthetic limbs, heart pumps, solar power, advance firefighter gear and water purification. NASA has played a large part in the research and development of all of these items .

Innovations that are developed through NASA’s research are known as spin-offs, and often include medical and safety breakthroughs. Robinson states, “perhaps we could make it so that a child no longer dies of malaria every two minutes,” but space exploration could actually be the solution to this disease or similar ones through spin-offs. The technology that results from these large scale missions could solve many problems back on Earth.

From an economic standpoint, space exploration in general has so many benefits. Starting off, NASA doesn’t occupy a large portion of the federal budget at all, clocking in at a 0.4% of the 2018 budget . Even then, it’s not like the money that goes into NASA is being wasted. Each dollar that goes into NASA adds $7-14 to the economy. It’s a good investment to invest in space: we get great technology that we can use here on Earth as well as a boost to industry.

Viewpoints like Robinson’s disparaging Musk for using his own money on his own project instead of sending it off to another cause are reasons that wealth redistribution (which is needed in society) is often looked down upon within the U.S. The idea that rich people are both the sole problem and sole solution for society doesn’t really make sense, and especially not for scientists like Musk who are trying to develop ways to advance society. At the same time we as a society disparage wealthy people for working hard and having money, we expect them to give up that money and magically solve all of the world’s problems.

Even when Musk is involved with such a scientific breakthrough that will no doubt benefit the majority of members of society, much of it from his personal investment, he is still insulted. Even when the government is able to make an amazing return on its investment from NASA and other space programs that can be used to help civilians, people like Robinson will no doubt still bash on the agency. If anything, we need to invest in space technology: instead of ridiculing Elon Musk for shooting a car into space, we should relish the technology and R&D that went into it.

Contact Tiger Sun at [email protected]

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Is It Worth It? The Costs and Benefits of Space Exploration

Given the cost associated with space exploration, one naturally has to ask what the benefits are and whether or not they are worth it..

Matthew S. Williams

Ever since the Sunset of the Apollo era and the Soviet Union collapsed (thus ending the Cold War), there has been an unavoidable question regarding space exploration.

It has become even more relevant in recent years in response to new proposals to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars.

“Given the sheer cost, is space exploration really worth it?”

Let’s face it; space exploration isn’t exactly cheap! It takes millions of dollars to send even a single robotic mission to space and billions of dollars to send astronauts to orbit.

If you’re looking to send explorers to even the nearest celestial bodies, chances are the costs will run into the hundreds of billions.

To be fair, exploring space, the other celestial bodies of the Solar System, and the Universe at large also comes with innumerable benefits. The problem is the most obvious benefits are largely intangible. How do you put a dollar value on scientific knowledge, inspiration, or expanding our frontiers?

NASA on The Commons / Flickr

What About Earth?

For those debating the worth of space exploration, things often turn toward the issue of how many problems we have here on Earth. As the argument goes, we’ve got enough challenges here at home – climate change, hunger, overpopulation, and underdevelopment. These should take priority over exploring and/or establishing a human presence in other worlds.

RELATED: 10 WAYS HUMANS IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT

For example, in a recent op-ed piece , Amitai Etzioni – an adviser to the Carter administration – countered some of the arguments for colonizing Mars and other planets in the Solar System (as put forth by luminaries such as Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk ). Addressing the argument that humanity needed to do so to survive long-term, Etzioni wrote:

“[W]hat the droughts, the fires, the hot summers, and the melting glaciers call for is not an escape from Earth, but a redoubling of the efforts to save it… What is needed are major technological breakthroughs that will allow for protecting earth while sustaining a healthy level of economic activity… To make such breakthroughs we need major concentrations of research and development resources, talent, and leadership, all of which are in short supply. Hence, any serious Mars endeavor will inevitably cut into the drive to save Mother Earth.”

While these arguments have a certain logic, they are subject to three major assumptions/fallacies. First , they seem to be built around the idea that space exploration and addressing our many problems here on Earth are mutually exclusive rather than complementary.

One of the greatest benefits of human spaceflight and space exploration has been the ability to study Earth from orbit. This has allowed us to learn an unprecedented amount about our planet’s climate and weather systems, not to mention giving us the ability to measure these systems and the impact that human agency continues to have on them.

It also gave rise to the understanding that our planet is a single, synergistic, and self-regulating complex system — the Gaia Hypothesis . Originally proposed by famed scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1970s, this scientific theory is one of the cornerstones of the modern environmentalist movement.

Second , there is the assumption that directing funds into space exploration and space-related ventures will deprive other efforts (such as addressing climate change, alleviating poverty, feeding the hungry, etc.) of vital resources.

Once again, the same type of “either/or” reasoning is at play, with no apparent room for “and.” When you get right down to it, there is no basis (other than facile logic) for thinking that money spent on scientific endeavors in space means there will be less money from addressing problems at home.

United States Department of Energy/ Wikimedia Commons

What’s more, there is no guarantee that money not spent on space exploration would be automatically diverted to dealing with social, economic, and environmental issues. While the argument appeals to a certain concern for humanity and social justice, it is not born out by reason.

Third , if the argument comes down to the question of resources being better spent elsewhere, why single out space exploration? Why not something that’s even more expensive and has less demonstrable benefits? Why not something like military spending?

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute , in 2014, roughly $1.8 trillion US was committed to military expenditures worldwide. Could this money not have been better spent on humanitarian aid, addressing extreme poverty, or assisting the transition to renewable energy worldwide?

To be more specific, let’s look at the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II combat aircraft, which began development in 1992. According to estimates compiled in 2016 , it has cost over 1.5 trillion dollars to get this fighter from the drawing board to procurement by the US and other nations’ armed forces.

Master Sgt. John R. Nimmo, Sr. | US Air Force / DVIDS.net

Spread over twenty-four years (1992-2016), which works out to an average of over $125 billion annually. These cost overruns have been largely due to design flaws and technical failures resulting in multiple aircraft losses during testing.

But some critics think the program has endured because it has become “ too big to kill .” Had the program been terminated years ago, could the billions of taxpayer dollars saved not have been put towards addressing social problems? Just saying…

Consider the amount spent annually to subsidize the fossil fuel industry as a second example. According to the International Energy Agency , the value of global fossil-fuel subsidies was over $300 billion in 2017 alone.

However, according to a 2017 study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the University of California, the price tag is much higher. Once you consider all of the indirect ways in which fossil fuels are subsidized – not to mention the costs of dealing with the impact of fossil fuel burning – the total cost comes to a whopping $5 trillion.

Not only is all that money not being used to address the urgent problem of climate change, but it is also actively financing it. If some of those trillions were to be diverted to financing solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources, would we not see a more rapid decline in carbon emissions?

To be fair, those counter-arguments are also a bit over-simplistic and deflect from the question. But then again, the question itself is very hard to answer. When all is said and done, it isn’t easy to take seven decades of space exploration, size up the accomplishments, and reduce it all to a yes/no answer.

But between the cost of resources and the measurable benefits we get from space exploration, a basic cost/benefit assessment should be possible. So let’s look at what humanity has gained by going to space over the past few decades, starting from the beginning…

First Forays Into Space

The Soviet Union was the first to make it to space, launching its Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957. Several satellites followed, as well as the first animals (such as Laika the dog ), followed by the first man and woman in 1961 and 1963. These were cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova , who flew to space as part of the Vostok 1 and  Vostok 6 missions, respectively.

The United States followed suit, creating NASA in 1958 and launching the first American satellites with the Explorer program. Test launches (including animals) came shortly thereafter, followed by Project Mercury and the first American astronauts being sent to space (the Mercury Seven ).

On both sides, a great deal of time and resources went into developing rockets and testing the effect of spaceflight on creatures big and small. And the advancements made within each national space program were inexorably tied to developing nuclear weapons. 

As such, it can be difficult to differentiate between the cost of some of these early projects and general military spending. Another issue is the difficulty in obtaining accurate information from the early Soviet programs, which were kept secret from Western sources and the Soviet Union’s people.

Nevertheless, public cost assessments were made for certain programs (mainly NASA ones). So if we were to consider the kinds of advancements made as a result of a program and then weigh that against the money it took to make it happen, we could construct a rough cost/benefit analysis.

Project Mercury and Vostok:

According to cost assessments made by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covering 1965 to 1984, Soviet government spending on its space program was comparable to that of the United States. As stated in a report that was compiled in 1985 (and declassified in 2011):

“We estimate the annual dollar costs of the program (including research and development, procurement, operating and support costs) expressed in 1983 prices, have risen from the equivalent of over $8 billion in 1965 to over $23 billion in 1984 – averaging growth of about 6 percent per year.”

Adjusted to 2019 prices, the Soviet Union space program cost the equivalent of $25.5 billion in 1965 – by which time they had already sent six crewed missions to space as part of the Vostok program – and steadily grew over the next few decades.

By this time, the Soviet Union had also conducted multiple test launches and sent numerous satellites into orbit as part of the Sputnik program . So while it is difficult to price individual programs, it is fair to say that $25.5 billion a year was the price the Soviet Union paid to be the first country to send an artificial object and human beings into space.

For NASA, the cost of early crewed spaceflights is easier to assess. This began with Project Mercury, which officially ran from 1958–1963 and succeeded in placing the first American astronaut into space. This was astronaut Alan Shepard, sent into orbit on May 5th, 1961, as part of the Freedom 7 mission.

According to cost assessments made by 1965 (two years after the program ended), Project Mercury cost US taxpayers roughly $277 million over five years. Adjusted for inflation, that works out to a total of 2.2 billion dollars, or $440 million a year.

Project Gemini , which ran from 1961–1966, sent several more crews into space using two-stage rockets and spacecraft capable of sending two astronauts in a single flight. Based on cost assessments compiled in 1967, this program cost taxpayers $1.3 billion over five years.

Once adjusted to 2019 dollars, that works out to $9.84 billion, or $ 1.97 billion a year. So really, these two programs cost taxpayers over $12 billion over eight years (1958-1966). This brings us to a total bill of about $91 billion, or $11.375 billion annually.

The Race to the Moon

But by far, the greatest commitment in time, energy, money, and expertise went into the Apollo Program. This program called for the development of rockets, spacecraft, and related technologies that would lead to the first crewed missions in history to the Moon.

The Apollo Program began in earnest in 1960 to develop a spacecraft capable of accommodating up to three astronauts and a super-heavy launch vehicle capable of breaking from Earth’s gravity and conducting a trans-lunar injection maneuver.

These needs were met with the creation of the three-stage Saturn V rocket and the Apollo spacecraft – which consisted of the Command Module (CM), the Service Module (SM), and a lunar Landing Module (LM). 

The goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade required the most sudden burst of creativity, technological innovation, and the largest commitment of resources ever made by a nation during peacetime. It also entailed a massive support infrastructure that employed 400,000 people and over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.

And by the time the last Apollo mission was flown ( Apollo 17 , in 1972), the program had cost a pretty penny. According to the NASA authorization Hearings held by the Ninety-third Congress in 1974, the Apollo program cost taxpayers USD 25.4 billion.

Adjusted for inflation, that equals  $130.23 billion in 2019 dollars. Considering that that spending was spread over a twelve-year period (1960-1972), this works out to average annual spending of $10.85 billion a year.

But consider that these programs did not exist in a vacuum, and a lot of money went into other programs and additional support. Regarding NASA’s total budget, spending on space exploration peaked in 1965, with a total budget of about $50 billion (adjusted to 2019 dollars).

The Soviet Union was also budgeting very heavily at this time. Doing the math, at 6% growth per annum, the Soviet Union would have spent the equivalent of around $25.5 billion to $46.22 billion a year between 1965 and when the last Apollo mission flew in 1972.

While the Soviet Union never sent astronauts to the Moon in this same period, they did send many more crews to orbit and several robotic explorer missions to the Moon (the Luna and Lunokhod programs) and other bodies in the Solar System.

Pricing the “Space Race”:

Any way you slice it, $25.5 to $50 billion a year is a LOT of money! For comparison, consider the Hoover Dam, one of the largest engineering feats in history. This massive hydroelectric operation cost approximately $49 million to build between 1931 and 1936. That works out to about $815 million spread over five years, or $163 million yearly.

In short, for what they spent on the Apollo Program alone, American taxpayers could have footed the bill for 177 Hoover Dams. Think of the electricity that could have been provided! Or, to use a more robust statistic, the US government has committed $89.6 billion in 2019 to its Health and Human Services department.

In that respect, the Apollo Program costs roughly 14% of what the US government spends annually on the health and well-being of millions of its citizens. If that kind of money were injected into healthcare spending, the US would greatly expand its medical coverage.

The comparison is a bit crude, but it gives you a sense of how monumentally expensive space exploration has been for all who have dared to engage in it. One, therefore, has to ask, what benefits did all this spending bring?

Aside from the national prestige and the inspiration it provided, what tangible benefits can be cited as justification for all the money spent?

What Came Of All This?

The most obvious benefit of the Space Age was how it advanced humanity’s knowledge of space. By putting satellites and crewed spacecraft into orbit, scientists learned a great deal about Earth’s atmosphere, Earth’s ecosystems, which led to the development of Global Position Satellite (GPS) navigation.

The deployment of satellites also led to a revolution in communications technology. Since Sputnik 1 was launched to orbit in 1957, about 8,100 satellites have been deployed by forty countries for telecommunications, television, radio broadcasting, navigation, and military operations.

As of 2019, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs  (UNOOSA) estimated 5,074 satellites are in orbit on Earth. And in the coming years, thousands more are expected as part of the growing telecom and satellite internet markets. In the latter case, these satellites will be essential to meeting the growing demands for wireless services in the developing world.

Between 2005 and 2017 , the number of people worldwide who had internet access went from 1 billion to over 3.5 billion – 16% to 48% of the population. Even more impressive, the number of people in developed nations with internet access went from 8% to over 41%. By the latter half of this century, internet access is expected to become universal.

The deployment of satellites, crewed missions, and space stations – culminating in the creation of the International Space Station (ISS) – also had a revolutionary impact on Earth’s sciences and our understanding of the planet.

As noted, the study of Earth from space gave rise to the theory that all living organisms interact with their environment to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet – once again, this is known as the “Gaia Hypothesis.”

Interestingly, this theory resulted from Lovelock’s work with NASA, where he helped develop models for assessing whether or not life could exist on Mars. Thanks to these studies, scientists have understood how life emerged and evolved here on Earth.

They have also been able to create models that predict under which conditions life could exist in extra-terrestrial environments. This goes beyond locations in the Solar System (like Mars or within the moons of Europa, Ganymede, Enceladus, Titan, etc.) and includes extrasolar planets.

Aside from being a historic feat, which was never before seen (or since), the Apollo missions also resulted in many profound scientific advancements. The study of lunar rocks, which the Apollo astronauts brought back with them, led scientists to theorize that the Earth and Moon were once part of the same protoplanet.

According to this theory, known as the Giant Impact Hypothesis , the Earth-Moon system results from a collision that took place some 4.5 billion years ago between Earth and a Mars-sized object (named Theia). This occurred just a few million years after the Earth formed from the protoplanetary disk surrounding our Sun.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)

The deployment of space-based telescopes has also had a major impact on astronomy and cosmology. By operating in orbit, these telescopes are not subject to atmospheric distortion and can capture images of distant galaxies and cosmic phenomena that would not be possible using ground-based telescopes.

For example, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has contributed over a million observations in its 30 years of service. These have allowed astronomers and astrophysicists to learn more about the Universe by measuring the rate at which it is expanding (which led to the theory of Dark Energy), testing General Relativity, and discovering extrasolar planets.

This last area of research, which has since been taken up by the likes of the Kepler Space Telescope (KST), the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite , the Gaia space observatory , and (soon) the James Webb Space Telescope has allowed scientists to search for life beyond our world like never before!

The Kepler mission alone has discovered nearly 4000 candidate extrasolar planets . Of these, 49 planets have been earmarked for follow-up studies because they are considered good candidates for habitability. Once again, looking for life out there is causing scientists to take a good like at how life emerged here.

And then there is the way space travel has brought the world together and facilitated international cooperation. When Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go to space, he instantly became a hero, not just in the Soviet Union. During the frequent tours he did after his historic flight, Gagarin’s warm manner and bright smile were said to have “ lit up the darkness of the Cold War. “

The same was true of Neil Armstrong when he became the first man to set foot on the Moon. His famous words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” are considered iconic well beyond the United States. After returning to Earth, he toured the Soviet Union as an honored guest and delivered an address at the 13th annual conference of the International Committee on Space Research.

During  Apollo 11, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a package of memorial items on the Moon to honor astronauts and cosmonauts who had died in training accidents. In addition to Grissom, White, and Chaffee (who died in the 1967 fire that consumed the Apollo 1 Command Module ), they also honored Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin – who died in 1967 and 1968, respectively.

Laika the dog, the first canine to go into space, is regarded as a hero by space enthusiasts worldwide. Even though these events all took place during the Cold War, the way these achievements united the world in celebration allowed for a bit of a thaw.

You also have collaborative efforts like the International Space Station (ISS), which 18 national space agencies participated in creating. These included NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and others.

These same countries have regularly contributed both personnel and experiments to ISS expeditions. As of 2019, 236 astronauts have visited the station (many of them multiple times), with 149 being from the US, 47 from Russia, 18 from the EU, nine from Japan, eight from Canada, and individual astronauts from a wide range of countries.

But of course, the benefits of 70 years of space travel go beyond scientific advancements and international cooperation. There are also innumerable technological and commercial benefits that have resulted from space-related government-funded research and development.

Within the United States, these benefits are cataloged by NASA Spinoff , founded in 1973 by the NASA Technology Transfer Program to report on how technologies developed for space missions have been made available to the corporate sector and the general public.

For instance, did you know that NASA-funded research led to the development of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), portable cordless vacuums, microwaves, freeze-drying technology, temper foam, video enhancing and analysis systems, computer-assisted design (CAD), Embedded Web Technology (EWT), and weather visualization and forecasting software?

RELATED: 23 GREAT NASA SPIN-OFF TECHNOLOGIES

How about health and medical advances like ventricular assist devices (VADs), artificial limbs, food safety systems, water and air filtration systems, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)? It has also advanced our understanding of genetic disorders, osteoporosis, and degenerative diseases.

The list goes on and on, but to break it down, a 2002 study conducted by George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute indicated that, on average, NASA returns $7 to $21 back to the American public through its Technology Transfer Program. That’s a pretty significant return on investment, especially when you consider the other ways it has paid off.

What Does the Future Hold?

Asking whether or not space exploration is worth the investment is both sensible and necessary. But an equally valid question to ask while considering all that we’ve derived from it so far is, “Would that have been possible otherwise?”

Would we have seen the same revolutions in communications, computing, transportation, medicine, astronomy, astrophysics, and planetary sciences? Would we have come to learn as much about our origins on this planet? Would we understand just how interconnected life and ecosystems are today?

Pondering these two questions is vital as we embark on an era of renewed space exploration, which will require a similar commitment in time, energy, resources, and vision. It’s also worth considering whether or not we will even be able to address our problems here on Earth without investing in space exploration. 

Looking to the next decade and after, NASA, Roscomos, China, India, the EU, and many other space agencies hope to explore the lunar surface, create a permanent outpost there, send astronauts to Mars, explore the outer planets of the Solar System, and search for life both near and far.

All of this will require a lot of money, and it is uncertain what the future budget environment will be like. And while countless innovation promise to make going to space more cost-effective and accessible (like reusable rockets and space planes), we may run into some problems in the future and need to make some sacrifices.

But for now, it seems that we are intent on making the next generation of exploration happen. According to recent polls conducted by Pew Research , most Americans (72%) believe it is essential for the United States to be a leader in space exploration.

The same polls found that 80% of Americans surveyed believe the International Space Station (ISS) has been a good investment for the country.  On the question of the role played by NASA and NewSpace, the polls found that 65% of Americans believe that NASA must continue to be involved in space exploration instead of leaving it all to private industry.

As Manasavi Lingam, a postdoctoral researcher from Harvard University’s I nstitute for Theory and Computation (ITC), told Interesting Engineering via email, the benefits of continued space exploration include:

“The ability to greatly advance our understanding of several fields ranging from geology (e.g., learning about other crusts and mantles) to astronomy (e.g., building a telescope on the moon) and perhaps even biology (e.g., extraterrestrial life).”

Another way in which we stand to benefit from continued exploration is the expansion of our resource base. “Here, it will be essential not to overexploit the likes of the asteroid belt, Mercury, etc., all of which have substantial abundances of metals,” said Lingham.

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And, of course, there are the words of the late and great Carl Sagan, who had plenty to say on the benefits of exploration:

“We embarked on our journey to the stars with a question first framed in the childhood of our species and in each generation asked anew with undiminished wonder: What are the stars? Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars…

“our remote descendants, safely arrayed on many worlds throughout the solar system and beyond, will be unified by their common heritage, by their regard for their home planet, and by the knowledge that, whatever other life may be, the only humans in all the universe come from earth. they will gaze up and strain to find the blue dot in their skies. they will love it no less for its obscurity and fragility. they will marvel at how vulnerable the repository of all our potential once was, how perilous our infancy, how humble our beginnings, how many rivers we had to cross before we found our way.”.

Given what stands to be gained and what we will miss out on if we stop, the costs of space exploration seem infinitely bearable!

• NASA – NASA Spinoff
• Wikipedia – Benefits of space exploration
• CIA – USSR: Cost of the Space Program (2011)
• UNOOSA – Benefits of Space for Humankind
• Global Security – Launch Services Cost Study (2010)
• The Space Review – Cost of US piloted programs (2010)
• CIA – US and Soviet Space Programs: Comparative Size (1966)

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ABOUT THE EDITOR

Matthew S. Williams Matthew S Williams is an author, a writer for Universe Today, and the curator of their Guide to Space section. His works include sci-fi/mystery The Cronian Incident and his articles have been featured in Phys.org, HeroX, Popular Mechanics, Business Insider, Gizmodo, and IO9, ScienceAlert, Knowridge Science Report, and Real Clear Science, with topics ranging from astronomy and Earth sciences to technological innovation and environmental issues. He is also a former educator and a 5th degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do instructor. He lives on Vancouver Island with his wife and family.  

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Is Space Exploration a Waste of Money? Pros and Cons

Many nations around the world are scaling up their efforts in space exploration. Companies like NASA and SpaceX have invested a lot of money in Space exploration. In 2021, countries around the world spent $92 billion, an 8 percent increase from the previous year on Space exploration. Although all these monies have been spent, there haven’t been significant achievements apart from improvement in technology .

In this article, we are going to answer the question; is space exploration a waste of money and also focus on pros and cons of space exploration.

Reasons Why Space Exploration is Not a Waste of Money

We are going to first focus on why space exploration is a waste of money, pros and cons. We will look at arguments from those that support and those against space exploration. 

1. Scientific Knowledge is Valuable Compared to the Cost

Knowledge is invaluable. Space exploration proponents argue that although Space exploration is very costly, the cost is worth it since the knowledge humans have gained from Space is not comparable to the cost. They argue that humanity can be saved by colonizing other planets like Mars in case of impending danger. Elon Musk , SpaceX CEO is on a mission to colonize Mars. Space exploration will help us understand how the earth came to be. 

2. There Have Been Many Discoveries

Space exploration has also led to numerous findings and discoveries about Space. For instance, man has come to know that some planets like Mars can support human life. Besides, non-stick pans were developed as a result of space exploration. Rocket science and landing on the moon led to the discovery of non-stick pans.

3. It is the Nature of Man to Explore

Since it is the nature of man to explore, space exploration is worth it. Without exploration, some continents would still be inhabited by indigenous people. Some countries like the US have grown due to interaction with people from across the world. Besides, exploration helps alleviate ignorance.

4. Improved Technology

Through Space exploration, technology has significantly improved. For instance, companies like SpaceX have managed to develop rockets that can go beyond the earth to planets like Mars. Other tech improvements include the creation of Space Airbus which is being used to help build and design Solar Orbiter. 

5. Multiple Benefits

To sum up all the benefits of space exploration, there have been multiple discoveries like satellites that provide information about clouds, and weather forecasting. Weather forecasting has saved lives by warning people about impending danger like storms and hurricanes.

Reasons Why Space Exploration is a Waste of Money

The following are arguments from those who feel space exploration is a waste of money.

1. There is No Direct Benefit from Space Exploration

Many opponents of space exploration argue that apart from gaining knowledge about Space, there is no direct benefit to humans. Most of the benefits of Space exploration are indirect like the discovery of Satellites used in weather forecasting. As such, the benefits of space exploration are not worth the cost.

2. Space Exploration is Very Risky

Space Exploration is very risky and has led to the loss of lives. Some of NASA’s spacecraft like Apollo 1 have exploded and astronauts have lost their lives. Spacecraft accidents during space missions and training are fatal and lead to huge losses. For instance, NASA lost control over unmanned spacecraft that had been sent to Mars. 

3. The Earth has Not Been Fully Explored

Instead of colonizing other planets like Mars, humans should first fully utilize the earth. Besides, the world is soon going to face the challenge of underpopulation due to low child birthrate. As such, there is no use to colonize other planets while we haven’t fully utilized earth.

4. Money Can Be Used to Help Impoverished Humans on Earth

Other people who feel that space exploration is a waste of money feel that the money can be used to help humans who are living in dire poverty . Many continents like Africa are still lagging behind and people cannot afford three meals in a day and basic needs like clothing . As such, instead of focusing on studies, we should first help humans live dignified life.

Summary: Space Exploration is a Waste of Money Pros and Cons

The arguments of those in support and against space exploration are all correct to a certain degree. However, space exploration is worth the cost, and governments should collaborate and support it. There have been huge milestones that have been achieved by NASA and private companies like SpaceX in space exploration and cannot be underestimated.

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Why space exploration is always worthwhile

Your guide to advocating for space in a complicated world.

Most people who love space and believe in exploration have probably heard this once or twice: “We shouldn’t waste money on space exploration when there are problems to deal with here on Earth.”

While public health concerns, social injustices, climate change, and other urgent issues are important to address, solving these problems doesn’t depend on defunding space programs.

This can be a difficult conversation to navigate, so we’ve outlined a few ideas here that you can share when advocating for space.

Space research isn’t as expensive as people think

Many countries around the world invest in space science and exploration as a balanced part of their total federal budget. Public opinion research has shown that people estimate NASA to take up as much as a quarter of the U.S. federal budget, but in fact,  NASA’s budget only represents about 0.5% of the total federal budget and the proportion is even smaller for other spacefaring nations . The correct information may go a long way to reassuring critics that space spending isn’t eating up as many public resources as they think.

The United States government spent approximately $6.6 trillion in fiscal year 2020, of which just 0.3% ($22.6 billion) was provided to NASA. In this chart, shades of blue represent mandatory spending programs; shades of orange are discretionary programs that require annual appropriations by Congress. "Defense and related" includes both the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Source: Office of Management and Budget Historical Tables 8.5 and 8.7.

Space spending pays off

If someone is arguing that public funds should be spent on solving the world’s problems, they should know that money spent on NASA positively impacts the U.S. economy . We get the same kind of payoff for space spending in other countries. Spending on space supports highly skilled jobs, fuels technology advancements with practical applications, and creates business opportunities that feed back into the economy. This in turn grows the pool of public money that can be spent on solving the world’s most pressing problems.

Space research directly impacts Earthly problems

When people apply themselves to the challenges of exploring space, they make discoveries that can help the world in other ways too. Studying how we might grow food in orbit or on Mars yields insights into growing food in extreme conditions on Earth , generating knowledge that can help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Medical research conducted on the International Space Station helps us understand the human body in new ways, helping save lives and improve quality of life .

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Studying space helps us understand our own world

Studying the cosmos gives us an important perspective shift. When we learn about what lies beyond Earth, it gives us context for understanding our own planet. Studying the other worlds of our solar system and beyond makes it clear that Earth is a precious oasis for life. When we sent spacecraft to Venus we saw how a runaway greenhouse effect turned the world from a habitable planet to an absolute hellscape. When astronauts travel into space they see just how thin and tenuous Earth’s atmosphere is, appreciating the fragile balance in which we live . A cosmic perspective underscores the importance of protecting our planet’s habitability and encourages investment in that effort.

Studying space may one day save us all

All the social and environmental progress in the world won't help us if an asteroid impacts the Earth. We have to explore space to find and study the asteroids and comets in our cosmic neighborhood if we want to make sure we can  defend our planet  if an object ever heads our way.

Space is inspiring

Not every child who dreams of becoming an astronaut will get that opportunity. This is a sad truth that many of us know from experience. But to be inspired to aim for something so grand gives kids the motivation to study hard and gain skills in science, engineering, medicine, or other fields that benefit humanity and directly help overcome problems that we face as a species.

And inspiration isn’t just for kids. When we marvel at the beauty of Jupiter’s clouds or the mystery of Enceladus’ oceans , we get an opportunity to appreciate the wonder and majesty of this cosmos that we inhabit. The idea that life might exist elsewhere in the universe reminds us that we might not be the only planet struggling to achieve balance, justice, and sustainability. And even in the bleakest of times, there’s something beautiful about still striving to achieve something great and discover something that could change how we see ourselves and our cosmos forever.

There’s plenty of room at the table

There’s no denying that there are many important issues facing humanity that need fixing. But to deal with those problems doesn’t mean we have to stop looking up, stop exploring, and stop making discoveries.

Human civilization has astonishing capacity, and we can do more than one important thing at a time. If someone thinks that a particular issue should get more attention and investment, they can and should advocate for that. The problems we face don’t persist because we’re spending money on space science and exploration. And there’s no reason to pit our aspirations against one another.

The Time is Now.

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Space Programs: Progress or Waste of Money? Essay

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Introduction

Space exploration: pros and cons, reference list.

According to Space Foundation (2016), over 70 countries as at 2015 had developed space programs. Only Russia, United States of America and China have achieved spaceflight as the standard of space programs. Other countries yet to go into space have designed budgets and policies aimed at reaching the space at one point in time. By the end of 2010, over 52 countries had sent satellites that orbit the earth as part of the steps geared towards achieving space exploration.

The ability to launch and recover several satellites has been achieved by several agencies. Some of the agencies established around the world include China National Space Administration (CNSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Indian Space Research Organization (ISIRO), and the Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA). Arguments for or against space programs have led to an intense debate on their usefulness or irrelevance. In this paper, I argue that space programs are necessary for research and scientific developments so that job creation and technological development improves lives.

Billions of dollars have been spent in space exploration. However, little achievements have been realized regarding improving the lives of people. Improved technology as part of exploration has been realized through massive spending (Baum 2009). The world has serious problems such as global warming and climate change which should be tackled. Budgets should be allocated towards reducing cases of serious issues such as high temperatures, droughts, floods, and hurricanes that continue to cause death in various parts of the world.

The depletion of rainforests should be considered a key priority that is spending money on the development of space technologies. Furthermore, pollution of oceans is a more pressing issue that pride of reaching the space. Desertification is at an alarming rate. Without adequate resources to tackle real problems that affect the planet, space exploration and programs are likely to be futile in the near future. Research on space exploration is, therefore, a waste of money, time, and effort.

Crucial resources from the planet should be spent in the management of challenges affecting humanity (Baum 2009). The Central American rainforest is facing the reality of being depleted. However, government authorities would rather spend resources on space exploration than consider the long-term sustainability of resources. All space exploration programs depend on the sustainability of current resources. As a result, there is no need to waste time in space when in the long-term; resources will not be enough to guarantee continued presence in space. The civilization of the world has serious consequences to the world.

The development of cities and technologies has led to massive deaths over years. The way forward is not to spent time in space but to look for ways in which the plant can be sustainable to the need of all people. Funding should be channeled to the science of seed clouds so that farmers continue in agriculture that can sustain humanity (Baum 2009). Since the population is on the rise, resources should be channeled into food so that famine and suffering do not continue affecting humanity.

According to Ehrenfreund (2012), the ingenuity to develop technologies and work in space is part of the progress that comes from space programs. Technologies such as satellites and spec exploration tools cannot be developed without exploration. Research and innovation are futile when students and members of the public are not supported to engage in space exploration. The development of space-shift has opened the world to several opportunities of developing alternative technologies that improve life. Technologies such as airline crash protection have been developed to improve air transport safety (NASA 2004).

Without space programs, safety programs designed to improve safety of air transport is likely to be futile. Space programs also create jobs for citizens. Space agencies as well as networks that support space programs contribute to the employment of millions of citizens, directly and indirectly. Universities and other institutions benefit through the employment of students into space programs. As a result, the economic impact of space programs to any nation motivates the high level of space programs and budgets around the world. In the case of Curiosity Mars rover landing, NASA asserts that over $2.5 billion was spent. A large amount of the money was spent on projects that affect the lives of people on earth. In the United States, space programs create over 7,000 jobs in over 30 states.

Space programs are not a waste of money. Space programs have led to the development of technologies that improve air transport. Spending over $2 billion in space exploration is not a waste of money considering the number of people employed directly or indirectly in space projects on earth. Genuine scientific discoveries cannot be achieved without funding. Despite the challenges that affect the planet, there is still need for space programs while allocating resources that deal with global warming and climate change. The need to gather knowledge in space is necessary for designing programs surrounding climate change and global warming.

Baum, S 2009, ‘ Cost-benefit analysis of space exploration: some ethical considerations ’, Space policy , vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 75-80. Web.

Ehrenfreund, P 2012, ‘ Toward a global space exploration program: A stepping stone approach ‘, Advances in Space Research , Vol. 49, No. 1, pp.2–48. Web.

NASA 2004, The Vision for Space exploration . National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Web.

Space Foundation 2016, Global Space Programs. Web.

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Blue Marble Space Institute of Science

Space exploration begins at home

Is Space Exploration a Waste of Money?

By Sarah Treadwell

It is estimated that for humans to have first reached Australia approximately 65,000 years ago , they would have had to travel across vast bodies of open water. Much is unknown about how exactly they achieved this. Archaeologists and historians credit this as one of the first, remarkable achievements made by humans. While admirable today, their courage could also be described as reckless. When these early humans set sail, they took incalculable risks. They had to weather the scorching sunlight that threatened them with dehydration. They had to accept sharp pangs of hunger due to a lack of assured food sources. They had to take on the challenges of navigation with primitive rafts… all with zero assurance that anything would meet them at their journey’s end. Some people ask why we should waste money on space exploration when there are so many problems on Earth. The main answer seems to be embedded in our genetic code.

To explore is to be human.

Even if we have no assurance of finding what we seek, the drive to discover the unknown is what has defined us as a species. Space missions are the next step in our evolution of exploration. In addition to fulfilling a fundamental human need, our space programs have provided us with countless innovations in everyday life. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. From cell phone cameras to artificial limbs, our need to create innovative solutions for survival in harsh space has provided benefits found everywhere in society. Human nature is at its best when pushed to the creative limits. Life on Earth and our very civilizations are indeed faced with many problems. These issues will take many years and societal changes to fix, if ever. However, it is our obligation to muster forward and remember that we are all one species on a shared planet. Our fate rests in our unity and our determination to discover the unknown. Just like those early humans who decided to sail into the unknown, we have no assurances we will find something on the other side of our ventures into space. Also like those early humans, there are some today who would describe sending people into outer space reckless.

Ultimately, what space exploration contributes to humanity is hope. Hope that when we set aside our differences and work on what can seem insurmountable, we can achieve the impossible.

Sarah Treadwell is a student and communicator of science. She has a passion for sidewalk astronomy and a curiosity for learning how the universe works. She is currently a research associate communicating topic in Earth and space science for the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science.

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Should we be spending money on space exploration?

I should be clear that economics cannot provide an answer, but it can help us to organize our thoughts about an answer. The economic concept that is most helpful in thinking about this question is "opportunity cost." That is, the best way to value any activity is what we must give up to purchase it.

According to the NASA website https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/nasa-budget the budget for the agency in 2021 was $23.3 billion, which is 0.5% or 1/200 of total government expenditures. Another way to think about this is that it cost each of the 329 million people in the United States about $71 dollars. So the question in some sense is whether the value we get from the space program is bigger than that cost.

You asked my personal opinion. I think that this is a pretty good investment. First, I think that expanding scientific knowledge is worth it whether it offers practical applications or not. Second, technologies developed for exploring space may have practical uses here on Earth, so knowledge gained solving problems related to the space program may generate payoffs in the future. Third, there may be other practical discoveries from space exploration that we cannot anticipate now, but will show up later.

Should we be spending more? I don't know. Answering that question would require a deeper dive into what NASA does with its $23.3 billion, and what the incremental value of additional expenditures would be.

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Americans keen on space exploration, less so on paying for it

Many Americans are optimistic about the future of space travel, but they don’t necessarily want to pay for it.

It’s been that way for some time, actually. A Harris survey taken in 1970 – less than a year after the first moon landing – showed that a majority (56%) thought the landing was not worth the money spent. A separate Harris poll, in 1971, however, found that 81% of Americans agreed with the statement that “nothing can equal seeing the astronauts land and walk on the moon as it happened live on TV.”

In fact, as we dug through data archives of the National Opinion Research Center’s General Social Survey  — which has been asking the public for 40 years about their views of space exploration and federal funding for it — we found that Americans are consistently more likely to say that the U.S. spends too much on space exploration than too little.  At no time has more than 22% of the public said that the U.S. spends too little on space exploration.

Still, that doesn’t mean Americans aren’t optimistic about exploring the possibilities of space. In a Pew Research Center/Smithsonian magazine survey released last week, a third of Americans said they believe there will be manned long-term colonies on other planets by the year 2064, despite evidence suggesting the difficulties of accomplishing that. Also, 63% of respondents to our 2010 survey  said that they believe astronauts will have landed on Mars by 2050. More than half said that ordinary humans will be able to participate in space travel.

And it’s not as though Americans have a dim view of NASA, which overseas the government’s space program. About three quarters of Americans view NASA favorably – second only to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among federal agencies – according to a 2013 Pew Research survey .

Despite these positive opinions of the space program, just a two-in-ten Americans in the 2012 GSS survey said that the U.S. spends too little on space exploration. Four-in-ten believed the current spending was adequate, while three-in-ten believed further cuts should be made to the program. Instead, Americans strongly preferred increased spending on programs closer to home, including education (76%), public health (59%), and developing alternative energy sources (59%).

Currently, total funding for NASA  accounts for 0.5% of the federal government’s budget. Of that funding, the space exploration program accounts for roughly 22%  of NASA’s budget.

The disinclination to spend money on space exploration has already had an impact when it comes to ambitious projects like space colonization. In 2012, the NASA budget took a 20% hit to its planetary science programs, severely crippling NASA’s Mars exploration program . This year, the budget for Opportunity, NASA’s decade-old Mars rover, may be eliminated .

Update: A previous version of this blog post said no more than 20% of the public said the U.S. spends too little on space exploration. Some data sources have conflicting data and we have updated our post to reflect the higher figure, at 22%.

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Space Exploration Is a Waste of Money Essay Argumentative Essay

The author argues that while space exploration may have given us Velcro and some interesting scientific insights, it is not a worthwhile use of resources compared to the needs of humanity. The cost of space programs is unnecessarily high, and the money could be better spent on research into cancer or feeding the millions of starving people around the globe. The author believes that the needs of humanity should always come first, and space exploration should be considered a desire rather than a necessity. They suggest that we should focus on learning more about Earth and the ocean before spending more time and money on space exploration.

Science may well give us good things. We all know Velcro came from NASA. But why bother spending all this money exploring space and finding out there was water on Mars at some point in the last few thousand years (we have water in Earth) when these same great minds could be applied to finding better ways to power humanity’s insatiable desire for energy, to feeding the starving millions around the globe, and generally making life down here better before looking up into the heavens.

It seems the authoritative powers have their heads way, way up in the clouds. For example: there was one space program that did send human beings into space ended up costing American taxpayers $150 billion, almost 8 times the initial cost estimate of $20 billion. By contrast, the things we learned from these missions, while fascinating, are hardly beneficial to humans. Most pertain to the composition and history of the moon. While this settled many scientific debates, there are more tangible uses to which such money could be put.

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For example, the National Cancer Institute spends about $5 billion a year on various cancer researches. The funding for the Apollo program could have funded 30 years’ worth of research into cancer, possibly leading to a better understanding and improved treatments for the suffering of millions of human beings. Additionally, at least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. To justify such outrageous expenditures on space exploration for the benefit of future populations, when millions are suffering now, is inconsistent at best and callous at worst.

The needs of humanity should always come first. While there are people on Earth who need help, they should be helped, rather than seeing money spent on sending robots onto other planets. Humanity is the number one priority; keeping the human race alive is a necessity. Alternatively, space exploration is a desire. If we put our desires before our needs, then everyone loses out on a better standard of living.

Sure, it’s great that NASA can elevate technology to the next level time and time again, so why not make technology that directly benefits us? And as there are millions round the world who are starving to death, when people spend more and more money on space technology they should realize they are the killers. Also, why take so much time and money to learn about Mars or any other planet, when we know so little about our own? We should learn more about Earth and the ocean before wasting time and money on Space exploration.

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Space Exploration as a Waste of Time and Money

One of the characteristics of being a human is that every person is always curious about the unknown, and that is what drives people’s investigations. A look at human history reveals that human beings are always looking beyond the apparent boundaries to confront the mysteries which lie beyond their understanding. The unending desire has compelled them to explore and, as a result, understand and use the planet earth (Cozic 78). Humans have spread across the oceans and different continents all as a result of curiosity. It is with the same determination and intent that scientists have resolved to seriously explore Mars, asteroids and the Moon. The main goal is to create a sustained self-sufficient presence of human beings beyond the planet earth which is sustained by robots. Whereas there are many arguments both for and against space exploration, what is clear is that a lot of money and time has been wasted on this desire. This paper will outline and discuss the reasons why space exploration is simply a waste of resources that could be put to better use to help mankind (Neal 41).

While science has given us a lot good things, it still has its negative effects. One could probably wonder why a lot of money was, for example, spent on trying to find if Mars had water. The water on the planet earth has hardly been well-utilized. The same big minds should have been used to solve more pertinent issues affecting people like the unending desire for clean and reliable energy. There are thousands of people suffering from hunger across the globe. Governments that have spent so much on a desire such as space exploration have not benefited much from the venture, and should have used the resources to alleviate hunger, for example. This is because human beings and their needs should always come first. There are so many people who need help and, as such, the priority should be them. There is so much money spent on sending robots to other planets (Cozic 78). Humanity should always be number one; and keeping and preserving it is necessary. It has been argued that those who continuously spend millions on technology that does not directly benefit humankind, while the same amount could be used in preserving life, are killers.

It is funny that people can waste so much time and money learning about Mars, for example, yet people know so little about the Earth. To say the least, it is ridiculous and as such, space exploration should be dropped. People should first unearth mysteries on earth or in the ocean.

Space exploration is quite expensive. In 2004, for example, the United States’ budget for space shuttle only was a staggering $3.97 billion. The world is experiencing an economic recession, governments cannot, therefore, continue using such huge amounts just to satisfy the desires, yet there are real issues that affect humankind and need to be dealt with first. Setting up of space missions is quite expensive, especially when the type of resources and kind of technology required is factored in. This is minus the resources required for training of experts such as physicist, engineers and astronauts (Neal 54). In the United States, for example, the government was involved in the expedition, as well as the privatized corporations. While the latter did it very well, cheaply and found out quite some bit of important information, the government did not do so well. It was expensive and the satellite that was prepared by the US government did not even work even after spending so much. A lot less should be spent on such missions, as it has been proven that it is not a cost effective program. Continuous space exploration means spending more even in the face of budget deficits, tax cuts and soaring military spending.

Space exploration has no direct benefits and neither does it have any significant scientific advantages.  Money should not, therefore, be wasted on something that is not directly benefiting humankind. Astronauts use marginal science which is not science.

It is dangerous. No human being should be sent to space because it is not safe. The conditions there are very different from those in the planet earth. There is no oxygen and astronauts have to carry oxygen there. The Colombia shuttle tragedy is an example of how unsafe the place can be. Life is precious and, as such, it should be preserved. The fact that still very little is known about the space should be one of the reasons why its exploration should not take place at all. Taking a human being to a place that is unknown means anything is possible or can happen, including the loss of lives. Moreover, exploring the space produces junk. The more the space is explored, the more junk there will be. An increase in junk translates to danger for satellites or space crafts. This is because possibilities are high that they will collide with the junk. There are chances that the junk may crash into the earth.  This poses a great risk and only adds issues to the many problems that people already have and are unable to deal with (115).

Pollution is another problem and concern when thinking about space exploration and travel. This is because the space is being destroyed by many wastes which are now floating without direction round the universe. This is unacceptable because this untold damage can be the ruin. The wastes contain satellites that are old, broken pieces of equipment or lost pieces, boosters which are from the many rocket launches among other things. This is a real problem. Considering space exploration, one should be aware of the fact that it means that people are going to continue ruining the space and, thus, should be stopped. People have already ruined the earth by pollution among many other things. This has caused them many untold problems and now the problem affects almost everything that has life. As such, it is worrying that people want the same thing to happen to the outer space.

Space exploration may create a crisis on the earth. People are yet to finish on the priorities that they have set on the planet earth. People should, therefore, not start on other things on other planets before they achieve what they ought to finish on the earth. As much as its exploration has helped the discovery of technology of new weapons and also in the world of medicine, its negative effects cannot be ignored either. Lives will continuously be lost, because a very large amount of money is being allocated to space exploration, as well as because of the dangers associated with its exploration.

There are many issues that plague people who are the human race. An example is poverty, injustice, hunger and natural calamities. They exist and should not be ignored. The funds put to space exploration, the amount of time spent on doing this would definitely have a great impact. Such existing problems cannot be solved by inventions and space exploration. Based on this, the latter should be dropped because it is simply a waste of time, resources such as money and knowledge that should be channeled elsewhere, as it brings about pollution and causes the loss of lives.

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Space Exploration — The Reasons why Humanity should Spend Money on Space Exploration 

The Reasons Why Humanity Should Spend Money on Space Exploration 

• Categories: Planet Space Exploration

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Words: 991 |

Published: Apr 8, 2022

Words: 991 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

Space exploration essay: hook examples, space exploration essay example.

• Unveiling the Cosmic Mysteries: Embark on a journey beyond our planet's boundaries, where the mysteries of the universe await. Join me in exploring why investing in space exploration is not just a financial endeavor but a quest for knowledge and understanding.
• An Astronomical Perspective: Carl Sagan once said, "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff." Let's delve into the cosmic connections and scientific advancements that can only be achieved through space exploration.
• Earthly Benefits from Space: Discover how space research and technology have tangible impacts on our daily lives, from medical advancements to environmental monitoring. Together, we'll explore the unexpected benefits of investing in the cosmos.
• A Vision for the Future: Explore how space exploration inspires innovation and serves as a beacon of hope for a better world. Join me in discussing the role of space in shaping our collective destiny.
• Preserving Our Pale Blue Dot: As we contemplate the challenges facing our planet, consider how space exploration can provide insights and solutions to protect and sustain Earth for generations to come.

Works Cited

• Nelson, J. (2018). The Science of Apollo: How NASA Learned to Fly in Space. University Press of Florida.
• Out of this world: The influence of space exploration on society. (2007). Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
• National Geographic Society. (2018). Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet. National Geographic.
• Wall, M. (2017). The Search for Life on Mars. Simon and Schuster.
• NASA. (2015). Spinoff 2015: NASA Technologies Benefit Society. NASA.
• The Tauri Group. (2013). NASA's Contribution to Aeronautics. National Academies Press.
• NASA Spinoffs. (2020). NASA Spinoff Database. Retrieved from https://spinoff.nasa.gov/
• Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). (2019). NASA's Budget Could Support a Lot of Young People's Education. Retrieved from https://fee.org/articles/nasa-s-budget-could-support-a-lot-of-young-people-s-education/
• Davis, S., & Duke, M. (2014). Space: The Fragile Frontier. ABC-CLIO.
• Launius, R. D., & McCurdy, H. E. (2017). Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership. University of Illinois Press.

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Space exploration is a waste of money. Agree or Disagree

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