essay should we spend money on exploring space

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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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Why We Should Be Spending More on Space Travel

L et’s stipulate one thing: there’s absolutely no reason for us to go to space. It does nothing to feed us, to clothe us, to protect us, to heal us. It’s dangerous and hideously expensive too, a budget-busting luxury that policy makers and administrators have spent decades trying to defend—always unsuccessfully because the fact is, there’s no practical defense for it. So stand down the rockets, take down the space centers, pocket the money and let’s move on. Still want the adventure of going to space? That’s what they make movies for.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s stipulate the opposite: Space is precisely where the human species ought to be going. We accept that we’re a warring species. We accept that we’re a loving species. We accept that we’re an artistic and inventive and idiosyncratic species. Then we surely must accept that we’re a questing species. Questing species don’t much care for being stuck on one side of an ocean and so they climb aboard boats—indeed they invent boats—to cross it. They don’t much care for having their path blocked by a mountain and so they climb it for no reason other than finding out what’s on the other side. Accept that, and you can’t not accept that we have to embrace space.

April 12 marks the 60th anniversary of the day Yuri Gagarin became the first human being in space , taking off in his Vostok 1 spacecraft, spending 88 minutes making a single orbit of the Earth, and returning home to a species that seemed forever been changed by his efforts. The date will mark, too, the 60th anniversary of the by-now familiar argument that journeys like Gagarin’s and all of the ones that followed achieve nothing that can be touched and pointed to as a practical dividend of the effort made and the resources expended.

I found myself turning the old debate this way and that over the last week, when I was reading a column in the Guardian with the provocative headline, “Revive the U.S. space program? How about not,” by essayist Nicholas Russell. It opens with a mention of Gil Scott-Heron’s 1970 spoken word poem, “Whitey on the Moon,” which compellingly lamented the hard social truth that the U.S. was spending $24 billion in 1960s money on the Apollo program at the same time 10% of Americans were living in poverty, with Blacks suffering at three times the rate of whites.

“Was all that money I made last year (for Whitey on the moon?)” Scott-Heron wrote. “How come there ain’t no money here? (Hm! Whitey’s on the moon.)”

Russell goes on to cite the estimated cost of the new Artemis lunar program , which some analysts have placed at $30 billion; the role—a troubling one as he sees it—of the military in so many space projects, and the ongoing scourge of racism and inequality on Earth that persists while we still keep looking spaceward. Then he mentions, by way of caution, a University of Arizona proposal to send seed, spore, sperm and egg samples of 6.7 million terrestrial species to the moon as a sort of space ark in case life on Earth should come to an end. “When the vastness of space is cited as a means of escape from disaster, it’s exceedingly difficult not to believe nihilism acts as the prime motivator,” Russell argues. “Rather than sparking inspiration, it speaks of blatant fatalism about what is worth saving, a preference for the lofty and unpopulated … with delusions of innovation and heroism.”

Russell is right about some things—especially about the continuing blight of racism. But expenditures on space and expenditures on social programs have never been a zero-sum proposition, any more than any dollar the U.S. government spends on anything at all—the military, farm subsidies, tax cuts for corporations—is by definition a dollar not spent on something else. And the Artemis price tag is indeed high—but only if you look at it as a standalone figure. In the context of the federal budget? NASA funding currently accounts for just 0.4% of the total the government spends each year—down from 4% in the golden era of Apollo. The military’s role in the space program is inevitable, even if Russell sees it as regrettable. Rockets are rockets, after all, and physics is physics, and if the first machines that blasted humans off the Earth were originally designed as ballistic missiles, well, that was what the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had on the shelf. What’s more, every Soviet R-7 rocket or American Atlas that was used to send an astronaut or cosmonaut to orbit was one fewer that could be used in a theater of war.

And as for that space ark? Well yes, it does suggest a certain fatalism. But the fact is, we are eminently capable of screwing the global pooch, to paraphrase the old Mercury astronauts. Unless you’re confident that no autocrat or hermit king with nuclear weapons and a button in reach won’t do something impulsive, storing the Earth’s genetic essence for safekeeping does not seem like a completely insane idea.

That doesn’t mean space exploration is inherently nihilistic, however. Look at the old footage of the global reaction to the Apollo 11 moon landing . Watch the worldwide relief when the Apollo 13 crew —three people the vast majority of the planet had never met—made it home safely. Consider the reaction today when a rover lands on Mars or a spacecraft whizzes past Pluto or a pair of women aboard the space station perform the first all-female spacewalk.

Yes, we can live without traveling to space. Indeed, we did perfectly well over all of the millennia that preceded April 12, 1961. We can meet most of our needs when we stay on Earth—we can raise our families and earn our salaries and feed our bellies. But we feed something less literal, more lyrical when we extend ourselves as far as we can. Once that meant crossing an ocean. Now it means more. Space is out there—and we should be too.

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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

About this sample

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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Is space exploration worth the money?

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This video is for anyone who has ever asked: "Should we really be spending money on space when there are problems to deal with down here on Earth?” Let's dig in to several reasons why space exploration is worth our money.

Why space exploration is always worthwhile

A toolkit to help you advocate for the value of exploring space even when there are important problems to be solved here on Earth.

Maybe you've heard something like this before: “Should we really be wasting money on space when there are problems to deal with down here on Earth?” It's a good question. So is space exploration really worth it?

With issues like global public health concerns, social injustices, climate change and other urgent topics it may seem like exploring space is a misuse of our funding. While it is important to address these issues, solving these problems doesn't depend on defunding space programs. Here's why.

First, space research isn't as expensive as you might think. Many people think NASA takes up a quarter of the U.S. federal budget, but in fact, NASA's entire budget is about 0.5% of the total budget. In other countries, space budgets are even smaller.

And spending on space pays off. The money that governments spend on space programs positively impacts their economies. It supports highly skilled jobs, fuels technology, advancements 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.

Which brings us to the next point. Space research directly impacts earthly problems. As we humans apply ourselves to the challenges of exploring space we make discoveries that can help the whole world. Figuring out how we might grow food on Mars can help us grow food in extreme conditions here on Earth, which could help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Medical research on the International Space Station helps us understand the human body in new ways, helping save lives and improve the quality of life for all of us.

And, of course, 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 asteroids and comets to make sure we can defend our planet if an object ever heads our way.

And then there are benefits that are difficult to put a price tag on. Comprehending the cosmos gives us all a powerful shift in our perspective. Studying other worlds makes it clear that Earth is a precious oasis for life. This cosmic perspective underscores the importance of protecting our planet's habitability and encourages investment in that effort.

On top of all of that, space is inspiring. We may not all get to be astronauts, but to be inspired, to aim for something so grand gives us all drive. Children are motivated to learn science, engineering, medicine, or other fields that benefit humanity. When we marvel at the beauty of Jupiter's clouds or the mystery of the oceans, on Enceladus, 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.

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. We can and must do more than one important thing at a time. Because 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.

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Why explore space?

Why should we explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent researching something with apparently so few benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth?

Perhaps the best answer lies in our history. What made our ancestors move from the trees onto the plains? Did a wider distribution of our species offer a better chance of survival?

Nearly all successful civilisations have been willing to explore. In exploring, the dangers of surrounding areas may be identified and prepared for. Without knowledge, these dangers have the ability to harm us. With knowledge, their effects or consequences may be lessened.

While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows new resources to be created. Resources translate into success at survival. Resources may be more than physical assets.

Knowledge or techniques acquired in exploring or preparing to explore always filter from the developers to the general population.

Techniques may be medical applications, such as new drugs or ways of living to increase the quantity or the quality of time lived. Techniques may be social, allowing the people in a society to better understand those within or outside that culture.

ESA’s space programme is a strategic asset. ESA does what individual European nations cannot do on their own.

Scientists from European nations can function at world-class level in their specialist fields, in co-operation rather than competition.

By studying alien worlds, such as Venus, Mars or Saturn’s moon Titan, we can place our own world in context. ESA’s exploration of the Solar System is focused on understanding the Earth’s relationship with the other planets, essential stepping stones for exploring the wider Universe.

While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The chance of a large asteroid or comet hitting the Earth is small. But given time, it will happen.

Some explanations for extinctions and evolution include strikes by asteroids or comets. Our technology is reaching the point where we can detect such a threat and might be able to do something about it.

The dangers exist and knowledge can allow us as a species to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.

Earth is the only planet known to sustain life, but our ability to adapt could eventually allow us to inhabit other planets and moons.

Our lifestyles would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future. Space allows us to expand and succeed.

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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.

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

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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.

Joshua Rosenbloom

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Why We Need to Keep Going to Space and Shouldn’t ‘Fix Earth First’

There are many reasons why we need to keep going to space, not the least of which have to do with saving earth..

Matthew S. Williams

“Shouldn’t we fix Earth first?” This question is like a modified version of Godwin’s Law . One need only raise the subject of space exploration and humanity becoming a multiplanetary species in the near future, and someone is sure to ask it before long. In fact, it’s about as popular as “how come we can send astronauts to the Moon, but we can’t [insert problem here]?” 

It’s not an unfair argument, and it certainly does seem well-intentioned. After all, why spend billions on various enterprises when poverty, hunger, homelessness, war, refugees crises, social injustice, and climate change are all around us? Wouldn’t that money be better spent addressing these problems here at home?

But therein lies the problem. Whether it’s a matter of resources, priorities, or where we should focus our efforts, the assumption is that space-related activities take away from life here on Earth. But in truth, the advent of spaceflight and space-related research and development has benefitted humanity in innumerable ways.

In terms of technological applications, in terms of scientific advancement, in terms of medicine and health care, in terms of knowledge and inspiration, going to space has allowed us to grow as a species. It has taught us to appreciate what we have, and what we could become, and has allowed us to do things previous generations could only dream of.

A time-honored issue

The argument that going to space and dealing with problems at home is mutually exclusive is an enduring one. In fact, one can find examples of this criticism going all the way back to the dawn of the Space Age . For those who grew up during the “Space Race,” the speech delivered by President John F. Kennedy at Rice University in 1962 is sure to be familiar:

“We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win…”

These rousing words were fondly remembered when, just seven years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to ever set foot on another celestial body. There too, famous words were spoken that become an instant source of inspiration:

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

And let’s not forget the words that appear on the Lunar Plaque, which was mounted on the ladders of every Apollo Lunar Module . “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D . We came in peace for all mankind.” These words still reside at the Apollo Landing site in the Sea of Tranquility. 

But would it surprise you to know that there was actually considerable opposition to the Apollo Program, despite these accomplishments? According to Roger D. Launius , who served as NASA’s Chief Historian between 1990 to 2002 and was the Associate Director of the National Air and Space Museum until 2017, the majority of Americans did not support going to the Moon.

As he wrote in a 2003 essay titled “ Public opinion polls and perceptions of US human spaceflight “:

“[M] any people believe that Project Apollo was popular, probably because it garnered significant media attention, but the polls do not support a contention that Americans embraced the lunar landing mission. C onsistently throughout the 1960s a majority of Americans did not believe Apollo was worth the cost, with the one exception to this a poll taken at the time of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 1969. And consistently throughout the decade 45-60 percent of Americans believed that the government was spending too much on space, indicative of a lack of commitment to the spaceflight agenda.”

Much of the opposition was motivated by the social upheaval taking place in the US during the 1960s. At a time when the Civil Rights Movement was fighting against segregation, and many African-Americans were struggling at the margins of society, many saw the Apollo Program as a glaring example of the federal government’s misplaced priorities.

For example, in an editorial in the Los Angeles Sentinel , Brooker Griffin wrote:

“It would appear that the fathers of our nation would allow a few thousand hungry people to die for the lack of a few thousand dollars while they would contaminate the moon and its sterility for the sake of ‘progress’ and spend billions of dollars in the process, while people are hungry, ill-clothed, poorly educated (if at all).”

In 1971, 200 African-Americans marched on Cape Canaveral to protest during the Apollo 14 launch. Hosea Williams, a leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), spoke with a reporter from the Rome News-Tribune , saying: “We are not protesting America’s achievements in outer space, we are protesting our country’s inability to choose humane priorities.”

Musician Gil Scott-Heron also voiced opposition to America’s space program with his song, “ Whitey on the Moon .” The song ironically lauds the accomplishments of the Apollo astronauts while juxtaposing them with the realities of being a Black person living in 1960s America and struggling to get by.

For others, the issue of high spending was the main point of opposition. Somehow, the thought of sending astronauts to the Moon to “collect rocks” didn’t justify spending billions in taxpayer dollars. While public perception of the Apollo program has improved with time, opposition to committing public funds to spaceflight has not.

In 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing , the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted an opinion poll . When asked if sending astronauts back to the moon was important, only 23% said yes, while 40% said it was not. Of sending crewed missions to Mars, 27% supported the idea, while 38% did not.

On its face, the opposition seems well-founded and well-intentioned. But one must wonder why space exploration is the focal point of anger over high spending and problematic priorities? Is it simply because spaceflight is high profile, is it because the benefits of space exploration are undervalued and/or misunderstood, or a little from Column A and a little from Column B?

Regardless, it is clear that spaceflight suffers from an image problem. As famed science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein once expressed , “[I]n one respect, NASA has fallen flat on its face. Its publicity is terrible, and has been right along.” With that in mind, a careful review of the arguments against going to space appears to be in order.

“Shouldn’t we fix Earth first?”

That’s certainly a fair question, and it makes a good point. We have to do more to address the myriad of problems we face here on Earth. But why is it assumed that going to space steals focus from them, or that it’s an either/or situation? It’s not unlike saying, “We should fix the economy first, then worry about the environment.” Where is it written that we can’t do both?

More importantly, there is the inherent (and rather obvious) assumption that space exploration doesn’t benefit people here on Earth. This assumption is pervasive, which is why in 1976 NASA decided to create a publication that shared with the public all of the commercial and industrial applications resulting from their research.

This publication is known as NASA Spinoff , which is responsible for highlighting all of the technologies the administration has made available to the public through the NASA Technology Transfer Program (TTP). 

In 1979, in a bid to raise awareness about the spinoffs, Heinlein delivered a speech during a series of joint hearings before Congress . In this speech, he explained why the name “spinoff” was chosen and how NASA-funded research has benefited countless people who just didn’t know it:

“‘Spinoffs’ is a fancy way of saying serendipitous results, which simply means look for one thing and find something else. This happens all the time in science, particularly in pure research… A thing that [NASA has] failed to do with this matter of the spinoffs, the serendipitous results, is to make the hookup so that people know about it.

“In fact, the most ironical thing I know of about our space program is that there are thousands of people alive today who would be dead if it were not for spinoffs from the space program and who have not the slightest idea that such is the case, and they complain about all that money being spent on silly stunts, and often they make that complaint by long distance with a satellite bounce.”

Heinlein went on to outline four important technologies that were made possible thanks to NASA-funded research – computer-assisted tomography (CAT), image-enhancement technology, catheters, and the Doppler ultrasound stethoscope. These technologies, Heinlein explained, were what allowed him to undergo the vascular bypass operation a year before that saved his life.

In fact, NASA-funded research has led to more than  2,000 spinoffs since 1976 that have had applications for medicine, biotechnology, communications, home appliances, consumer products, robotics, clean energy, heat-resistant materials, and industrial processes.

Some of the better-known examples include solar panels, communication satellites, Earth observation satellites, microwaves, memory foam, freeze-dried food, firefighting equipment, thermal blankets, DustBusters, cochlear implants, active-pixel image sensors, air filtration systems, water filtration systems, and many, many more!

For a full run-down on how NASA research has led to tangible benefits (possibly in your area), check out the Spinoff  website here .

“It steals focus.”

Another common argument is that space exploration diverts not just resources but expertise and attention away from problems here at home. For some reason, it is assumed that going to space makes us appreciate Earth less, when in truth, there are numerous examples of how it encourages us to appreciate Earth more.

This is perfectly illustrated by the  Overview Effect , which refers to the shift in consciousness that comes with seeing the Earth from space. Noted author and philosopher Frank White coined this term to describe the experience every astronaut in the history of spaceflight has reported during their time in space and/or upon their return to Earth.

Astronaut Michael Collins described this experience when talking about piloting the Apollo 11 Command Module: “The thing that really surprised me was that it [Earth] projected an air of fragility. And why, I don’t know. I don’t know to this day. I had a feeling it’s tiny, it’s shiny, it’s beautiful, it’s home, and it’s fragile.”

This same feeling has been described by noted astronauts and cosmonauts from all over the world, including Sally Ride, Scott Kelly, Chris Hadfield, Anne McClain, Mike Massimino, Tom Jones, and Yuri Gagarin, the first man to ever go to space. Upon returning to Earth, Gagarin related how the most profound part of the mission was not looking into the depths of space, but upon planet Earth:

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship, I marveled at the beauty of our planet,” he said . “People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty, and not destroy it.”

Also, consider the  Gaia Hypothesis , the scientific theory that posits that the Earth is a single, interdependent system, where every organism, feedback-loop, and chemical cycle work together to maintain the conditions that are favorable to life. The hypothesis owes its existence to NASA scientist Dr. James E. Lovelock and biologist Lynn Margulis . 

Lovelock’s inspiration came from his work with NASA, which consisted of developing scientific instruments that could model the atmospheres and climates of Mars and other planets. In comparing the environments of other planets to Earth, they realized how complex and precious Earth’s environment is.

In addition, the climatological research conducted by NASA since the 1960s is what led scientists to conclude that humanity is having a severe impact on the environment. For instance, Earth observations satellites (using the very instruments Lovelock designed) were responsible for the discovery of ozone depletion caused by CFCs.

These same satellites and climate models led scientists to realize that the growing consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting carbon emissions led to a Greenhouse Effect. Since then, the NASA Earth Science Division (ESD) and its Earth science initiatives have provided regular updates on the effects of climate change and helped support calls for action.

“Money better spent on…”

Here is a rather popular variant, where it’s argued that the billions spent on spaceflight would be better spent alleviating poverty and other problems here at home. On its face, it certainly seems like a valid point. We could always use more money combatting want, scarcity, poverty, and misery. It’s outrageous how common and persistent these things are!

But it begins to show cracks the moment you dig into it or examine it from other angles. Once again, why is it assumed that money not directed towards spaceflight would otherwise be spent on economic, social, and environmental problems? And if all space programs today were shelved, are we really to believe that money saved would be put towards humanitarian causes?

Second, y ou’d be hard-pressed to find an investment with the same amount of returns as space exploration. According to one estimate , every dollar spent during the Apollo Era resulted in a $7−$8 return on investment (ROI) thanks to the spinoffs and commercial applications that resulted. Today, that ROI has climbed to $40 for every dollar spent . Shop around. You can’t beat that!

Third, if we’re going to talk about “money better spent elsewhere,” why are we singling out space exploration, which costs less and comes with far more payoffs than other expenditures? In truth, there’s plenty of examples of wasteful spending that yield comparatively little (or nothing) by comparison.

For example, a ccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the healthcare costs and loss of productivity caused by cigarettes account for $300 billion a year . According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2015 the world’s richest nations spent $21 billion on health care and lost 1.2 billion workdays due to illnesses caused by air pollution .

By 2060, that’s projected to increase to 3.7 billion lost workdays, which will result in a global loss of $2.6 trillion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually. Even worse than that is the fact that an estimated 6-9 million people are likely to die annually between now and then because of worsening air quality associated with urban growth.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the world spends roughly $5 trillion USD a year subsidizing the oil and coal industries, which constitutes about 85% of all annual global subsidies. Meanwhile, renewable energy sources like solar and wind have become price-competitive with oil and coal without the same level of financial assistance!

There are two ways to look at this. At best, we are spending trillions of dollars to ensure that gas prices remain within a certain threshold for the good of the consumer. At worst, we are financing the very industries driving climate change, and when we need to be transitioning to clean energies, that will actually cost less!

Critics of the Apollo Program (1961-1972) routinely cited how the billions spent on going to the Moon would have been better spent addressing poverty, underdevelopment, the rising cost of food and living, and other problems in the US. But in truth, the US government never spent more than a tiny portion of its Gross-Domestic Product (GDP) on spaceflight during this period.

All told, the US government spent a total of around  $25.4 billion on the Apollo Program over the course of 11 years. Adjusted for inflation, that works out to around  $175 billion today and an average of around $16 billion adjusted dollars a year. Add to that the costs of the Mercury (1958-1963) and Gemini Program (1961-1966), and you get an adjusted total of around $179 billion.

In terms of the national budget , these expenditures constituted about 0.1% of the nation’s GDP in 1958, 4.5% in 1966 (at its peak), and less than 1% again by 1975. Now c ompare that to military spending during the same period, especially between 1955-1975 when the US became embroiled in the Vietnam War.

The expense of deploying American forces in Vietnam cost a total of $168 billion, or $1 trillion today. In addition to that, the draft fell disproportionately on the poor and working-class, who could not afford school deferments. In total, military expenditures during this entire period accounted for 10-13% of GDP from 1955 to 1966 and 11%-17% of GDP from 1967 to 1975.

In 2018, the US government allocated a total of $890.8 billion for the sake of defense spending, which represented a 9 to 21% increase over the previous ten years. In that same year , the entire world spent an estimated $ 72.34 billion USD on space. What did that get us?

• NASA’s  InSight lander reached Mars
• NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was launched to study the Sun
• SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launched for the first time
• NASA’s  Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) began looking for exoplanets
• China’s Chang’e-4 mission landed on the far side of the Moon
• Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission arrived on the asteroid Ryugu
• NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at asteroid Bennu
• The Voyager 2 probe reached interstellar space
• The ESA-JAXA  BepiColombo mission launched towards Mercury.

In summary, if we are going to discuss where money should be spent, perhaps we should a cost-benefit analysis should be conducted first. Because once that is complete, we’re likely to notice that as a species, we spend far more money on far less noble endeavors.

“Nothing but billionaires playing in space!”

This appears to be a common sentiment these days, which is generally raised in response to big names in the commercial space industry (aka. NewSpace) making headlines – e.g., Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, et al. Much like saying that space exploration takes away from Earth, there are many who doubt that New Space ventures are anything other than a billionaires ego trip.

At best, the criticisms tend to assert that commercial space is something that will only ever benefit the super-rich. At worst, there are those who actually accuse Musk, Bezos, and others of plotting to leave Earth before climate change or some other cataclysm causes civilization to collapse – abandoning anyone who can’t afford to go with them in the process.

Granted, space tourism is an industry that only people with a lot of disposable income will be able to afford in the coming years. But the ultimate purpose is to bring the associated costs of going to space down so that more and more people can enjoy it. In addition, it would be foolish to conflate all commercial space ventures with this one aspect of it. 

Since 2001, Elon Musk has spearheaded the development of reusable rockets and space systems through his company SpaceX , with impressive results. Between 1970 and 2000, the average cost of sending payloads to space was about ~ $8,400 per lbs ( $18,500 per kilogram ). Thanks in part to the development of rockets like the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy , that cost is now  $1,235 and $640 per lbs ( $2,719 and $1,410 per kg), respectively.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has also indicated that his long-term aim is to use paid flights with the New Shepard launch vehicle to fund the development of heavy rockets – like the New Glenn and the New Armstrong – and the necessary infrastructure for regular trips to space . The ultimate goal, he said, is to ensure humanity’s future in space and ensure that Earth is safeguarded:

“We’re going to build a road to space so that our kids and their kids can build the future. We need to do that. We need to do that to solve the problems here on earth. This is not about escaping Earth… The whole point is this is the only good planet in this solar system. We’ve sent robotic probes to all of them. This is the only good one. I promise you, and we have to take care of it”

Critics of Branson’s space-related venture, Virgin Galactic , claim that suborbital commercial flights will benefit no one but the super-rich. With an advertised price tag of $450,000 , this is certainly understandable. But as spaceflights become a common occurrence, prices will drop, and accessibility will increase (what guys like Branson have been saying all along). 

In the meantime, Branson has created Space for Humanity to allow people other than the super-rich to fly. Through their Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program , this nonprofit will train citizens and leaders to become “citizen astronauts,” a program that culminates with a ride to space aboard a Virgin Galactic spaceplane.

The company has also partnered with Omaze , a fundraising company that partners with charities, to launch a giveaway where those who pledge support for Space For Humanity can win free trips with Virgin Galactic .

In addition, NASA and other space agencies have a very long history of partnering with commercial entities to develop the tools and equipment they need. At its peak, the Apollo Program employed over 400,000 people and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms . Today, that tradition continues, albeit to a lesser extent.

In the past few decades, multiple commercial space companies have partnered with NASA and other space agencies to provide technological, logistical, and launch services to the International Space Station (ISS). Many of these same companies are Artemis Partners and are currently building the necessary elements that will take astronauts back to the Moon for the first time since 1972.

Space Race 2.0

Given the way humanity is poised to make the next great leap into space, it is good to ask questions about budgets, priorities, and what our goals for the future should be. But once a full and fair assessment of spaceflight is considered, it seems pretty clear that the kind of future we want for our children cannot happen without space exploration.

During the last Space Age, the desire to go to space and put a “man on the Moon” resulted in hundreds of technological spinoffs that have benefited countless people here on Earth. It also led to widespread job creation, particularly in skilled trades. And let’s not forget how decades later, the Moon Landing still manages to inspire and remind us of what we can accomplish.

In the age of renewed space exploration that we now find ourselves in, the focus has shifted dramatically. Rather than simply getting there or “getting there first,” the purpose is to create what we need to conduct long-duration missions to locations in deep space. In other words, our goal now is to “go back to the Moon to stay” and then use our presence there to reach beyond.

For this, space agencies and the commercial space industry are researching spacecraft that can sustain crews for long-duration flights, but also the technology for habitats and life support systems that can ensure astronaut survival in a hostile environment for extended periods of time.

This means creating closed-loop systems that can provide steady supplies of food, water, and air while producing zero waste. This technology is based entirely on the study of Earth’s natural systems , which are themselves part of a massive closed-loop system that is regenerative, waste-free, and has maintained Earth’s habitability for billions of years.

The technologies and spinoffs that this research will lead to include facilities that can grow plants in hostile environments, water reclamators, air filtration, carbon capture systems, and environmental engineering. Each and every one of these technologies will have endless applications here on Earth, where solutions for sustainable living will also be a matter of survival.

As Dr. Sian Proctor , a geology professor, commercial astronaut, and famous science communicator would say: “Solving for space solves for Earth.” Dr. Proctor will be the mission pilot on the upcoming three-day Inspiration4 flight, where the first all-civilian flight in history will fly to space aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

Looking to the future…

Like the Olympic Games, space exploration has always been a great unifier, bringing people and nations together in the spirit of exploitation and discovery. Even during the height of the Cold War, people all around the world were united in celebration as cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova became the first man and first woman to go to space.

On July 20th, 1969, people on both sides of the “Iron Curtain” celebrated as humans took their first steps on the Moon. Decades later, we still remember what was accomplished during those heady days and draw inspiration from it. We’re also reaping the benefits of all the commercial, medical, industrial, and scientific breakthroughs it produced (whether we realize it or not).

Today, space exploration is no longer a competition between two superpowers but has broadened to become a much more cooperative enterprise between many state and private actors. I f we hope to tackle the growing problems caused by climate change, as well as the enduring problems of poverty, injustice, war, and petty rivalries, we will need to come together like never before.

The benefits and knowledge that we stand to reap from going to space to stay will help ensure that by promoting sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and resource utilization. Having access to the abundant resources of space could also help usher in an age where scarcity (the very basis of wealth and poverty) has been eliminated.

As Kennedy intimated in his famous speech at Rice University, going to space is and always will be hard. But the payoffs for doing so are monumental, and the sense of accomplishment that comes with it lasts for generations. By putting humans on the Moon before the decade was out, a generation of people showed themselves what they were capable of.

Since the Apollo Era, we’ve gone even further, establishing space stations in orbit like the Salyuts, Mir, Skylab, and the ISS. We’ve developed reusable rockets and spaceplanes that have reduced launch costs substantially. We’ve also sent robotic probes to every corner of the Solar System, and a few have even made it into interstellar space.

But more important than the rockets, spacecraft, and various technological spinoffs, the greatest thing to come from the Space Age was arguably the inspiration it still provides decades later. After all, there’s a reason why sayings like “shoot for the Moon,” “Moonshot,” and “reach for the stars” endure.

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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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Why go to space.

The reasons to explore the universe are as vast and varied as the reasons to explore the forests, the mountains, or the sea. Since the dawn of humanity, people have explored to learn about the world around them, find new resources, and improve their existence.

Why We Go to Space

At NASA, we explore the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all, creating new opportunities and inspiring the world through discovery.

NASA’s exploration vision is anchored in providing value for humanity by answering some of the most fundamental questions: Why are we here? How did it all begin? Are we all alone? What comes next? And, as an addendum to that: How can we make our lives better?

NASA was created more than half a century ago to begin answering some of these questions. Since then, space exploration has been one of the most unifying, borderless human endeavors to date. An international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries operates the International Space Station, and two dozen countries have signed the Artemis Accords, signaling their commitment to shared values for long-term human exploration and research at the Moon. Through space exploration, we gain a new perspective to study Earth and the solar system. We advance new technologies that improve our daily lives, and we inspire a new generation of artists, thinkers, tinkerers, engineers, and scientists.  

Benefits to Humanity

Space exploration unites the world to inspire the next generation, make ground-breaking discoveries, and create new opportunities.

Technologies and missions we develop for human spaceflight have thousands of applications on Earth, boosting the economy, creating new career paths, and advancing everyday technologies all around us.

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Benefits to Science

The pursuit of discovery drives NASA to develop missions that teach us about Earth, the solar system, and the universe around us.

Science at NASA answers questions as practical as hurricane formation, as enticing as the prospect of lunar resources, as surprising as behavior in weightlessness, and as profound as the origin of the Universe.

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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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Benjamin Wormald is a senior web developer at Pew Research Center .

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Essay 197 – Advantages and disadvantage of spending money on space exploration

Gt writing task 2 / essay sample # 197.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

Space exploration costs taxpayers an exorbitant amount of money each year. What are the advantages and disadvantage of spending money on space exploration?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

A substantial amount of money is spent on exploring space annually. This essay will highlight some of the advantages and disadvantages of space exploration, and then come up with a reasoned conclusion.

Space exploration can reap many benefits to humankind. First of all, it enables us to address potential hazards before they strike. The universe is a huge place where hidden dangers lurk almost anywhere. A very good example here is asteroids or comets. In the solar system, there are comet and asteroid threats that could obliterate our planet. Exploring space offers us an opportunity to identify these potential dangers in advance to avert apocalyptic catastrophe. Second, many groundbreaking innovations are developed through space programme research. The inventions are LED lighting, anti-icing systems, ear thermometers, and even temper foam, to mention but a few examples. Besides, space exploration could provide mankind with an opportunity to search for a new habitable place for the human race outside of our globe and find other intelligent species who might be searching for a way to contact us. This would essentially answer some of our century-old questions.

Exploring space, however, has its drawbacks which should not be ignored. One of the major disadvantages is that funding space programmes is a huge cost. Evidently, an exorbitant amount of money is spent on space exploration every year, yet simultaneously our earth suffers from the vital humanitarian crisis that could be solved by budgeting generous money. For example, in order to ensure basic education for all in developing countries, we need only 6 billion dollars, whereas the U.S alone spent 18.7 billion dollars on space exploration last year. Another obvious drawback of it is the damage to the environment because of the huge consumption of fossil fuels. A case in point is the first Apollo mission. It consumed over 500,000 gallons of fuel only to get out of the atmosphere. Thus, exploring space causes environmental damages.

To reiterate, space exploration confers both advantage and disadvantage. It is expected that we will budget the space exploration programmes prudently while also addressing more imminent issues that we have on earth.

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Ielts writing task 2 sample 1042 - spending money on space exploration is a complete waste, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, with all the problems in the world today, spending money on space exploration is a complete waste. the money could be better spent on other causes..

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Space Exploration is too Expensive and Money Should be Spent on More Important Things- IELTS Writing Task 2

Updated On Mar 05, 2024

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Space exploration is too expensive and money should be spent on more important things. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Opinion Essay

Introduction

Sentences 1&2 – Paraphrase the essay with the help of synonyms to create an understanding of the topic.

Sentence 3 – Mention that the essay will elucidate the importance of space exploration for humans.

Body Paragraphs

Paragraph 1 – Mention a brief about the origins of space exploration, then jump onto how it has now become a global initiative.

Paragraph 2 – Talk about its importance and how it helps secure the future of humanity. Talk about other positives, and give examples.

Paragraph 3 – Acknowledge the argument against it, but also mention that preserving our present at the cost of the future is a risky gamble, and humans are destined to find a home other than the earth.

Restate your views.

Sample Essay

Space exploration is often deemed as the next frontier for humanity to conquer. However, while governments across the world are ratifying means of stamping authority in space, the critics are wary of its expenses. They deem it unnecessary while stressing to channel that money towards more important things. Nevertheless, I feel that space exploration is necessary, and this essay will elaborate on the same.

Ever since our ancestors studied the stars, astronomy has come a long way and branched off into space exploration in the twentieth century. What started as a “war” between the USA and USSR has transformed into cooperation of various countries worldwide. For instance, the $100 billion International Space Station, the crown jewel of space exploration, is a multinational collaboration among six countries. With space exploration, newer technologies and inventions are also developed with serve purposes to people in a general sense.

Nowadays, private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are trying to further our reach in space. While SpaceX wants to establish a human colony on Mars, Blue Origin hopes to utilize the resources of the Moon. No matter what the goal is, the outcome is the same – to be able to carry on interplanetary expeditions. It is necessary as the Earth is saturating rapidly in terms of its assets , and finding another “home” is indeed a possible solution.

The critics argue that money funneled into space exploration can serve better purposes to create a stable present by focusing on issues like global warming, waste management, and climate change. But, one must realize that saving the present at the cost of the future is an unfortunate gamble, and while humans are indebted to our mother planet, our future lies away from the Earth. As the adage goes, humanity was born on the Earth but not meant to die with it.

To conclude, I would like to mention another aphorism , “Curiosity and exploration have been two cornerstones of the human race.” Hence, space exploration is a necessary step.

Band 9 Sample Essay

Several advanced and developing countries have recently invested billions of dollars in space research, driven by a desire to discover life on other planets and galaxies. As a result, it is a time-consuming and tedious process that costs a fortune. Some argue, however, that space exploration is a waste of time and money and that the funds could be better spent on other issues affecting the planet. Rather than investing money in space exploration, I believe the best way to spend money is to help improve the living standards of underdeveloped countries.

To begin with, space exploration is a prohibitively expensive endeavour. How many ever benefits science may have bestowed on mankind, spending resources on space exploration and determining whether life exists there is a waste of time because the brilliant minds searching for water on Mars could use their intelligence to find better ways to power humanity’s insatiable desire for energy, feed the world’s starving population, and improve living standards on Earth. Furthermore, space exploration has no immediate advantages, and many of the ‘advancements’ brought forth by space exploration are irrelevant to everyday life.

Besides, human needs should always take precedence as humanity is the most critical priority. There are countless people in need of financial assistance and the environment which needs to be taken care of. As a result, instead of investing money in robots or sending spaceships to other planets, money should be focused on helping people and nature. Several impoverished countries are confronted with substantial obstacles in the areas of health, education, and employment, resulting in poverty. Furthermore, global warming and climate change pose a danger to human life on the planet. Thus, money spent on space travel would be better spent on these remarkable concerns, which would help to build a more stable environment for people on Earth.

However, proponents of space exploration argue that investing billions of dollars to find unsolved mysteries on other planets is an intriguing task as it allows them to gain invaluable knowledge and discover many technologies. These people also believe that space exploration could only be an alternative way to escape human extinction in case living conditions become unsustainable on Earth. In contrast, I believe that millions invested on space exploration can be used to solve the prevailing problems existing on Earth.

To sum up, Although successful space exploration may provide unquestionable improvements to people’s lives if it is invested with an exorbitant amount, I believe space exploration is a waste of time, and effort and that its funding could be better used to address existing problems likes global warming and climatic change. Why waste money on space exploration when we could be improving our own planet, where humans presently live?

• Ratifying  

Meaning – sign or give formal consent to. Example – The housing society is ratifying a pay increase for its helpers and cleaners.

• Crown jewel  

Meaning – a particularly valuable or prized possession or asset. Example – The Kohinoor was India’s crown jewel.

• Multinational 

Meaning – including or involving several countries or individuals of several nationalities. Example – Tata & Sons is a multinational conglomerate that serves in many countries.

Meaning – guide or channel (something) through or as if through a funnel. Example – The governments are funneling more and more money towards space exploration.

Meaning – a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth. Example – The old adage, “Honesty is the best policy” is very true.

Meaning – the extreme limit of understanding or achievement in a particular area. Example – We should try to expand the frontiers of our knowledge.

• Collaboration 

Meaning – the situation of two or more people working together to create or achieve the same thing Example – The collaboration between the companies he owns is inevitable.

• Interplanetary 

Meaning – being or occurring between the planets or between a planet and the sun Example – The movie showed an interplanetary war.

Meaning – a useful or valuable thing or person Example – She became wealthy as she knew how to manage her assets.

Meaning –  a concise statement of a principle Example – The aphorism ‘A barking dog never bites’ is applicable to him.

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Space exploration is much too expensive and the money should be spent on more important things.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing9 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Include an introduction and conclusion

A conclusion is essential for IELTS writing task 2. It is more important than most people realise. You will be penalised for missing a conclusion in your IELTS essay.

The easiest paragraph to write in an essay is the conclusion paragraph. This is because the paragraph mostly contains information that has already been presented in the essay – it is just the repetition of some information written in the introduction paragraph and supporting paragraphs.

The conclusion paragraph only has 3 sentences:

• Restatement of thesis
• Prediction or recommendation

To summarize, a robotic teacher does not have the necessary disciple to properly give instructions to students and actually works to retard the ability of a student to comprehend new lessons. Therefore, it is clear that the idea of running a classroom completely by a machine cannot be supported. After thorough analysis on this subject, it is predicted that the adverse effects of the debate over technology-driven teaching will always be greater than the positive effects, and because of this, classroom teachers will never be substituted for technology.

Start your conclusion with a linking phrase. Here are some examples:

• In conclusion
• To conclude
• To summarize
• In a nutshell

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• pressing issues
• direct results
• pave the way
• uninhabitable
• inspirational aspects
• fuels innovation
• shared goal
• intellectual capital
• budget overruns
• tangible benefits
• returns on investment
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