Space Exploration is it Worth the Cost?

Emma 7A

April/10/2012

Space is such a big place.   It is literally endless going on forever and ever.  It is full of planets, stars, different galaxies and more.   There is so much to explore but honestly is it worth the cost?  When you consider how much money it really costs, I don’t think it is but there are many benefits to space exploration.  In the next few paragraphs, I will talk about the benefits and downsides of investing in space exploration, how much space exploration worth to people around the world, and last but not least I will talk about the decisions I’d make about the future of space exploration if I were a member of Congress.

First off, space exploration is a big thing.  One example of the space program was the training of astronauts like Neil Armstrong.  They were trained to go up into space to work and explore it.  Going to the moon, which we have done several different times, is just one example. Another is conducting experiments like the growing of plants on the space shuttle or at the international space station.  All of these space explorations have worth.  In some cases, it is hard to measure and in some cases the benefits are clear.  I feel that if they are up in space trying to find a cure for a disease like cancer for example, then space exploration it is 100% necessary.   If they found a cure for cancer, it could benefit many different people on Earth.  

On the other hand, there are some ways I don’t think space exploration is worth the money.  Such as when so many people down on Earth don’t have a home or they because of world hunger.   We should be solving these types of problems first before spending billions of dollars a year on a space program.  I feel that even though exploring space is a wonderful and exciting thing, I feel we should put it off or reduce our focus in order to devote more of our time and resources to make life better on Earth by promoting world peace, controlling pollution, and helping mankind.  Once most of Earth’s problems are solved then we should look beyond and explore the wonders of more thoroughly.

In the country I’m from, our Congress decides how our government’s money is spent.  Recently, the Congress decided to cut spending for space exploration.  I agree with this decision since there are more important things we should be spending our money on.   However, I’m not sure they are spending the money where I would.  I’m just a kid but of my top five priorities the first would be to have a safe and security society for everybody.  Secondly, I would improve our environment by making Earth cleaner through recycling and saving energy.  My third goal would be education since without it no individual or country can succeed.   The fourth main concern would be to end poverty around the world.   Finally, my fifth priority would be in technology because it is a large part of our live and covers every area of our lives.  Space exploration would be a part of this process. Some new suggestions for different approaches to space exploration I have are doing more Earth based research than we are doing right now.  For example, development of new more powerful telescopes that could be used to find far away Earth-like planets.  Another option for space exploration to become cheaper is building robotic space probes.   This way you could reduce the amount of money spent on sending food and supplies to the international space station.  Finally, I think if we are going to continue space exploration we should try to find a way to get to other planets or moons besides our own. Exploring space benefits people like you and me living on Earth.  You might not be able to see how but it does in many different ways.   

In conclusion, I believe that space exploration is a great thing.  It uncovers the universe unknown but we should perhaps hold off on exploring more of space and focus on solving the many problems on Earth.

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