Jacob Chambers

Ms. Litle

Eng Comp 121

20, April, 2017

Space Exploration: Why It Is the Best Solution

People have looked to the stars for millennia for inspiration and wonderment for years.

Many of the Earths greatest wonders have been built in accordance to the position of the

heavens, illustrating the wonder captivated by space upon humans. To date the space program

has made tremendous progress in a number of areas of both science, technology, and simple

human need to discover. That being said in recent years space exploration has lost its momentum,

and has slowed significantly in pace. From NASAs height in 1965, where four percent of the

total federal budget was allocated to space exploration, in 2006 less than one percent of the total

budget was allocated to space exploration (Triumphs/Tragedies, 2006). This is a state of affairs

that must change. In order for humanity to continue to grow and expand; the pace of space

exploration along with subsequent resource utilization must pick up.

This however is not the opinion of everyone, as there is a sizable population of people

who believe that space exploration is wasteful and fails to adequately address many problems

that we face in the modern day. Among the biggest complaints about the continuation of the

space exploration programs are that resources and manpower allocated to research in space cuts

back on the resources available to those on Earth and finding solutions here on the ground

(Williams, 5). Those against space exploration argue that we do not currently have the

technology to complete the projects that we hope to accomplish, such as reaching and colonizing

Mars (Williams, 5). They argue that instead of putting money into these seemingly useless
projects, we instead use those resources to solve problems on Earth (Williams, 8). They argue

that instead of preparing for a possibility, such as asteroid strikes, that may never occur we

instead look into solving problems that currently plague us on Earth (Williams, 8).

Space exploration is crucial to finding new sources of a number of resources; such as

energy, metals, fuels, and others. The moon, for example, has a massive amount of resources that

could possibly be utilized(Crawford, 138). Many of these resources, such as iron and nickel,

would only be commercially useful to a space based economy (Crawford, 149), however this

would allow for the construction of infrastructure useful for the recovery of rarer elements for

exportation back to earth. Other experts believe that asteroids contain even higher levels of

utilizable resources, mainly iron/nickel, with large amounts of trace minerals like copper and

Platinum Group Elements (PGEs) (Shaer). According to the Asteroid Reference Center

(Asterank.com), many of these asteroids have net worths of trillions of dollars per asteroid, with

potential profits of billions of dollars according to current commodity prices.

While space exploration has slowed in recent years, humanity is closer to having the

technology to exploit commercial resources than we realize. In 2001 NASA was able to land a

probe on an asteroid and bring back samples of the material inside (NASA). This kind of

mission, while on a small scale, is what is envisioned by such companies as Planetary Resources

for their goal of mining asteroids. The same principles used by the probe and NASA controllers

would be used by a larger mining probe. This means that we are closer than commonly thought

to the successful exploitation of resources in the solar system (Shaer). Planetary Resources itself

is expecting to launch the first of their exploration probes for a preliminary analysis of several

possible minable asteroids in the year 2017 (Shaer, Roid Rage). They hope to have a commercial

operation for extracting resources on NEAs. This combined with several space agencies
increased interest in asteroids, such as the European Space Agencys Rosetta probe, has shown

that humans are closer to exploiting the fruits of our previous exploration than we once thought.

Space exploration has several indirect benefits. In the development of technology to

overcome hurdles encountered in space, such as protecting ourselves from vacuum, or building

materials strong enough to resist the stresses caused by exiting the planet, and the extreme heat

caused by reentry of the atmosphere. Other materials invented for the purpose of exploration of

space have been widely implemented into everyday life; such as Teflon, which was originally

created for use in space suits to keep pressure inside at safe levels. Other technological advances

have included light therapy anticancer therapies, cordless tools, new high temperature alloys,

improved solar panels, and many other advances that have been implemented from new

discoveries made for the further exploration of space. These indirect benefits are caused by the

advances made in a number of different sciences can then be combined by experts in other

sciences to create spin-off technologies using these new discoveries (ISECG, 8).

Space exploration helps to learn about our world as well. With the large amount of

satellites in Earth orbit, humanity has been able to map the entire world, as well as get more

accurate maps on the areas that had already been charted. Added to this is the vast amount of

weather satellites in orbit around the Earth. These track weather systems and temperatures across

the globe, with an accuracy unparalleled in all of human history. The satellites have allowed for

much higher understanding on how the world works, where weather patterns are localized at, and

given warning for disasters on Earth (ISECG, 5).

Finally, space exploration is one of the only projects that can get thousands of people

from different nations to cooperate on projects that benefit all of humanity (Isisit). This is most

evident in the most public symbols of international cooperation in the nature of space
exploration, the International Space Station (ISS). This space station is in geosynchronous orbit,

or constant orbit relative in position to Earth, where it conducts a number of experiments in the

fields of physics, chemistry, and biology (ISECG, 12). These experiments are conducted by a

variety of scientists from a number of different countries who are contributing to the ISS project.

This does two things. First it proves that humanity can in fact work together, crossing

international borders for the betterment of humanity as a whole. Second, the ISS provides the

framework for future mutual pacts of cooperation, giving governments a basic treaty to model

similar, subsequent pacts on.

Combined, all these reasons prove beyond shadow of a doubt that increased space

exploration provides countless benefits to humanity as a whole, far outweighing the costs of

space exploration. Arguments against continued space exploration fail to adequately address

what exactly the benefits for increased exploration are, and just how big they are. From an influx

of rare materials into the global economy, to the spinoff technologies created in the process, to

the new era of cooperation between nations for humanitys benefit, space exploration is one of

the most important endeavors that the Human race has ever embarked upon. Quite simply, space

exploration is an activity that we must continue should humanity itself expand.

 Works Cited

"Asteroid Database and Mining Rankings - Asterank." Asteroid Database and Mining Rankings -

Asterank. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Crawford, I. A. "Lunar Resources: A Review." Progress in Physical Geography 39.2 (2015): 137-67.

Print.

Tang, Answered By Yvonne. "The History of Astronomy." Home - Curious About Astronomy? Ask an

Astronomer. 17 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Williams, Lynda. "Irrational Dreams of Space Colonization." Peace Review 22.1 (2010): 4-8. Print.

Issitt, Micah and Gerson Moreno-Riano. "Counterpoint: We All Benefit from Space Exploration.

" Points of View: U.S. Space Program, 3/1/2016, p. 3. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=26625437&site=pov-live.

"NASA budget as a percentage of the federal budget, 1959-2006." Space Exploration: Triumphs

and Tragedies, edited by Kim Masters Evans, Gale, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

libdb.ojc.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2210068122/OVIC?

u=wheeler_lib&xid=39784224. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.