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Should The Government Fund Space Travel?
Introduction
The question of whether or not the government should fund space travel, and in essence, space exploration is a trivial one. There have been numerous arguments on this issue, but it all boils down to the simple problem of where money should go, Earth or beyond? Is space travel where our money should look into when there is so much more to be tended to on our Earth? Must we allocate billions of dollars to explore the unknown when we have not eradicated the known problems? The only way to truly answer these questions is by space travel and its relevance to humanity.
More Space
It will be rather invidious to ignore the alarming rates at which the human species multiplies. World Population Review reveals that Angola, for instance, has a birth rate of 43.7 average annual births per 1,000 people per year. This number may seem meager at first glance, but this figure projects that every year, a million more people are added to the number. This is quite a number of people.
Our Earth doesn’t keep expanding, only the population does. We can assert boldly that most parts of our Earth have been explored and not much is left to occupy with the world growing at this rate. Renowned scientist, Stephen Hawking has already proposed human migration to other planets if the human race is to survive. Indeed, space exploration holds the answer.
There are entire galaxies outside the bubble of Earth, many more planets with the ability to sustain life. Refusing to regard this knowledge only sets the human species on course for competition for space, and life as is known. Space exploration opens the human race to a new world; a universe which much more space than ever imagined, with the ability to support life.
Safety
The human race has not forgotten the brutalities from the many battles and wars of this Earth. By the same token, the mines and bombs left armed on the seabed must be remembered. These explosives must not be thought a thing of the past as they are very much live, resting atop large amounts of methane trapped underneath the seabed. At any point in time, a world war II sea mine could go off, releasing methane which has 5 times more heat retaining capacity than carbon dioxide. This implies that it won’t be long until humans are wiped out by extreme heat temperatures.
This threat calls for the exploration of other options, options only space travel provides. Does not human life and the sustaining of the human race hold priority? The threat to the existence of man is a good enough reason to fund space exploration.
World Revolution
Exploration has been a part of the human race for centuries. It takes a boundless urge and thirst for knowledge to travel the world when there is conventional knowledge that the world is flat and has an edge - one from which you could fall off. However, this obscure knowledge did not hold back the old explorers in the likes of Henry the Navigator, Christopher Columbus, Marco Paulo, and Amerigo Vespucci. It is this spirit of exploration that has birthed today’s evolved world.
Much of the twenty-first century’s economic strength and technological advancements stem from the research of space and extraterrestrial life. From implantable pacemakers to kidney-dialysis machines to flawless LASIK surgeries, to satellites and improved digital imagery, space exploration has transformed the quality of life on earth. Even the Statue of Liberty got its corrosion-resistant coating from the research on space.
According to Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, "although solutions to a problem are often the fruit of direct investment in targeted research, the most revolutionary solutions tend to emerge from cross-pollination with other disciplines. Medical investigators might never have known of X-rays since they do not occur naturally in biological systems. It took a physicist, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, to discover light rays that could probe the body’s interior with nary a cut from a surgeon†(Tyson). These cross-pollinations occur in the first place because someone decided to look beyond the conventional and to venture into the cosmos.
Conclusion
Cross-Pollinations occur today due to the funding of ambitious projects conceived by scientists. It is the synergy between society and science. Without funding, there couldn’t have been driverless cars, there would not be the existence of the internet. This symbiosis is one upon which the world now thrives, and it is safe to assume there can only be better from space exploration. Space travel does not mean that man should neglect the issues the world faces today, but governments cannot stop funding space travel, as it holds the future for our species.
Bibliography
Tyson, Neil D. Why exploration matters—and why the government should pay for it. McKinsey & Company, 2012.
