Space Exploration as a Waste of Time and Money

Space Exploration as a Waste of Time and Money

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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