It's time we intensified space exploration

Global warming and the threat of military conflicts make us think that one day humanity will have to leave the Earth. And while it seems like science fiction, work in this direction is already underway. Today, more funds and resources are allocated to space programs and space exploration than ever before. However, a quite reasonable question arises - is it rational to engage in space exploration, if life on earth still leaves much to be desired, and many people do not even have access to the simplest things? With this I will try to understand in my essay.

To prepare for the essay, I reviewed the necessary materials on this topic. The most convincing thesis in support of the position against space exploration is that it is very costly for humanity. According to Joe Landon, the cost of even the smallest satellites exceeds $500 million, and that doesn't include the cost of launching and controlling them.[1] As an example, he proposes a redistribution of money in the budgets of states, which implies less spending on space, and more spending on the prevention of existing earthly problems. He believes that space exploration should be done when all people on earth have access to clean drinking water and food on a daily basis. This altruistic and most obvious approach certainly makes sense, but there are other opinions.

On the other hand, there is the thesis that space exploration and development of science is necessary for solving problems on earth. The evidence presented to us by Forbes article author Ethan Siegel relates to the fact that important inventions for mankind, such as the microscope, appeared during the plague and other diseases, when spending on the development of medicine also seemed unreasonable.[2] However, in the future, this invention advanced medicine forward, and made it possible to avoid the onset of many other epidemics and save many human lives. There is an obvious example of the benefit of this approach to the modern space industry, regarding the capabilities of an artificial satellite of the earth. According to Ernst Stühlinger, one of NASA's most successful scientists, satellites today allow people to study the surface of the earth, weather conditions, in order to find the most favorable conditions for the development of agriculture. This would be much more difficult to do from the ground, since the satellite's field of view allows it to cover almost the entire space of the earth's surface. Thus, we can see the benefits for space exploration today already.

As for my personal point of view, I believe that although humanity has every opportunity to use space exploration for its own benefit, in practice the situation is somewhat reversed. Space influencers such as Elon Musk, Richard Branson, and others use space travel as a tool to make money and fight among themselves in the media space. Such an approach, I think, has nothing to do with the benefits for mankind, and in fact the approach to new discoveries in the space field is reduced to commercial activities for them, which does not affect people or progress for science, but only allows them to become even more powerful and wealthy.

On the other hand, I believe that the process of space exploration has a real opportunity to make the world a better place here and now. Since the main rivalry on the ground between the US and Russia politically is likely to continue for many years to come, the space programs of these states are the strongest, and space exploration can become a unifying factor for them in the event of some threat or opportunity related to space. An example is the tragedy of Apollo 13, when an American spacecraft exploded. Despite the ongoing cold war between the countries, the USSR expressed its full readiness to help the American expedition in order to leave as many people as possible alive. Thus, it can be noted that space can become a reason for maintaining the balance of power on earth, but only if countries will not pull the blanket over themselves, and unite forces and approaches to the study of space.

In conclusion, I would like to note that although space exploration does not seem to be the number one task for humanity today, and for some it even seems like a waste of money, today it is really capable of making life on earth better, or at least move in this direction. However, humanity still needs many more years to be ready to approach space rationally and intelligently. Today, mankind definitely has the opportunity to advance in solving earthly problems with the help of space programs, and at the same time deal with earthly problems with the help of available resources on our dear planet.