Is space exploration a worthwhile pursuit?

Giuseppe Mangiavacchi

As our modern lives are packed with a world of issues, we must ask ourselves the question: is space exploration really a worthwhile pursuit?

Before I answer this question, it is important to fully understand what this question means. Something that is “worthwhile” means something which has positive outcomes, while a pursuit is the act of trying to achieve a plan or activity. Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space, and so I would interpret this as meaning either to discover what lays in the black abyss, or to use what we know about space to our advantage.

I would now like to clear up one thing. How much money do you think goes to space companies, that are funded by the government, on average? Most people believe that this figure is close to 20%, so it is no surprise that the vast majority believe that the budget should be reduced. However, on average, space companies receive close to 1%. Using this money, you could feed the whole of Africa, for about one day. This leads neatly onto my first point: space exploration can help improve the quality of life on Earth.

Why should we spend time exploring space when we have so many problems on Earth? Some of our ancestors may have asked: why should we spend time on agriculture, if we are already doing enough with hunting? Or why should we go on the sea, if we have so many issues on the land? The answer to all these questions is simple: reaching for new heights, creates new solutions and possibilities. For example, a project named SMAP, created by NASA, is a satellite which can help measure the soil moisture, which is key as it can allow you to predict droughts and floods. SMAP allows people to produce a lot more food on their own for a much longer period, instead of a one-time meal as I mentioned before. This is all due to space exploration and the technologies that can operate in space.

My second point as to why space exploration is a worthwhile pursuit is as it can help to protect us from extinction. Space exploration could save all our lives. As I am sure we are all aware, a large asteroid hitting into our Earth, like what wiped out the dinosaurs, would be catastrophic. Though the chances of this happening are small, the consequences are so large, it would only make sense to take it seriously. Space organizations such as NASA have already installed an asteroid “early warning detection system” in place, and in October 2022 they will test whether a spacecraft can deflect the course of an asteroid, with a mission named DART. As well as this, for many years we have been sending rovers to Mars with the hope of gathering data which would tell us what it would take to establish a permanent human outpost on the rocky planet. If we were to be able to establish an outpost there, it would act as an excellent escape plan, in case something horrific were to happen to Earth.

To conclude for the less than 1% investment in space companies, not only do we improve the living conditions on Earth through projects such as SMAP, but we protect ourselves from fatal events.