When will American astronauts go to the moon again? To Mars? Are private companies even planning on going? Space travel is the exploration of space and it is important because it is crucial for humans to keep learning more and more about space. To find out if there is really an asteroid that is going to hit the earth. Or to check if there is a possibility that we can colonize another planet by exploring it and investigating if it can support life. To find out if there is life on Mars. Space travel should not be privatized because private companies will most likely only be interested in making profit, it would probably not give astronauts a chance to go into space, and there will be less opportunities to learn more about space if space travel …show more content…
American astronauts pay the Russians $70 million for a seat in their Soyuz spacecraft so they can go into space. Instead of paying this much money, NASA tried to solve this problem with a multi-billion contract. According to Davenport, NASA would “inject a large amount of of government money into the private industry,” (par. 5) so that American astronauts can be launched into space from American soil. But, according to Nasman, “NASA has signed a contract with SpaceX for 12 cargo missions to the ISS with the Dragon spacecraft.” (par. 10) They have had five successful missions. But they are cargo missions, in which no astronauts have been launched in. They only carry food, clothing, and other essentials. SpaceX also designed their Dragon spacecraft to be reusable, but NASA has been purchasing a new one for each mission. According to Nasman, scientist Johannes Weppler told DW that “they’re not fully convinced [NASA] that a reused one will be as good as the new one.” (par. 12) Meaning that NASA is not really saving the money they thought they would when hiring a private company for the job. And SpaceX is not even testing one of their spacecrafts to see if they can be reused. So, NASA will have to keep purchasing a new spacecraft every …show more content…
This is a very important topic because space travel is what has taught us almost everything we know about space. If we want to learn more about space, if we want to explore it, it will not be possible to do that with private companies. And we will not be the leading nation in space travel. We just discovered that there is water in Mars! When will American astronauts go explore Mars? To get more clues as to whether we could ever colonize there? Or other planets? Will we go to space in search of natural resources? We need NASA to be in control of our space travel. We need them to travel to space and explore it. Now, there is a positive thing about space privatization and that would be, according to Davenport, that “.. SpaceX could take astronauts to the space station for “potentially less than $20 million.”” (par. 15) This would be a good thing because it could reduce the cost of money being spent on taking American astronauts to space. Because, currently, Russia is charging $70 million dollars per seat in their Soyuz spacecraft. There are pros and cons to space privatization, but the cons outweigh the pros. A
history. It managed to send the first human into orbit and to the moon. The discoveries, NASA have made in the recent decades have enabled us to have more knowledge of planets and stars, and resources way beyond this planet. In another hand, reasons as to why the U.S. Government should continue to fund NASA 's space program is a huge deal today. With the ideals that American tax dollars should be spent on more important things and that companies are now able to construct their own rockets that are able to send people on excursions into space, really is what challenges government support and true betterment of
The question of whether or not to make space travel privatization functional has been a problem for the government, NASA, and for anyone else interested in space travel. Space travel privatization is about making private space companies to be able to send people into space. It relates to being able to earn enough money for more space companies to open up and benefits us with a possibility to send humans back into space again. Space travel should not be privatized because if done correctly, we will be able to travel to space, save money spent from buying seats on Russian spacecrafts, and to have more jobs in the space exploration fields.
would have to end up working with the Russians. “With our relations shaky with Russia, I don’t think that’d be the best idea” (Martin). There’s no telling how well Russian and American astronauts would get along together, not to mention what would have to be paid to Russia just to go into space. In reality there’s no point in paying Russia for what could be done by NASA itself. Plus, there’s no telling how the U.S. will know that Russia won’t take all the credit for any new discoveries made by American astronauts and scientists.To keep things easy and hasslefree, the government should fund NASA more and to keep interest alive in its programs alive. Besides, the government still would be shelling out money anyways, perhaps not as much, but what would be the point when NASA can do it with government help?
As humans our desire to visit space has never ceased, but our scientific advances have so far only allowed manned visits to the moon. There are many political factors that influence the ongoing attempts to engineer space tourism and future missions to Mars, which has been in the works since the twentieth century. High costs and risks involved in spaceflight due to the longevity in space and the effects of cosmic rays have been many of the setbacks in making it a reality. The United States is currently unable to conduct human spaceflight after losing its capability to launch upon the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011. China National Space Administration and Russia Federal Space Agency are the only two government facilities that continue sending humans to space. Should spaceflight agencies continue manned missions to outer space? I believe that many people are not aware of all the knowledge we have gained from sending trained professionals into outer space in the past. Global issues amongst many other problems have been improved due to necessary collaborations made in the name of science and exploration.
This administration is taking money from NASA for science programs. The Obama Administration cuts make it really difficult to keep track of NASA’s programs that take astronauts to the moon and mars. So while NASA is wasting time and money on space travel privatization, more attention should be focused on space exploration. If space is not studied more that can lead to other problems. It can lead to problems like black holes, life in space that can put our lives in jeopardy, and do other harmful things. According to Lamar Smith, “The Obama administration has consistently tried to cut NASA’s space exploration budgets in order to fund increases for earth science programs”( par. 2). Since the Obama Administration is taking away money from more exploration. NASA should put the privatized space travel aside because more important things should be focused
... learn to accept. The question is not should space be privatized but should space continue to be privatized. SpaceX, Orbital Systems Co., Reaction Engines, Sierra Nevada Corps., all of these companies are working day and night to try and make the promise of life beyond Earth a possibility. Mankind has been, for hundreds of years, looking for the opportunities that are present today. Privatized space is finally making a breakthrough in science and technology that is strengthening the financial and emotional state of the United States simultaneously. After all, space is the final frontier, let it be conquered. Governments have tried and failed, privatization may be the key to unlocking secrets, give it a chance. Give private companies a chance to become recognized, let space be their drawing board. Let space be their accomplishment, let them lead the way for humanity.
Space exploration needs advancing scientific research, more machineries and equipments which means that it would cost us a lot of
But they are not curtailed by the state which allows them to achieve faster progress. SpaceX was found by Elon Musk with the sole intention of achieving colonization of Mars. This is considered an important goal of many space organizations to ensure the survival of mankind from a disaster like the one that wiped out dinosaurs. He has proclaimed that they can reach Mars by mid 2020s. But their limited budget means they have to focus on cutting costs and reusing parts. This has led to them mainly coming up with cost effective solutions to routine tasks for NASA. Their only goal is to ensure the sustainability of their organization while they work towards the bigger picture of colonizing Mars.
Private space travel should be encouraged. Private space exploration can lead to many positive benefits for our country. With the no longer continued support of public funding to NASA the threat of losing our space programs as a whole is in jeopardy. Putting an end to our space programs would destroy the continuation of space related research and all hopes of the United States reaching Mars. Privately funded companies would allow for continued research, hope of one day putting humans on Mars and most importantly explore many new things that were once never an option with government funded programs. The encouragement of private space travel is vital for our country.
Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to accomplish this feat. NASA’s research and innovation looked promising but it came at a cost. Money, resources, and spacecraft accidents most famously Apollo 13 all hindered NASA’s research. In the 21st century the debate between funding for NASA is at its peak since the birth of the organization in 1958 especially when there are numerous problems throughout the world. Is the money spent on space exploration worth the advantages and advances it contributes to society?
Mankind has always been fascinated with exploring the unknown. From sailing to distant lands to someday setting foot on other planets, the spirit of exploration is the same. Bur now with the current economic situation and the high cost of sending people to space, NASA is being looked at as a way to free up some much needed funds. Although, there is many problems here on planet Earth that need addressing, the benefits of space exploration far out weight the disadvantages. Space exploration has given us more advanced technology, advances in the medical field, and a boost to the economy and these facts cannot be disputed.
In America, space travel is a controversial issue that many discuss. Although exciting, some people find it unnecessary and a waste of money. There are also many risks associated with space travel and many issues are more important than space travel that should be focused on. There are ethical, diplomatic, and economic issues that need to be considered before making decisions about space exploration.
The main argument against space travel is that the money used could be better put on other matters. This is, in fact, very untrue. Looking at NASA’s 2015 budget of $17.5 billion, it may seem like a lot, until you realize that the US military budget for 2014 was $581 billion (5). Furthermore, it was estimated that each dollar in NASA’s budget was equivalent to 8 – 10 dollars of economic benefit (6). If an organization can bring about economic value at 10 folds the original budget, it would be logical to continue funding it, if not increasing the funds.
Most people think that the costly downside to funding space exploration is a reason to avoid spending money on sciences and instead spend it on problems here on earth, but such funding for space exploration actually promotes economical as well as scientific benefits. Space exploration is an important expenditure for the high cost because of the potential for numerous benefits such as the possibility to find useful resources to cultivate, space exploration and satellites produce many thousands of jobs in our economy, and it creates and discovers newer and better technologies through research and development.
Space exploration is very beneficial to humankind because it creates new technologies, it brings different countries together, and gives people a better understanding of our Earth.