Thesis statement: The space program has been suffering budget cuts ever since 1993, so much so that with the latest sequester passed in 2011, the budget cuts are now threatening the very existence of NASA and the future of space exploration.
Space exploration can be dated back to the age of European Renaissance, a historic age when arts and cultural transformation began. It was the same era when there gradual but widespread transition in educational reforms. Since then the flourishing art and science of stars and planets transformed in to the minute details of comets and meteors. The study, which started as the fundamental physical laws, governing the motions of planets around the sun, gave a great insight of not just our planet earth but also of millions of galaxies, which exist, in the world beyond us.
Beyond the economic and political aspects space exploration is a great catalyst for technological development and of course scientific discovery. If we neg...
It is within man’s blood and nature to explore, and space is our next New World. Man’s first achievement in space travel was the launch of the Sputnik on October 4, 1957. For the next decades, space travel was roaring like a rocket, fueled by man’s desire to explore, man’s desire for knowledge, and man’s desire to beat his enemies. However, these impulses have died out as the well of government funding has been diverted to wars and debts, and the interest of the American people has been diverted to wars and debts. Amidst all these issues it is debated as to whether or not space travel is worth the money and the attention of scientists, particularly since humanity faces so many issues on earth currently. However, because of the past inventions, current services, and future benefits, space travel is indeed worth the money and attention of governments and people. It is within our hands to control man’s advancement, and space travel is the next venue to do so.
“In a fraught fiscal climate, NASA should focus on what it does best and on what offers the best return on investment. Solar system exploration meets both criteria: the U.S. has long led the interplanetary charge, and the resulting scientific benefits have come at a relative bargain. This year NASA 's planetary science program cost about $1.5 billion -- less than what NASA spent designing a congressionally mandated rocket, the Space Launch System, which appears more likely to satisfy aerospace contractors than to aid the cause of space exploration. Such directives from lawmakers all too often land in NASA 's lap without the funds to carry them out (To The
An Astronomy topic that has always been intriguing is space travel. The ability to rocket into space, look down on Earth, and “…explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before” (IMDB) is an adventure that people dream of experiencing. On July 20, 1969, an estimated six million people watched Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the Moon (Nixon Library). Presently, people are paying Virgin Galactic $250,000 to reserve a seat on a spaceship that is expected to tour suborbital space in the near future (Virgin Galactic). Although space travel continues to be of interest, there is also some controversy. Controversies include: the allocation of government resources for space exploration, government verses commercial spacecrafts, and the need to colonize other planets for the survival of humanity. The intrigue and the controversy of space travel are the reasons for this Astronomy conversation.
Lind, Michael. "Why We Should Embrace the End of Human Spaceflight."Salon.com. N.p.: n.p., 2011. N. pag. Rpt. in NASA. Ed. Margaret Haerens. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
Throughout its history, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have been associated with spectacular feats and horrific disasters in space exploration. It has received great praise for its successes and harsh criticism for its failures. NASA once the leading agency in space exploration is one of those agencies that is either loved or not wanted. Whether you love it for its scientific and technologic achievement 's or hate for the cost in money and lives, I hope to explain why we need to keep NASA in some form or another.
Should the space program be defunded, that was a question that was thrown around in 2006. This program that was started in a quick race to stop the spread of communism, and to propel the U.S. to the front of the arms, and exploration race. Well 06’ came and past and the program was cut. Was it the right thing to do or did we give up on the ultimate chance for exploration into the unknown. In the 60’s there was a TV show that ran the majority of 30 years it had one line that played at the beginning and sparked the imagination of every child, young adult and now scientist. What was that phrase? “To seek out strange new life, and civilizations, to explore new worlds, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.”(Gene Rodenberry, Star Trek, 1964) So what has the program done for us, and what is in store for the future? I hope that in this short paper I can show what the space program has contributed to mankind, as well as what has become of the program now 7 years down the road.
In 2009 a survey found that 50% of the internationally renowned scientists who published in the prestigious journal Nature had been inspired by Apollo to become scientists; 89% of the respondents also agreed that human space flight inspires younger generations to study science. Today with scientist from NASA helping students conduct their investigations aboard the ISS (International Space Station) has caused a large attraction to the research of NASA and research areas of natural sciences and space itself.