Notes

In today’s society, there are those who believe that the funds allocated to space programs would be better spent elsewhere. However, I believe that more funds should be allocated to space programs. You may ask yourself, what are the benefits that have come from space programs? The answer is probably in your pocket: wireless mobile phones use satellites that have been launched into orbit so that you can make a call without a cord. GPS, the internet and your TV are just some examples of other things that cannot exist without space programs. The satellites in orbit also help us predict hazardous weather conditions, saving lives by giving governments the vital time and information needed to evacuate those in hazardous environments. Without this technology, disasters caused by weather conditions would be a lot worse and death tolls would be substantially higher. You may wonder whether we can afford to fund space programs. The reality is that we can’t afford not to.
Space programs have unquestionably improved our lives in a variety of different ways. Ground breaking technology that was originally intended for use in space exploration is now being used everyday life, without most of us even knowing it. Inventions such as cordless tools, artificial limbs and even the computer mouse are all creations of NASA and other space programs. Our world would frankly be a more monotonous place to live if we stopped funding space exploration. NASA has invented small things that make a big difference to many people’s lives, for example, programmable pacemakers, night vision cameras, invisible braces, simulation software, a new more nutritious baby formula, stress detection, intelligent highway systems that have saved countless lives, smoke detectors, UV protective and scratch resistant lenses, and even the super soaker. These are all inventions that would not exist without the work of space programs and which have massively helped people who might have been helpless otherwise. NASA has also invented solar panels; these magnificent things are everywhere, on buildings, homes, and even on calculators. Solar panels were originally designed to power aircrafts during long sustained flights, but now they provide green energy to millions of homes. As a result, they have slowed down global warming and the emission of greenhouse gases dramatically, as well as providing countless jobs. All of these inventions have been created during the previous 60 years, so imagine what NASA could do if they were given the opportunity and funding to go on for another 60 years.
Interestingly, space exploration is not that expensive compared to other forms of government spending. On average the US government spends $9.9 billion dollars on space flight every year. You may think this is a lot but the US government spent approximately $8.4 billion dollars in Iraq every month in 2010. The cost of a whole year of space exploration was spent by the US military in one month. The NASA budget isn’t solely for building rockets, some of it is spent on people’s wages, because space exploration creates jobs for astronauts, engineers, physicists and communication experts among others. NASA hires a total of 18,000 people and sub-contracts over 40,000 people. NASA’s contribution to the jobs’ market cannot be underestimated. Many people criticise space exploration for being too dangerous, but this is not the case. In the whole of manned space flight only around 20 have died. Many people think this is a lot, but in 10 minutes the same number of people die from malaria as in 60 years of manned space flight. The statistics speak for themselves.
Using NASA telescopes we might one day find a small planet, explore further and find out that it can support life, and has intelligent beings on it. Imagine all that we could learn from such a situation! The idea of alien life has inspired countless writers and artists to create powerful stories and paintings that have captured the hearts and minds of many, so when we are so close to potentially making contact with them, are just going to give up, and lose the chance that we have? We should be putting more funding into space exploration so we can establish a communication network with other life forms, should they exist.
Another crucial aspect of space exploration is that it allows us to remain safe. Without funding, the satellites and the people whose job it is to look for and evaluate the dangers of asteroids will no longer work to serve to protect us. There are a lot of things in our solar system that could wipe out life on earth; asteroids, solar flares and excess amounts of radiation. To keep us safe, all these things need to monitored and investigated in order that we may protect ourselves. Funding space programs allows us to track and map asteroids that pose a threat to us, and to find a way to divert or destroy them, ensuring our safety. Without funding, these crucial programs could not continue and there would be no one looking out for us, analysing where the next threat will come from.
In conclusion, the points that I have raised, explain why I firmly believe that financial support should be devoted to space programs. These programs should be funded because they provide us with new technologies that we can use to improve our lives, they continue to provide jobs and they keep us safe.