Space Exploration or Exploitation?

This is going to be a great story, I thought to myself as I walked around the podium toward the front-row seats. I couldn’t quite believe that I was the one who got entrusted to report on the Space Tech Expo, a story I had always thought was out of my reach. I removed the sign with my name and laid it on the floor, then eased myself into the velvet seat clutching my notebook and pen. Earnestly, looking around at the sea of faces, I was stunned to see that there was a handful of the most influential and wealthiest people on the planet here, in California, waiting to cash in on their next big investment. “That is when you know that you have too much money. You end up spending it on things that may not actually work, all in the name of ‘science'”, I muttered under my breath. The lights dimmed, my thoughts interrupted, and I turned back to face the stage.

Space exploration has been a big part of humanity's victories ever since we walked on the Moon. The wonders of space have inspired minds all throughout history- from the ancient Greek astronomers to the astrophysicists of today. For many, they look to the stars and think that they are still out of reach; but recent ventures by NASA and other space companies have proved us wrong. Take 'space poster boy’ Elon Musk, for example, this eccentric billionaire thinks that we will be booking flights to Mars by 2029. Or Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, these two business oligarchs are looking to build a hotel on Mars. So, for your next holiday, instead of thinking about Mallorca, think about going to Mars instead. Space exploration has caused a lot of controversy throughout the years, with people claiming, “it’s human nature for us to be curious and want to know more” and others saying, “it’s a waste of money.” or “we need to focus on our own planet.” The arguments for and against are both valid and compelling. It’s important to ‘explore’ each other’s viewpoints.

Ever since the dawn of space research and discovery, there has been the perception that this research costs copious amounts of money that should be put into more pressing social issues like homelessness or health services. A 2020 survey was issued by NASA, asking the general public how much money NASA takes from the USA’s federal budget. It revealed that the public believed NASA took up a quarter of the budget, whereas they took only a tiny 0.5%. So, in comparison to the USA’s military spending, where they like to splash $801 billion on their military each year, it makes the $33 billion that NASA receives look like pennies in comparison. Notably, this doesn’t include the independent donations that NASA receives from unimaginably wealthy individuals who think that it is a better idea to fund the finding of Martians than feed the famished homeless. And hey, these extensive donations and constant spending and earning of money do actually benefit the economy overall, as it puts more money into the public purse to address significant social issues at home and globally. Who knew that spending money on blasting shuttles full of fossil fuels into space would help solve climate change?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that catapulting rockets among the stars leads to harming the environment. For people against space exploration, this has been the main cause of their reasoning not to support it. For the spacecraft to even get off of the ground, both rocket boosters consume 11,000 pounds of fuel per second. That’s 2 million times the rate of the average family car! Even now, family cars and fossil-fueled vehicles are significant contributors to climate change, never mind your gas-guzzling rocket that is being thrown into the sky. By the time the rocket has reached the atmosphere, it would have already emitted staggering amounts of fossil fuels polluting the atmosphere with their pricey particles. It’s not just the atmosphere and the environment that they are quietly killing, it also comes as a lethal consequence to humans too. There have been worrying reports of people with higher rates of asthma and lung cancer who live in areas where they launch these killer rockets. Knowing all this, why do we still launch these noxious shuttles up into space? Is there any way it can benefit planet Earth?

Surprisingly, polluting the planet and slowly killing its inhabitants has had some positive outcomes. Like the invention of the satellite, for example, modern-day civilization would not be as advanced as it is today without it. They are essential for our everyday lives and have saved countless individuals through better weather forecasting, meaning that we can prepare for natural disasters before they happen. Satellites have also inspired the creation of GPS, to help people if they are lost, and could be critical for their safety. Who knew that the destruction of the atmosphere could help humans discover Velcro and non-stick pans? Forget about trying to find the cure for cancer, that’s the real win for humanity. Some of these inventions have come about by chance. Could chance also play a part in the success of space discovery?

It is no secret that the whole space industry is all about calculated trial and error. But should we really be spending abundant amounts of money on things that may not even have any outcome? We have spent millions on technology to send messages out into space, which will take 40 years to send, and 40 years to get a reply back. That’s millions of dollars spent and even if we get a reply (which is highly unlikely) we will have to wait 80 years, to maybe not even understand the message that was sent back. Knowing all this information, is it really in the best interest of the human race to still persist in exploring space?

Space exploration definitely comes at a price. A hefty price. One that investors can’t throw money at fixing; one that will cause irreparable damage to our planet and its inhabitants. The truth is that it doesn’t matter if we should or shouldn’t because it’s started. It’s happening now. The space tech industry knows the cost of space exploration on this planet; but chooses to ignore it out of gloating rights. Maybe once we go to Mars in Elon’s electric rocket and stay in the Oligarchs’ hotel, we may try to not make the same mistakes we did on Earth; or maybe we will? After all, if space tourists are too busy trying to get good photos of Jupiter or trying to colonize Mars, to see that we should be focusing on helping to repair the damage we caused on Earth, then we have no chance of a change at all. Throughout history, we have always had the same pattern. We are incapable of change. We break. We take. And then we will inevitably do what we have done to our planet, we destroy.

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Alexa Marshall is a seventeen-year-old writer living in Scotland with a love for dogs, and music. In her free time, she enjoys writing, spending time with family and friends, and walking her dog.

References:

• https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0712/the-reality-of-investing-in-space-exploration https://debatewise.org/137-space-exploration-is-a-waste-of-money/

• https://www.planetary.org/articles/space-exploration-is-always-worthwhile

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/10/26/even-while-the-world-suffers-investing-in-science-is-non-negotiable/ https://netivist.org/debate/space-exploration-pros-and-cons https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/investing-in-space