Space exploration is the grandest endeavor the human race has ever undertaken.
In the words of Gene Roddenberry, space truly is the final frontier.
It is certainly tempting to think of exploration as coming at a tremendous financial cost.
There are also many pressing needs right here at home, which must be addressed.
Our food is now significantly safer, thanks to NASA.
These benefits come from a surprisingly small investment in space exploration.
In some ways, space agencies are a victim of their own success.
Yet, actual budgets are far from that misguided notion.
That same year, governments around the globe spent about $82.5 billion on space exploration.
To stabilise global temperatures we must urgently move away from fossil fuels instead of adding fuel to the fire.
Richard Branson invested a little over abillion dollarsdeveloping Virgin Galactic over 17 years.
Lets assume he had been taxed on every dollar of that (he wouldnt have been).
(More on nuclear war later, dont worry).
Today, however, NASA and its associated organizations are champions of diversity and inclusion.
Accompanying her was 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, the youngest person ever to fly to space.
THINGS… on the… Space exploration shatters long-standing barriers, bringing us all closer to our own final frontier.
Number Seven Fixing Climate Problems Water You Waiting for?
Human beings can live just a few minutes without adequate oxygen.
The atmosphere and oceans are slow to respond.
This data to understand and mitigate climate change can only be collected by satellites above our home planet.
Modern human civilization is dependent on energy.
Moving away from fossil fuels means the replacing energy with renewable sources.
In 2017 alone, water was a major factor in conflict in at least 45 countries, including Syria.
Its importance as a resource means that water-related insecurity can easily exacerbate tensions and friction within and between countries.
That future technology needed to carry out this task has the potential to revolutionize how we supportlife on Earth.
Why, thank you!).
Readers and viewers are faced with finding high-quality reporting among an endless morass of less-than-reliable sources.
(We are your most-trusted source for news about space exploration and astronomy?
Why, you are just too kind!).
Developing and encouragingspace exploration directly feeds science education, providing a pathway for talented scientists to obtain an education.
Scientific training provides tools to weigh evidence and see through falsehoods.
Science provides the best set of tools available to inoculate our populace against the dangers of pseudoscience and mendacity.
This project cost roughly 10 billion dollars over 24 years around 420 million dollars a year.
Europe and Canada, together, contributed an additional billion dollars to the construction of this revolutionary instrument.
And, this money did not just appear as pile of cash which quickly disappeared from an airport tarmac.
Today, we might stand at the precipice of answering that ancient question are we alone in the Universe?
These studies could reveal the telltale traces of life on other worlds for the first time.
The clans battled their neighbors in deadly clashes worldwide which left a large fraction of the human race dead.
This event is seen today as theNeolithic Y-chromosome bottleneckrevealed in our human genes.
Such city-states (and their attendant wars) were later absorbed into the roles of nations, and empires.
Today, nations frequently battle each other, with varying degrees of transparency and fanfare.
To whom will they owe their allegiance?
Suppose you were born in space, never having visited Earth.
Is a border skirmish on a distant world going to mean anything at all to you or your peers?
ONLY spaceflight has the potential to end the ultimate source of our current problem rampant nationalism.
Space exploration could finally makenations obsolete.
Asteroids or comets could pummel our planet at any time, a lesson the dinosaurs learned the hard way.
(That pun rocked!).
Other natural disasters could also wreak havoc around the globe.
Changes to the environment after such a disaster could last decades.
Additionally, the Yellowstone Supervolcano is not alone in its destructive power.
Other supervolcanoes would likely include the large caldera volcanoes of Japan, Indonesia, Alaska (e.g.
Aniakchak, Emmons, Fisher), and other areas, theUSGS reports.
Since 1987, this shift in perspective has had a name The overview effect.
[I]ts really hard to convey it, because all you have is words.
And part of it is seeing the Earth itself.
Youre also moving around the Earth frequently.
Words, images, even video fail to convey the majestic paradigm shift that accompanies the overview effect.
There is only one way to impart this feeling onto others.
Now, its like Zen Buddhism.
Space exploration makes it all happen.
This article was originally published onThe Cosmic Companionby James Maynard, the founder and publisher of The Cosmic Companion.
you’ve got the option to read the original articlehere.
