Should we explore space?
There are two different views on space exploration. Many people think that mankind should explore space and visit other planets because it is very interesting and useful. Tsiolkovsky said: «The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot remain in the cradle forever." However, some other people support the idea that space research means waste of time and money which mankind could spend on more helpful things. What point of view is more reasonable?
I am fully aware, that people should explore space as all unknown. Firstly, space examination opens up new possibilities in medicine and other sciences. For example, observation of other planets and the Sun helps us understand how they influence man’s health. The scientists have noticed that high emission of solar radiation causes some problems in human’s health. Secondly, nowadays the weather forecast can be easily made with the help of space satellites. As far as I am concerned, these forecasts are necessary for people in many kinds of activities. For instance, air transportation is impossible in bad weather conditions. Similarly, such forecasts are very helpful for agronomy. So, according to scientific researches due to the most accurate weather forecasts, it is possible to reduce economic losses on 46% in construction industry, 43% in aviation, 24% in agronomy and 18% in sea transportation. Thirdly, the most important space contribution, in my view, is possibility to control measures of liquidation some ecological disasters. For example, in 2010 there was an explosion in the UK oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. So, the water of the Gulf was pollutedwith 760 million liters of oil. Thereby, many pictures from space were taken to trace the movement of the oil slick and carry out activities to protect the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
However, some people say, that space investigation must be limited. To begin with, astronauts can be infected by viruses during the flight in space and then bring them to the Earth. So, it can result in mass infection on our planet. I cannot agree with because the probability of poisoning is very low. Furthermore, they say humanity spends a huge amount of money on space exploration. In addition, up to this time costs on space exceed the results, especially in deep space researches. For instance, a photo taken from space costs now about 2-4 thousand dollars. I cannot help agreeing with this opinion. However, more than 22 billion dollars were spent to create the first nuclear bomb. So, I am absolutely sure that such money could be spent on space investigation that is more useful than creating nuclear bombs,which could destroy the life on our planet. Moreover, people believe space examination affects badly the Earth atmosphere. For example, during the flight in space the so-called “space dump” is released. It causes pollution of nearby Earth space with the wastes of missiles and satellites. It leads to global climate changes, ruins the ozone layer. I strongly believe that it is not the most serious problem, because with the development of space technologies, this garbage will be gathered and destroyed.
To sum up, I would like to say that further space exploration remains a controversial question. All in all, in my opinion people should continue to do it because it is very important for the development of the Earth civilization and exciting.