What Is The Importance Of Space Exploration

The most important question which I believe should be covered first is the true importance of space exploration. According to NASA, about once every 10,000 years, asteroids larger than about 100 meters would be expected to reach the Earth’s surface which could cause devastating tidal waves with the ability to flood entire coastlines. Although these asteroids are dangerous there are asteroids larger than 100 meters long which we should be more concerned about as asteroids of this magnitude could fill the atmosphere with dust, blocking sunlight from reaching the Earth, therefore killing crops, and causing a mass starvation for everyone who wasn’t initially killed by the impact. By keeping a look out into space, we may be able to save humanity from extinction either by redirecting or simply destroying the asteroids. This issue isn’t exclusive to asteroids or for objects headed towards Earth either. Over the last 50 years, due to the tens of thousands of space missions, there are over 170 million small pieces of debris ranging from specks of paint to stages of rockets orbiting the Earth which also pose a threat to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

At first this may not seem like a huge problem but when the velocity of these objects are taken into account, their kinetic energy is comparable to a bullet and has the potential to seriously injure or kill said astronauts. In the past, our efforts to explore space has and continues to lead to the development of revolutionary technologies which are published to the public and end up being repurposed by companies to create new beneficial products. One remarkable example of the repurposing of space technology are the sophisticated monitoring systems which were used during the first US spaceflight programme ‘to track the physiological status of its astronauts’. Today, these monitoring systems are being used in hospitals all over the world. Before we were able to send the first humans into space, we launched artificial satellites into orbit. As these satellites are at a much higher altitude, they aren’t subjected to the same obstructions as ground instruments and are therefore able to see larger areas of Earth at a time. This gives them the ability to collect more data at a much faster rate than would normally be possible. Over the years, satellites capabilities have improved to the point where they are able to analyse weather patterns to predict what will happen next along with tracking the formations and movements of hurricanes.

Most importantly, when these satellites are used in conjunction with one another, they form the Global Positioning System (GPS) with one feature being that millions of people can travel to places they have never visited without the fear of becoming lost. Arguably, the greatest benefit to space exploration would be the longevity of our species and all other inhabitants of the Earth through the colonisation of other planets, e. g. Mars. As stated previously, our ability to send satellites into space allows us to monitor many aspects of our planet and therefore helps us monitor many pressing problems on Earth such as climate change, potential asteroid impacts and the tracking of disease and famine.