1. Script V2
INTRO:
On the 4th of October 1957 at 7:28pm Sputnik, was successfully launched and
became the first man made object to orbit the earth, this was the first step of
many that would radically alter the world we live in. Since that day humanity
has not stopped looking up at the night sky and pouring billions of dollars into
space exploration. But what do we have to show for it? Has it improved life on
earth and benefited humanity or is it a waste of money that could be spent on
helping those who are in desperate need.
In America, one third of the surveyed public felt that the government should
stop funding space exploration, due to the rise of private spaceflight
companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. But why?
A lot of people feel that it is wasteful to spend government money on
exploring other planets, when we have severe problems on earth that need
solving, and would benefit from extra government funding. While space
exploration should be left to private companies, as it does not directly help
citizens around the globe.
So, let’s break down the US federal budget and talk about whether NASA has
improved life on earth or whether it is a black hole sucking up money and
resources.
LOOKING AT BOTH SIDES AND BREAKING DOWN BUDGETS:
The National Aeronautics and Space administration, or NASA for short. Has a
budget of $19.1 billion dollars in 2018, this equates to 0.46% of the total $4
trillion dollar annual US federal budget. However, between 30-40% of the
NASA budget are dedicated to education, Earth science, Construction of
Facilities, Environmental Compliance, Restoration, the list goes on. This
means that only around 0.35% of the total us federal budget goes directly to
space exploration.
This by no means takes away from one of the biggest and most common
argument against space exploration. The cost is very high for very little
practical return, due to the fact that doing anything in space requires spending
at least a few million if not billion dollars. Space travel and experiments on the
ISS are extremely expensive for example depending on what type of
spacecraft is used sending a 500ml bottle of water to the ISS can cost
anywhere between $9,100 on the low end and $43,000 high end. This means
that something as simple as drinking water is an extraordinarily expensive
task, a problem that simply does not exist here on earth.
Which leads one to believe that the things, which have been recognised and
invented in space, could have been invented at a much smaller price point here on
earth.
Another common and very reasonable argument is that we should focus on fixing the
world in which we live, before we delve into other galaxies. We have climate issues
ranging from the arctic ice melting to extreme weather all over the globe; we need to
solve the energy crisis cause by the apparent never-ending growth of our population.
We have hundreds of thousand starving, and homeless parents and children in every
2. corner of the world. There are wars all around the globe whether it is an internal war
or an external war. So why should we waste our money staring into the stars when it
should be focused on saving our people here on earth.
As I mentioned already space travel is an extremely costly endeavour, but we cannot
ignore the complex nature surrounding it, and why it is arguably one of the greatest
drivers in modern technology. When traveling into Space the human body is exposed
to nothing that is familiar to it.
It is the most extreme environment in every way imaginable. An environment that we
couldn’t recreate if we tried, when traveling to space since one is placed into a
completely new and hostile environment a set of challenges is presented that simply
would lack to exist on earth, however this does not mean that the inventions that
have been created to overcome such challenges can’t be used on earth.
For example, when trying to grow vegetation in space, cosmonauts and astronauts
on the ISS noticed that the plants would emit ethylene, a gas that allows fruit and
vegetables to ripen, however since in space the vegetables are in a very compact
environment the ethylene concentration would build up to a point where it would
simply kill the plant.
To overcome this issue NASA worked closely with the university of Wisconsin to
build an Ethylene removal system, an air filtration system that removes anything
organic from the air. Bacteria, viruses, mycotoxins and even mould, we now use
these air filtration systems here on earth, in our supermarkets to prolong the shelf life
of perishables, such as fruits and vegetables, in hospitals to purify the air and limit
the transfer of airborne diseases and in wineries to prevent the growth of mould in
the wine cellars.
This is just one example of many inventions that would not have been developed if it
were not for space travel as before space exploration we didn’t know that there was
a need for this technology. Furthermore, as a species or even on individual level, we
interact with technology invented as a result of space exploration every single day.
From taking a picture on your smartphone camera, developed by a team at the Jet
propulsion Laboratory in the 1990s to create cameras small enough to fit on a
spacecraft. To having a nap on your memory foam mattresses which are the result of
an incredible foam developed by NASA in the 1970s to help make airline pilots’ seats
more comfortable. They were later installed in space shuttles.
We have GPS and Communications satellites that allows us to interact from across
the world with virtually no delay.
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