There is a common refrain heard by space travel critics around the world. “Why are we going back to space if we have so much to fix on Earth?” This goes by several variants, but all assume that going to space is somehow the ultimate betrayal of our own planet and our fellow humans. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If anything, returning to space will help both protect the planet and humanity with little cost to boot.
Critics assume that any exploration of the cosmos is a costly affair. NASA’s budget is approximately $24 billion. The U.S. federal budget, in comparison, spent a whopping $6.82 trillion in 2021, meaning NASA only accounts for 0.4 percent of the United States’ total spending. Spending on housing and urban development development takes up $172.20 billion alone.
It’s still asserted that there are too many problems on Earth to care about exploring other worlds regardless of the cost. There’s some truth to this argument. It’s undeniable that we face an unprecedented time of social and environmental upheaval. While going to space cannot be a one fix solution to all of our problems, exploring worlds, whether that be satellite, robot or astronaut, beyond our own can inspire unthinkable solutions to some of the problems we face.
Flights of the ultra-rich are often seen as proof that space will be the playground of 1 percent. The goal of having those flights is to generate publicity, not provide an accurate representation of the company’s core demographics. Private companies make space travel more accessible. Space technology will start off as being highly expensive, however through competition between different companies, the price of the technology begins to drop.
On top of that, these companies are promoting internet access. Most of our internet comes from undersea cables paid by internet companies. In the West, it’s assumed that there will always be companies who will be willing to put down such an investment. The same couldn’t be said for many developing countries. In an internet-bound world, it’s tragic that many in the world are denied this now essential service at no fault of their own. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has sought to change this by bypassing the process of laying down cables altogether. The Starlink program seeks to sell satellites to those disparaged areas. In remote areas such as the deserts of the Sahara and the mountains of the Himalayas, it can be nearly impossible to get reliable internet service through traditional means. Due to the relative abundance of SpaceX satellites, SpaceX can offer cheap and reliable internet to customers around the world. Following the invasion, Ukrainian internet access was put in serious jeopardy. Musk provided Ukraine with thousands of Starlink satellites. Since space programs are making transportation cheaper and internet access more reliable, these private space tourism companies are economic equalizers, not dividers.
Through our involvement in space exploration, we are better able to understand not only the intricacies of the universe, but also how to live without the qualities humans were naturally built for. From this understanding, NASA has helped quality of life on our own planet. LED lights were originally invented to help astronauts grow plants, but are now used to heal humans. The water purification systems pioneered by NASA to provide fresh drinking water for astronauts has been used to fight bacteria in contaminated waters. Even the ear thermometer is based on a NASA prototype.
Another critique is that going to space is ignoring the problem of climate change. However the reason we know such problems exist is from NASA satellite imagery. NASA currently has five satellite missions running. The Terra Satellite, in particular, has been using thermal imaging to monitor the polar ice cap levels and ocean temperatures for the past two decades, informing scientists of the effects of climate change in a way that would be impossible to do on the ground.
Exploring other once habitable worlds also helps us prevent our own demise. Venus has both a similar size and mass to our own planet, yet has an average surface temperature of 460 degrees Celsius, or 860 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to Earth’s average surface temperature of nearly 14 degrees Celsius, or 57 degrees Fahrenheit. This is because Venus’ atmosphere is filled with carbon dioxide at a much higher proportion than our atmosphere. We have found all this information from NASA satellites that used radar technology to survey the planet from above starting in the 1960s. This view of greenhouse gasses has since inspired scientists to focus on our own use of such gases and their effects on our atmosphere, in part allowing for the substantial renewable gas campaign today.
Finally, going to space makes us realize how beautiful our own planet is. This is why a common epiphany shared by astronauts when first seeing Earth from afar is to realize its fundamental fragility. When Neil Armstrong first saw the Earth from the surface of the moon, he had such an epiphany, saying, “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” An investment in space is not as the critic says an abandonment of Earth, but rather its fullest embrace.
Peter Levy is an undeclared freshman.