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WHY SHOULD WE EXPLORE SPACE ANYWAY?

Well...why not!

Financing is a legitimate issue, but is a short-sighted one; the financial rewards for space exploration are immeasurable, both from an industrial and a commercial point of view.
Further to this many of the 'spin-offs' of space exploration have already produced million and even billion dollar industries. Imagine how many more financially rewarding spin-offs could be generated from a serious effort at crossing the final frontier.

Outside of money the most often quoted reason against space exploration is:
Should we not devote resources to improving our own planet first?

This is once again a very short-sighted viewpoint to take. By exploring space great possibilities will be discovered to improve our world, possibilities that can not be found while we sit here. The most obvious benefit will be the advancement in the physical sciences and in medicine that will allows us to improve our way of life on this planet immeasurably.
This is something we shall return to in a moment; first it would be prudent to suggest other benefits to our civilisation that would result from us crossing space.

Perhaps the most important result would be that mankind could well start looking outwards, away from the inner conflicts that exist within our civilisation. Those conflicts that threaten to tear our civilisation apart while still in its childhood, with the consequences of the use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons being obvious. Surely it is reasonable to suggest that by looking outwards the ideals of some, of nationalism and to some extent even terrorism, could be dispelled. It is not the answer to all the problems but it could well be a start. Certainly it must provide a release from many of the political tensions of the world.

Another important idea to consider along these same lines is that almost without doubt the greatest age of mankind began with the exploration that followed the invention of the sailing ship and navigational techniques. Following this age of expansion came an age of discovery, and it can be seen that the same pattern emerges right through history (Columbus' contemporaries included Leonardo Di Vinci and following Sir Walter Raleigh came Shakespeare and Galileo). Just as it was with the Renaissance the new knowledge that we initially acquire may be of limited direct use but could lead once again to a massive outburst of creativity, both in the arts and the sciences. Without the impetus that exploration brings, however, our civilisation will inevitably stagnate, and this will surely lead to the continual cycle of war and peace until we finally destroy ourselves. Perhaps we are already beginning to see such a pattern emerging.

Another argument against space exploration is that it is a terrifying and dangerous objective.
Of course this is undoubtedly correct, but it is perhaps none more so than those pre-renaissance explorers faced at the hands of the seas. Facing their fears was absolutely key to the development of the world that followed. Exploration directly resulted in a movement from one age of history to another, and so it will again.

The benefits will not of course be restricted to science, the arts and social ideals, for example other answers could be found that are more philosophical in nature. There is no question that studies of life and our place in the universe can not be settled while we remain on the Earth. If they can be resolved than the answer undoubtedly lies out 'there' somewhere.

This could of course bring up another possible argument against space exploration, there are questions of faith and religion that have been raised against the exploration of space. To this I would answer that surely faith can only be worthwhile if it can live in the face of truth.

Let us now return to the prospects for the revolution in science that would be achieved by exploring space. Almost immediately the sciences of astronomy, physics and chemistry will all be advanced with initial discoveries resulting from new experimentational possibilities with the widespread availability of vacuums and microgravity. Talking of gravity will we finally be able to understand this mystery by escaping it and studying it from space, who knows, but it is a tantalising idea.
The sciences involved in earth observation including meteorology will probably be improved once man can get out there and observe himself, rather that having satellites doing the work. So often we have found that man can do it better when he is there first hand.

We can see the possibilities of new research conditions, of the potential for industry and commerce but the greatest possibilities are the unknown. We can speculate of the possibility of finding new substances to utilise, but the really massive advantages will be gained from possibilities that we have simply not even thought of, because they will be completely new concepts to us.

It will be just as it was for Columbus, when he left in search of spices he never dreamed of what he was to make possible, such as the discovery and utilisation of oil, a totally new concept that would revolutionise the world. It didn't happen immediately but if he had not gone there who knows how long it would have set the human race back. It will be the same for the pioneers of space exploration.

As for understanding space itself, exploration is crucial to knowledge and we cannot hope to understand the universe until we have been there and widely explored the vast expanses, encountering the known and the unknown. It is impossible to try and understand the behaviour of space while we sit on just one planet.

All this does not mean, of course, that there will be no mystery left in the universe, just as all our scientific discoveries have led us to new, more wonderful mysteries, so will the crossing of space. Our understanding of space now makes it a far more mysterious place then it was generations ago, and so it will remain. The increased knowledge and understanding that exploring space will bring, will in turn bring far more mysteries and they will not all be solved until we have explored and understood the entire universe. That, rest assured, will not be happening anytime soon!

This leaves to my mind only one remaining argument against space exploration, the possibility and dangers of meeting other intelligent life forms. What happens if their intentions are hostile?

Well firstly we must remember the odds of encountering other intelligence. It is almost certain that there are many species of intelligent life in the universe. There is, however, also a vast amount of space containing an immeasurable number of objects between us. Even if they are highly advanced the amount to be explored is huge, imagine trying to explore every grain of sand on a beach before finding that little blue/green one on the far side!

With that said it can be argued that it is entirely possible we have already been visited, the earth has existed for 6 billion years and recorded history goes back only a few thousand, with many gaps in the records. Perhaps the Earth was noted as a possibility and one day they will return to see how life has progressed, it would be very vain of us to suggest that given all the planets out there, they would keep a special eye on us!

Ultimately I believe there is probably little danger of encountering a hostile race. If we were to encounter a species with technology similar to our own there would be a remote possibility, but here we have just reduced already meaningless odds by a chance of a blink of an eye in the total existence of a civilisation.

In actual fact the likelihood is that, as far as the distant foreseeable future goes, if we encounter another intelligent life form, it will probably find us and is therefore likely to be considerably more advanced than we are, this is of course most peoples fear but... If we try and see past science fiction, for as entertaining as it is, it is only fiction, any civilisation that reaches an advanced level of technology must also have reached an advanced level of social standards, of morals and ethics, of compassion and tolerance. For if they hadn't they would surely have destroyed themselves long ago with their advanced technological weaponry.

There is of course no certainty in this, and many others will argue just as strongly for the possibilities of the natural advanced state of evil.

The overriding feeling for me, however, is that whatever their intentions, should we meet in the first place, the idea that we should bury our heads in the sand and hope they leave us alone does not seem a very pragmatic suggestion.

In conclusion it seems to me that it is not only beneficial for us to explore space, but it is absolutely essential for our development and even our survival.

Tasks:

1. Explain and expand on the following:

Outside of money the most often quoted reason against space exploration is:
Should we not devote resources to improving our own planet first?

Surely it is reasonable to suggest that by looking outwards the ideals of some, of nationalism and to some extent even terrorism, could be dispelled.

It is impossible to try and understand the behaviour of space while we sit on just one planet.

Our understanding of space now makes it a far more mysterious place then it was generations ago, and so it will remain.

2. Name the arguments against space exploration given in the text.

3. Read between the lines. What is the underlying philosophy of the article?

4. Give the most controversial issues of the text.

TEXT 4

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