Texas Christian University

The Benefits of Space Exploration

Thesis

Haley Ann Roughton2-9-2015

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In the late 1960’s, space exploration was a booming industry, with 4 percent of the U.S.

Federal Budget invested in NASA. Since 2014, NASA has received less than 0.5 percent of the

budget, with a prediction that 2015 will receive even less funding (Kring, n.d.). Despite this

plummet in the NASA budget, the agency has proved its prominence in the United States, along

with the entire planet, in recent years. A survey taken in 2009 led to the discovery that more than

half of the renowned scientific contributors in the journal Nature had been directly inspired by

the Apollo mission to become scientists (International Space Exploration Coordination Group,

2013, p. 9). In addition, in 2013, the renowned Mars Curiosity Rover mission proved that the

planet once had the necessary requirements to support life (ISECG, 2013, p. 12). Despite the

achievements that have stemmed from exploring the universe, space agencies like NASA

continue to face decreasing funding, thus losing opportunity for further discovery. In order to

inspire future generations and benefit the current population, government-operated space

agencies, especially NASA, need substantially more funding in order to make ends meet, and to

help the world to the best of their abilities.

Space exploration was established circa 1960, when the first artificial satellite Sputnik

orbited the Earth. Since then, the universe has proved to hold fascinating discoveries, such as

space travel recreation (countries competing to discover new extraterrestrial territory), and the

possibility of life outside Earth with NASA’s Mariner 4 Mars flyby. This resulted in significant

funding for government-owned space agencies, which led to new job opportunities and a hunger

for development in mathematics, history, and science. Today, several branches operate under

NASA and continue to research all-consuming issues. NASA Goddard Institute for Space

Studies (GISS), for example, “emphasizes a broad study of global change, which is an

interdisciplinary initiative addressing natural and man-made changes in our environment…”

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(Goddard Institute for Space Studies, n.d., “About GISS”). In addition, the Dryden Flight

Research Center conducts research in aviation safety risks and advancements in aeronautical

technology.

Space agencies like NASA lead missions that result in groundbreaking technology, and

they continue to strive for benefitting the world in the next decade with their projects. The

graphic (Appendix A) shows more than a dozen spinoffs that have occurred from NASA-

conducted research projects. Several of these spinoffs, such as water purification systems and

international television broadcasts, are used by every person in the United States every single

day. Expert astrophysicists such as Neil deGrasse Tyson recognize that if it were not for these

projects, this technology may not exist (or exist under much different circumstances):

People often ask, If you like spin‐off products, why not just invest in those technologies

straightaway, instead of waiting for them to happen as spin‐offs? The answer: it just

doesn't work that way. Let's say you’re a thermodynamicist… and I ask you to build me a

better oven… No matter how much money I give you, you will not invent a microwave

oven. Because that came from … investments in communications, in radar. The

microwave oven is traceable to the war effort, not to a thermodynamicist (ISECG, 2013,

p. 8).

What may be even more empowering are the benefits that the United States has to look forward

to from NASA’s future projects. These include the improvement of telemedicine, which “…

provides medical care to patients who may be located far away from medical providers” (ISECG,

2013, p. 17). NASA recently developed the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity

(ADUM), which can detect a variety of health issues, such as infections, organ dysfunction, etc.

This innovation in space technology can be used in hospitals to monitor the conditions of their

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patients when hands-on care is not readily available. Additionally, space research has led to

methods in controlling LDL cholesterol (the harmful type) through the European MELiSSA

project (Micro‐Ecological Life Support System Alternative) where scientists research types of

bacteria. One type of bacteria studied during this project has been proven to reduce LDL levels.

(ISECG, 2013).

The most widely shared opinion that opposes space exploration generally stems from the

lack of knowledge regarding how much space has benefitted the world. This point of view states

that federal funding should be spent in places that are “more important” than space exploration,

such as education, global warming, and employment. Although present, this viewpoint greatly

lacks in quantitative data or statistics proving that space exploration has failed in benefitting the

general population. One of these rare pieces of evidence bashes the Orbiting Carbon

Conservatory, “…a $278 million package which blasted off from Vandenberg air force base on

Tuesday and promptly crashed into the Pacific” (DeGroot, 2012, “The US Government Should

Cut NASA Funding”), and from this draws to the conclusion that NASA is only performing

global warming projects to receive funding. First of all, NASA GISS, which was referred to

earlier, was founded in 1961, when space exploration was at its peak and NASA was flourished

with federal funding with no need to ask for more money. Since then, GISS has created

technology to monitor global warming, along with everyday weather predictions. Secondly, any

project, regardless if it is for space exploration or not, has a risk of failure. Although NASA has

conducted unsuccessful projects, their advancements in technology surpass the failure

substantially (Appendix A), regardless of their miniscule amount of funding.

In regards to educational funding being more important than space exploration funding, a

desire for higher education in mathematics and science is a direct result of advancements in

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space technology. Between the 1960’s and the 1980’s, the amount of PhDs earned in these

subjects increased after President Kennedy initiated the Apollo program, and peaked during the

Apollo 17 mission (Appendix B). Moreover, the amount of STEM degrees earned has a direct

correlation with NASA’s budget, with both having their peaks around 1960 (Appendix C).

NASA and other space agencies have a similarly incredible impact on employment and

the creation of jobs. NASA’s Ames research center alone created nearly ten thousand jobs and

generated almost $1.5 billion in economic activity in 2010 (Hanner, 2010). Additionally,

according to CNN news, the Curiosity Rover created 7,000 jobs from 2004 to 2012 that exist in

not only NASA, but Lockheed Martin and other engineering firms (Smith, 2012). Space

exploration and advancements in space technology are incredibly difficult and time-consuming

areas, which results in the necessity of having hundreds, or even thousands, or people working

on a project at a time. This provides specialized, high-paying jobs for determined engineers,

mathematicians and physicists, and the outcome is increased job opportunity and a thoroughly-

educated population.

An issue that the world should regard with heavy concern is the greenhouse effect.

Global warming has become a worrisome and controversial subject, and has even led to missions

in finding new worlds to live, given the circumstance that our Earth is destroyed from this event.

NASA GISS recorded a significant increase in the average global temperature from 1890 to 2010

(Appendix D). Without funding for NASA, GISS suffers as well, resulting in a smaller chance of

finding new ways to combat the global change. What should be drawn from this statement is that

global warming, education and employment are all incredibly important, which is exactly why

NASA should receive an increase in funding, not have their funding stripped away.

President John F Kennedy expressed his passionate thoughts regarding space exploration

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during the historical Moon Speech at Rice stadium in 1962: “...the United States was not built by

those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This country was conquered by

those who moved forward, and so will space” (NASA, 1962, John F. Kennedy Moon Speech -

Rice Stadium). It is this kind of attitude that creates hunger for progress, change and innovation

in the world, which is precisely what space exploration has proven to initiate. In order to further

the education of the future generations, discover methods in saving the Earth, and facilitate

everyday jobs with technological innovation, the general public and governing bodies must

recognize the obligation to provide government-operated space agencies with the funding it

needs to create a better planet and sustain the people living in it.

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References

DeGroot, Jerry. (2012). The US Government Should Cut NASA Funding. Retrieved from

http://ic.galegroup.com

Hanner, Karen. (2010). NASA Ames Stimulates Economy With Jobs, Innovation. Retrieved from

http://nasa.gov

Kring, David A. (n.d.). NASA Budget history. Retrieved from http://lpi.usra.edu

International Space Exploration Coordination Group. (2013, September). Benefits Stemming

from Space Exploration. Retrieved from http://nasa.gov

McCoy, Erin L. (2012, November 30). 5 Ways the Space Program Helps Us Fight Climate

Change. Retrieved from http://yesmagazine.org

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. (n.d.). About GISS. Retrieved from

http://giss.nasa.gov

Smith, Aaron. (2012). How many jobs did the Mars landing create? Retrieved from

http://money.cnn.com

Spinoffs: One of many benefits of the space program. (2010, July 25). Retrieved from

http://savemannedspace.com

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Appendix A

Adapted from “Spinoffs: One of many benefits of the space program,”

http://savemannedspace.com, 2010.

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Appendix B

Adapted from “Benefits Stemming from Space Exploration,” http://nasa.gov, by

International Space Exploration Coordination Group, 2013.

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Appendix C

Adapted from “5 Ways the Space Program Helps Us Fight Climate Change,”

http://yesmagazine.org, by McCoy, Erin L., 2012.

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Appendix D

Adapted from “Graphic: Global surface temperature - 5-year average,”

http://climate.nasa.gov, by NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies , (n.d.).