Exploration Exselsior

The exploration of planets has been a hotly discussed topic ever since NASA’s Apollo program landed a man on the moon, and with the innovation of technology and new understandings of the dynamics of space the human race is closer than ever to begin human exploration of space and all of the planets within our galaxy. There is just one main problem keeping us from exploring our entire solar system: economics.

While we currently have all of the technology and understanding necessary to begin manned deep space exploration, we as a race currently lack the willpower to spend the required amount of money to reach that goal. Spacecraft aren’t cheap, as found out by NASA, and to have enough of the necessary equipment, supplies, and materials necessary for exploring/colonizing planets just causes the bill to go higher and higher. Now, I could spend hours on how money shouldn’t be the determining factor and how without currency everything would be better, however that’s not the point I would like to get across. Even though it would cost millions of dollars to begin exploration/colonization of our solar system, there would definitely be a large advantage, and payout, for doing so.

The major advantage of these missions is the one everyone’s had in their heads for some time now: leaving Earth. It’s really no secret that we’re running out of our nonrenewable resources that are staples for our everyday life, and while these may already be on the brink of becoming useless anyway with electricity and all, Earth as a whole is running out of it’s main semi-renewable resource, land, to support our overall population of around 7 billion. Exploring Mars and other solid-state planets would definitely quell fears of eventual overpopulation and colonization would be a great fix for the problem overall.

That’s the obvious reason, now the lesser known one that makes this whole venture economically worthwhile: minerals IN SPACE! Yes, there are confirmed reports of rare earth metals being found on different planets and in other spacial structures like the asteroid belt. This would cause a great amount of these rare metals to be mined and capitalized on by corporations and other companies, paying back all funds raised with interest.

So, is it worth it to explore space? Definitely, not only for the betterment of economies, but for the betterment and continued survival of our race as humans.