The Benefits of Space Exploration for the Safety of Humans and Ultimately the Survival of Mankind
The benefits of space exploration are vital to our rapidly advancing world. One can say that the benefits resulted from space exploration can better ensure the safety and wellness of individuals, and to the well-being and survival of mankind, as there are useful spin-off technologies, sophisticated satellite technologies, and advanced space travelling technologies that can save human lives. I agree for the continuation of space exploration due to these benefits, as they greatly exceed any of the potential drawbacks, such as monetary costs, and some relative dangers of space travel. I believe that the excellent results of space exploration are extremely helpful, not only to particular individuals, but also to our entire mankind. Many spin-offs of space exploration led to medical breakthroughs, which can save the lives of thousands of patients from illnesses and serious health problems.
Technological and scientific advancements resulted from space exploration can greatly benefit humans, as cures and technologies are created for patients. The technology used to detect breast cancer tumours in the early stages is derived from the star-mapping technology used by the Hubble Space Telescope, an alternative to detection by surgery, which saves time and money and isn’t painful. This technology enables doctors to detect cancer tumours before they present a large problem, when it can still be successfully removed without harming the patient. With easier detection, lives of women across our world are saved, as tumours are detected and removed. Technologies for the pacemaker used to treat cardiac patients and the remote monitoring devices for intensive care patients were derived from the telemetry system that were first used to monitor astronauts and spacecrafts.
Pacemakers keep people with weak hearts alive by aiding their heart, which save the lives of many patients with heart problems. The remote-monitoring system allows doctors to supervise patients from a distance, with the display of the heartbeat rate and the body temperature, and from that information, a medical personnel can tell a patient’s condition and wellness. This device can alert the medical personnel if the patient becomes unstable or enters a critical condition, which can allow doctors to be rushed to the patient to save him or her in time, a great benefit in emergencies. These spin-offs from space exploration were only possible due to our funding for the variety of needs that manned missions required, which produced many fantastic technological results that have helped our society. These technologies are not only beneficial to the patients with special needs, but to the mankind as well.
Satellite technology has allowed many things that humans have only dreamed in the past to become reality, such as predicting natural disasters. Countless lives are saved with the technology resulted of satellites, as thousands of them orbit our planet Earth, constantly transmitting valuable data for humans to be used. Remote-sensing satellites are mainly used for meteorology, allowing accurate weather forecasting. With this, it is easy to predict many natural calamities, such as floods, storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, and to locate wildfires and their extent. With these natural disasters able to be predicted or be detected before they present harm to humans, people can be warned about the situation ahead of time, so that they could escape to locations that will not be under the affects of the calamities, therefore, thousands of lives could be potentially saved, so that the losses to society will be decreased.
Wildfires are easier to be stopped, if detected early by satellite images, when it is small, it is easier to be extinguished, and thousands of acres of forests could be saved, for a better environmental result. Global Positioning System Satellites allow the user to find out his location with a GPS, which can be used anywhere on Earth. A person that’s stranded in a remote or an unfamiliar location can use the GPS, so he could know which direction to head to until his destination. Technologies as a result of satellites in space has helped both the society and the environment, as it can be used to save lives of people, and can save forests in harm’s way. The satellites will retire if they are not replaced, so we need to continue to send more into space to continue our lifestyle and daily routines that we take for granted today. Further space exploration technological advancements could potentially save mankind from global catastrophes, since then we might face dangers that could threaten the survival of humans and the entire planet.
Space colonization is a long-term solution for the survival of our species in case of a problem that would endanger mankind, such as overpopulation, or if Earth was in direct danger, where space travelling technology enabling humans to live elsewhere in the universe would be vital. An environmental problem of the strain of overpopulation on Earth’s farmlands will soon arise, as farmlands would be overproducing crops, harming the nutrient balance of the ground. Space colonization can solve this, by creating farms on distant planets. If a large asteroid were to hit Earth, it would instantly destroy thousands of animal and plant species, creating damage to our environment at first, and then forcing most life on our planet to become extinct. This is why we need more advanced spacecraft technology, as it would allow us to change the orbital paths of asteroids, so that if they were to come near Earth’s orbit, their orbital paths around the Sun could be shifted by the gravitational pull from even a small but powerful spacecraft. Early detection of the asteroid by our satellites is important in ensuring enough time for actions, so more detection satellites in space can solve the problem of only detecting a small portion of the objects in our Solar System.
The continuation of space exploration will lead the way for these technologies, and our planet will be a safer place to live on, with less social and environmental problems. I believe that the future of space exploration will be bright and full of potential. Further space exploration should continue and should be encouraged, as the technology that comes from space exploration can benefit individuals in need, populations under threat of natural disasters, and mankind in danger from various natural occurrences on a global scale. Useful spin-off technologies, sophisticated satellite technologies, and more advanced space travelling technologies all benefit humans in many ways. I think that the continuation of space exploration is vital, as the benefits to human lives that the technologies saved and will save greatly outweighs any monetary cost or the heavily invested time.
Without the continuation of space exploration and funding, our world would not be the same in terms of technological availability, as the Earth’s future, and the future of mankind, may depend on the exploration of space, and many of the related benefits that that come along with it.
