Space Exploration and the Benefits to Mankind

1221 Words5 Pages
Space Exploration and the Benefits to Mankind Susan Musgrave ENG122: English Composition II Prof. Jennifer Chagala December 15, 2013 Before Spain backed Columbus’ journey in search of a quicker route to Asia; Portugal, England, Venice, and Genoa all turned down his request for patronage. They cited everything from the cost, to the danger, and stated that they could not justify the journey because he could not guarantee success. Despite all of the negative feedback Columbus was determined, the need to explore and to expand his knowledge was too strong for him to simply ignore. Spain was the only country to take a chance on him and because of that they laid the first real claim to the new world, using it to build on their already expanding empire. Our modern day Columbus and his crew are NASA and their astronaut corps. The need to explore, to find the next ocean to conquer, led to an entire industry dedicated to sending humans into space starting in the 1950s. It was fueled by President Kennedys call for America to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth by the end of the 1960’s using technology that has not even been invented yet and funding projects that would research and invent that technology. (Kennedy 1961). Starting with the first unmanned space flights in the 1950’s to the Space Shuttle program the United States has been a leader in the exploration of space. That exploration has, according to International Space Exploration Group, “contributed to many diverse aspects of everyday life, from solar panels to implantable heart monitors, from cancer therapy to light‐weight materials, and from water‐purification systems to improved computing systems, and to a global search‐and‐rescue system”. (ISECG, Sept 2013, Pg.1) This paper will attempt to outline these advances and prove that space exploration has been extremely beneficial in advancement

More about Space Exploration and the Benefits to Mankind

Open Document