Expert: Steven LJ Russo - 7/16/2007

Question
can you please tell me about the advantages of space exploration.Why is it needed?What is its importance?...I have got "SPACE EXPLORATION" as the topic for a debate at my school and I have to speak for the motion.

Answer
Well, think of it this way.  What if Columbus never left Spain?  What if Lewis and Clarke never went West?  

OK, most people don't buy that argument.

How about employment?  NASA and the companies that build things for space exploration keep about 500,000 people employed in the United States.

How about the ONLY thing the United States leads the world in, is aerospace technology. We have lost the edge in everything else.

But "Spinoffs" are the real benefit.  Products that came from space exploration that we use in our daily lives.  Virtually al the medical apparatus used in hospitals today came from the space program.  Almost all of the medicines in use today were invented for space flight.  And the house hold products.  Personal computers, cell phones, GPS finders, materials in running shoes, pace maker batteries, satellite TV, etc.  All came from the technology developed for Space Exploration.

Go to my web site at http://www.look-to-the-skies.com

You will find two sections about Space Spinoffs.

ANd from the science side of it all, we explore space to study the Earth.  Looking at other planets and galaxies actually lets us know more about our planet.

Steve