Persuasive speech

Space exploration is a waste of money

Research:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/552655.stm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_NASA

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_03_pt2.html

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/top-5-nasa-inventions5.htm

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html

http://www.therichest.com/luxury/most-expensive/the-10-countries-that-spend-the-
most-in-space-exploration/
http://www.therichest.com/luxury/most-expensive/the-10-countries-that-spend-the-
most-in-space-exploration/

https://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget16/budget-factsheet.pdf
James Grissom

3/6/2017

Persuasive Speech

Manned Space Exploration is Largely a Waste of Money

In 2016, the United States spent about $19.3 billion dollars on the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA) which is significantly more than the second biggest player in

space exploration, Russia, who only spent about $5.5 billion. There is no doubt that the US has

enjoyed many positive outcomes from its space program like exploring Mars and the Moon, and

enjoying products initially produced and developed for use in space. However, considering the

stagnant economy over the past several years, the flat consumer income increases for most

citizens, and the ever increasing cost of health care, we may want to rethink the dollar amount

we send out into the universe, in favor of using it here on earth. Space is a fascinating place and

may eventually be the place to go to save the human race, but perhaps we should reduce the

space budget and reallocate a portion of those funds to other pressing issues.

While the media largely promotes the positives associated with our space program, and

NASA has a robust public relations effort starting with toddler astronaut costumes, Cub Scout

model rocket launching, space camp, and Mars Rover engineering contests for teens, the

negative aspects, other than the occasional disaster, largely loom below the radar.

James Grissom

3/6/2017
Persuasive Speech

Also, consider that our atmosphere is littered with years' worth of coolant droplets,

satellite parts, space probes, dust, human garbage, and other space junk that can cause extremely

costly damage (and has) when coming in contact with currently functional satellites and

spacecraft. To complicate matters, this so called junk does not decompose and could interfere

with future functionality of satellite communications, GPS surveillance, radio, TV and cell

phones. In 2009, two satellites collided, instantly turning them into thousands of pieces of space

junk. These pieces are like floating ammunition. There is also the danger of large pieces being

knocked out of space and falling through earth's atmosphere to cause harm to our planet.

There is also the concern that something lethal to life on earth could attach itself to an

apparatus or astronaut and find its way back to earth. Since we don't know what we may

encounter, it is difficult to manage the risks for all the possibilities.

Some people believe that we need to continue investment into space exploration to ward

off a collision with an asteroid which may leave us in the same situation as the dinosaurs. We are

not as vulnerable to an asteroid collision as you might think, and the likelihood of that

occurrence is very small. We already have the knowledge and equipment "know-how" to

construct what is needed to counteract an asteroid without sending anyone to space.

Others are convinced that we need space exploration to potentially colonize Mars. Mars

has proved to be inhospitable to humans and pretty much all known life forms. There is no water,

the average temperature is about -80 degrees F, the dusty crust will not support plant life, the air

is not breathable, and there is no magnetic field to protect us from radiation.

James Grissom

3/6/2017
Persuasive Speech

No significant benefit has resulted from the $790 billion investment in its 50 year history,

as of 2015, other than job creation, federal corporate income taxes and the advancement of

science itself. Private sector research & development most likely would have yielded greater

results. In fact, it was mostly private industry that took materials created for space program

purposes and turned them into useful everyday products, despite NASA's abundance of patents.

NASA space exploration hasn't resulted in alternative "natural" resources to replace our depleting

supply, has not found alternative energy sources, has not found any forms of life, and has not

found a hospitable planet to support life as we know it. In fact, most of the scientific benefits

stem from ground-based research, telescopes, and unmanned missions.

While our space program has encouraged fields such as engineering, technology,

astronomy and physics, the reduction or redirection of funds will not diminish the need for

resources in these fields. The bulk of the remaining budget can be used for ground-based studies

to find an alternative, viable planet, and then adapt to devote efforts to reach that destination for

further observation. Money would be better spent in this way than by repeatedly sending costly,

manned spacecraft to inhospitable places like Mars or the Moon. Every rocket fired signifies,

the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not

clothed. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

James Grissom

3/6/2017
Persuasive Speech Works Cited

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04 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

"TALKING POINT | Is Space Exploration a Waste of Money?" BBC News. BBC, 09 Dec. 1999.

Web. 06 Mar. 2017.