Why Spend Money in Space

Last month NASA smashed a probe into the lunar surface, hoping to find water hidden beneath. Scientists have been analysing that crash and yesterday the world was told of the results. There is water on the moon.

Many people argue that spending vast sums of money on space exploration is to waste public funds, that with so many problems here on Earth the money could be much better spent. There can be no doubt that issues such as famine, disease and extreme poverty are and ought to be extremely high on the agenda of any politician in the developed world.

Those who say we are wasting money in space fail to see not only the benefits of space exploration, but also the nature of scientific discovery: We do not know in advance where experimentation leads. The tangible gains cannot be weighed up front, they are revealed only because something new was done.

On 28th September 1928 a guy named Alec awoke to find his work had spoiled overnight. For some reason the bacteria he was studying had not spread across their little dish. By complete fluke he had discovered Penicillin, the world’s first antibiotic. All that followed came from this discovery. How many millions of lives have and continue to be saved as a direct result of this accident? The technological results of space exploration may be less well-known, but they have been dramatic and of real benefit to everyday life.

Cancers are found and treated earlier. Brittle bones are found and treated earlier. Arterial blockages are found and treated earlier. Problems with kids’ vision are found and treated earlier. Were these a waste of money? They’re all due to technologies designed for space missions.

Firemen are protected by suits of flame-retardant fabrics, families by smoke detectors, and stranded sailors by self-righting life rafts. How many would be dead if not for these NASA-born inventions?

Spending money on space is good. It has raised patient prospects and lowered mortality. It creates new protections and eliminates old dangers. It builds up lifestyle quality, it knocks down barriers.
Perhaps more than anything else, it follows the natural urge of humanity to go where we have never gone. To know what we do not yet know. Our ancestors left the cave, they went over the hill, and took to the seas in the belief that what was beyond would be worth exploring. Those who came before explored the full extent of this world and made it home, we would not be here had they not. We are a species of explorers. We think therefore we are, and so increasing our knowledge adds to who we are. Space is next.

And for anyone who says that is not enough to justify billions of pounds, dollars, euros and roubles: What we do up there benefits us down here. President Bush outlined a vision for space exploration, taking men back to the moon and onto Mars. The waste would be to not do it.

Mark McGeever