From the time that humans first looked up at the night sky and wondered about those bright heavenly bodies, exploration of space has captured the imaginations of all types of people. But until the 20th century, the technology to send machines, animals and ultimately humans beyond Earth’s atmosphere was very expensive – so much so that only governments could afford it.
When governments do invest in space exploration, they can accomplish a wide variety of primary and secondary benefits for their people. These include:
One of the most significant and broad benefits from space research is that we now know more about our Solar System than ever before. This knowledge has allowed us to better understand the composition and evolution of the Moon, Mars and their satellites; the planets of Jupiter, Saturn and their rings; asteroids; comets; and countless other objects and phenomena.
Scientists also have learned more about Earth from space. For example, they’ve discovered the hole in the ozone layer, mapped ocean floors, analyzed weather patterns and made other key discoveries about our home planet.
Now private space companies are bringing down the cost of spaceflight and opening up new avenues for exploration. In fact, both NASA and SpaceX are actively planning missions to the Moon and to Mars – with human landings on Mars by the 2030s. This is a very difficult goal to achieve, but it would provide important new information about the ability of humans to live in space for long periods of time and to create a stepping-stone towards sustainable planetary colonization.