Answer to Question #200192 in Astronomy | Astrophysics for Marie

Question

Is Exploring Space Really Important? Write about this in about 350 words

Answer 1

More than half a century has passed since man began to actively explore space. We can say with confidence that cosmonautics, on a par with computerization, is the backbone of the XX century's development. Astronautics is a wonderful science, and every thinking person should have a little interest in what surrounds our tiny planet. Of course, in recent years, constant news about the lunar rovers, the ISS and Mars have made these topics rather hackneyed cliches. But you must agree that the conquest of space is perhaps the most mysterious journey in the history of mankind, which has just begun.

Astronautics has become an integral part of our daily life and has brought many benefits to mankind. Navigation systems, weather forecasts, television, telecommunications, much more - it's all space. How many lives have been saved for pilots, sailors and ordinary travelers thanks to these technologies. Reconnaissance satellites are beneficial for national security. And this is only a small part of all technologies that would not have been possible without space exploration. Currently, this segment employs thousands of scientists and engineers who are constantly improving and inventing something new.

It's hard to argue with the fact that space views are truly beautiful. And it doesn't matter whether it is shooting from the Earth, orbit or photographs of telescopes, distant landscapes of celestial bodies and various galaxies delight and delight the eye. If not for astronautics, we would not even be able to see how beautiful our planet is from a height of several hundred kilometers.

Beauty does not disappear in our solar system either. What are the photos of the desert relief of Mars or the distant cold Neptune. And if you look beyond the limits of our Galaxy, then amazing views of nebulae, black holes and distant galaxies unfold here. Thanks to computer technology, humanity has been able to receive and process hundreds of thousands of photographs from space telescopes and probes.

At the beginning of the last century, people were sure that Mars appeared earlier than Earth, and Venus later. In this regard, humanity expected to see the ruins of ancient civilizations on the Red Planet, and dinosaurs or the first people on Venus. With the advent of space stations, everything fell into place. Now we know that no one can live on Mars apart from bacteria, and Venus, with its hot surface, is completely dead. Now every child can know that the only satellite with an atmosphere in the solar system is Titan, and the relief of its surface is similar to that of the earth with mountains, valleys and dunes.

Scientists have learned that there is an underground ice ocean on Pluto, and a supernova explosion in 10 minutes releases more energy than the Sun in 10 billion years. There are countless such facts. You can talk about each individual planet or star for hours, and then talk about black holes, nebulae and quasars for months. Just think about how many interesting discoveries have been made with the help of astronautics, and how much remains to be done.

Since the first flight of Gagarin, mankind has stepped far forward in space exploration, and the goals have become more and more ambitious. However, all progress comes at a cost. In this case, the price is too high, literally and figuratively. The most expensive space project is the ISS. The cost of creating and maintaining the station in working order is approaching the $ 150 billion mark. The station weighing more than 400 tons was assembled by space agencies around the world, and to date, astronauts have been continuously on it for eighteen years. More than 400 thousand people worked on the American manned lunar program Apollo, and about $ 26 billion was spent. Similar ambitious projects include NASA's reusable space shuttles, a global positioning system and space telescopes.

Since its inception, astronautics has been associated with complex and interesting technology. It is hard to believe that almost forty years have passed since the first Voyager probes were launched, and they are still working and transmitting invaluable information to Earth. Similar results are demonstrated, for example, by rovers. Opportunity has exceeded its 90-day warranty by more than 50 times. In addition to reliability, space technology is also distinguished by excellent accuracy. For example, many telescopes are capable of capturing images with a resolution of more than 20 microseconds of an arc. This is comparable to the size of a matchbox on the lunar surface, photographed from Earth. Space ships, international space stations, satellites and much more deserve a separate discussion. All this makes astronautics one of the most high-tech and expensive sciences today.

Regardless of who you are, space is ready to open its treasures for you. Wonderful stories, discoveries, breathtaking technology, and wonderful people. Distant beauty and great possibilities. Space is wonderful!