If living on the surfaces of other planets is such a dream, why do humans spend billions of dollars in space research?
While I was reading in the series Supernatural by the late Egyptian writer “Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq”, specifically in the issue of “The Legend of Another Earth”, where two people (Salem and Salma) meet, as for the first, he is a young man who lives on planet Earth a normal life until the last Salma, a girl from another planet similar to Earth, with a device that helps her navigate from one planet to another. I wondered, why do humans control the idea of moving from Earth to other space bodies?
Reconciliation only from the translation from abroad. How many times has he watched a movie whose heroes go to distant planets in search of life, perhaps finding an orb suitable for human life? Coalitions that have corrupted the earth!
Well, these movies and novels are great. But a short time ago, I had the honor of attending a lecture by the great Egyptian scientist Dr. Essam Heggy, and he was asked, Will humans be able to live on the Moon or Mars at some point?
Hajji replied that we will not live on any planet, but we are trying to understand the conditions of life on these planets – which scientists are trying to explore – just in order to protect our life on planet Earth. He added that the presence of humans on the moon or Mars – for example – has no scientific value at the present time. Humans had to go to the moon in the last century to collect samples and study them well, but now, the robot can do that easily. Nor has any space agency, whether NASA, the European Space Agency, or others, stated that humans will go to live on other planets.
Back a little bit.. the American adventurer
In 2017, American businessman Elon Musk announced that spacecraft will be sent to Mars in 2022. Two years later, humans will move there. And in January 2020, Musk said that by 2050, one million people would have moved to Mars. But it seems that Musk’s time plan has been spoiled, in October 2020, he stated that there is a chance to send spaceships to Mars in 2024 and then a manned mission will be sent by 2026 (Musk seems to be fond of space), let’s go back in time more, precisely at the time when humans decided Take serious steps.
When humans decided to conquer space
If living on the surfaces of other planets is such a dream, why do humans spend billions of dollars in space research?
Historical evidence indicates that this bold step was pioneered by the Soviet Union in 1957, when they launched the satellite “Sputnik 1” into space, followed by a number of other satellites, then came the role of testing animals and other creatures, so they sent a spacecraft in which the dog “Laika” “, which proved the ability of mammals to coexist with the conditions of launch into space, officials announced the death of Laika after several days, but in 2002, it was revealed that she died several hours after the launch of the conditions of temperatures and stress, perhaps behind this lie political reasons, and perhaps the reason It is contained in the following information.
On April 12, 1961, the first humans flew into space and orbited the Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft. After he returned to Earth, he became one of the famous, it is “Yuri Gagarin”, but – unfortunately – he died while training on a vehicle in 1968, and in 1971, his name was put on the plate “The Deceased Cosmonaut” on the surface of the moon. (By the way, it’s an 8.5 cm long aluminum plate, listing the names of astronauts who lost their lives during spaceflights and attempts to explore the universe, was placed on Hadley Rila on the Moon, by the Apollo 17 astronaut crew, on Aug. 1971.)
In June 1963, the Russian Vostok 6 spacecraft took off with the first and youngest female cosmonaut who spent 3 days orbiting the Earth (I repeat, she was completely alone), she was Valentina Tereshkova. On the other hand, the American space agency, known as “NASA”, began preparing its astronauts to launch into this vast space, and achieved tremendous successes until man reached the moon aboard Apollo 11.
(Before completing the report.. did you get my point about not declaring Laika dead several hours after liftoff? Well, to avoid mysteries, perhaps they wanted to hold onto hope for the realization of the human dream of space, and not discourage people.. This is just a conclusion, possibly right or wrong ).
Isn’t the land the first with that money to solve its problems?
Many people outside the scientific community ask this question. I’m not lying to you my friend, they have a point of view that is worth paying attention to and looking for a logical answer to it. The idea of searching space just to satisfy a curiosity about the outside world does not appeal to some people, not everyone is fond of space and beyond the stars.
In light of the current conditions in which the Earth suffers from overpopulation, climate changes and the spread of hunger and poverty in many countries of the world. Some opinions suggest using this space research money to solve these problems. And to answer the question “Isn’t the Earth more valuable with that money to solve its problems?” Well, most people would probably answer “Yes,” but hey, there are many challenges that prevent people from seeing the purpose of this space research, it serves life on Earth in Basis. How is that? Let’s see what happens inside the International Space Station first.
Inside the International Space Station
The International Space Station orbits above the Earth at an altitude of 390 km at a speed of 28,000 km/h and completes a revolution around the Earth once every 90 minutes. There are advanced laboratories equipped with the latest technology, providing researchers and scientists with a unique environment to conduct the most complex scientific experiments away from Earth’s gravity. By the way, none of this research can be done anywhere else.
On the other hand, the results of the resulting scientific discoveries are not limited to the exploration of the solar system, but will also lead to the improvement of life on Earth. Some readers may not be convinced with the previous sentence and wonder, how will space research improve life on Earth? A reasonable question, and we’ll get an answer for it now.
Space research to improve human life on Earth
Satellites
This information may be self-evident to some people, but access to Earth’s orbit has enhanced human understanding and knowledge of climate changes and weather conditions and builds a good knowledge of Earth’s atmosphere. Navigation using satellites has also developed. After the launch of “Sputnik 1” in 1957, 40 countries launched huge numbers of satellites for various purposes, including: broadcasting, navigation, communications and military purposes.
In 2019, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) announced that there are about 5,074 satellites in Earth’s orbit, and the number of these satellites is expected to rise in the coming years. Note that these satellites have an active role in Internet services, and they are one of the most important services for humans in our time, if not the most important. According to statistics, between 2005-2017, the number of Internet users increased from 1 to 3.5 billion people globally, which is an estimated 16-48% of the Earth’s population.
Ecosystem.. Gaia Hypothesis
Humans were able to understand the complex and synergistic Earth system, and accordingly British chemist James Lovelock put forward the Gaia hypothesis. It proposes that the Earth is a complex system, as a result of the interaction of living organisms with inorganic materials, which makes the system more coherent. It helped estimate whether or not life on Mars is possible, by studying conditions on the surfaces of other planets and finding out how similar they are to life on Earth.
inventions in space labs
(Watch this video of Ron Garan, a NASA astronaut, he summarizes what is happening inside the International Space Station..?)
The space environment provides an opportunity to promote new materials and medicines that are essential to humans. It also helps us to find effective ways to obtain clean water and grow crops that meet the food needs of the population in light of this population density that the land suffers from. Moreover, the study of space gives us a better understanding of our human bodies when astronauts reside on the International Space Station, work and live their lives according to their natural needs, and this is useful in protecting humans from disease.
On the other hand, a large number of NASA space engineers are trying to use their expertise in applying advanced space program technology to solve the problems facing the world. It is known that the technology used to risk human life and send it into the vast space, is advanced enough and has superior capabilities that will provide powerful solutions.
To bring the picture even closer, every year, NASA celebrates a new invention, which is the NASA Commercial Invention of the Year, for example, in 2011, the title was for solar-powered refrigerators, which are specifically designed to support life on the Moon. At the same time, it has many useful applications on the Earth’s surface, as it is estimated that there are approximately 2 billion people on Earth who lack electricity.
Such technology is expected to provide an opportunity to improve the lives of billions of people. Especially in medical centers in remote areas, which reduces the cost of electricity spent on preserving vaccines and medicines, and increases the chances of providing vaccines to poor areas. This invention will also help in cooling food products, which will boost the economy of many countries of the world.
NASA has been able to develop many devices such as: light-emitting diodes “LEDs”, microwave ovens, portable cordless vacuum cleaners, computer-aided design “CAD” and video analysis systems, in addition to ventricular assist devices “VADs”, prosthetics and magnetic resonance imaging technology, and we also have stronger knowledge Osteoporosis, genetic disorders and other diseases. All this through NASA funding for space research.
About that vast universe
Humans have been able to study the universe well by working on research outside the Earth’s atmosphere, where vision and monitoring become clearer, and the most prominent example of this is the Hubble telescope, which in 30 years was able to monitor more than a million images of the universe, and this helped in studying astronomy extensively and making sure of the The validity of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, as it contributed to the study of other planets, prompted scientists to research how life originated on Earth through these space objects.
Information that may interest you
In 2002, it was estimated that NASA returns $7-21 to the USA for every dollar the agency spends on astronomy research, meaning no losses as most people understand.
Finally, to answer the question posed in the title of the article, “Why do humans spend billions of dollars in space research?”, you will find the answer when you ask these questions.. How would the world be if it did not witness the recent communications revolution? What if medicine does not advance to the current level? Would we have understood the changes in climate, weather, and the Earth’s ecosystem as we know it today? What about the fate of astronomy, medicine and computing? When answering these questions, you will probably understand the answer to the title.
