The Future of Space Exploration

Is exploring space a worthy goal? If so, how should it be done?

I'll answer in two segments: (1) how it should be handled currently, and (2) how it should be handled under socialism.

(1) Space Exploration Under the Current System

Currently, funding for NASA (North American Space Administration) is at five thousandths of the budget, literally half a penny on the dollar. I think that Neil Degrasse Tyson can say it better than I:




I would now like to present Carl Sagans views on the importance of space exploration:
Watch from 4 minutes on for the main relevant part.

This video shows that studying space is one of the best ways of studying the Earth: how it works, what can happen, what we need to do.

(2) Space Exploration Under Socialism

Under socialism the wealth generated by the people would not be stored away in the hands of the rich. It would be up to the people as to where to best invest the producing power of the community. I think that the rationality of the arguments for scientific research would convince the people that space exploration is good for various reasons that I won't get into at the moment. With the power of the workers put to the use of space exploration without the desire for a return investment there would only be a vastly small amount of effort on behalf of the people to produce the required equipment for the advancement of scientific knowledge.


Basically, what I'm saying in both cases (1) and (2) is that space exploration is relatively cheap compared to what the workers produce as a whole. The scientific advancements due to the research is extremely valuable for many reasons. One of those being communications. The study of space opened up new methods of communication. Without the study of Astronomy, there would be no satellite communication. Without Einstein's theory of Special Relativity the differing speeds of the satellites in orbit would cause them to have their clocks tick at a different rate than on the surface of the planet. The theory of Special Relativity would never have gained any traction in the scientific community if it were not for the fact that pictures taken of the Sun and it's surrounding stars during an eclipse and one at night without the sun showed that matter does indeed bend light.

There is currently a project in the works that may provide another way to revolutionize communication: LISA. LISA is basically a set of three satellites that remain in constant communication over vast distances via lasers connecting them in the shape of a triangle. The point of LISA is to attempt to detect gravity waves. What this discovery would entail is not yet known but it is possible that we may find a method of communication using gravity waves or some other use that I cannot yet imagine.

Things like that are why Space Exploration should be funded in Capitalistic society and perused in a Socialist one.

Thanks for reading,
Red Aegis

I forgot to link to the LISA experiment page: http://lisa.nasa.gov/

Space exploration is most definitely a worthy goal. Apart from being a future I personally find desirable, there is little reason to confine humanity to Earth. For the prosperity of humanity and the advancement of science, space exploration should be pursued enthusiastically by socialist states.