The Down to Earth Challenges of Space Exploration :: Space Exploration Essays

The Down to Earth Challenges of Space Exploration Humans have dreamed of leaving the earth and traveling space for many years, and up to this day they have taken many steps in the right direction. Yet, with every new frontier they approach, new problems loom over the horizon. All problems involved with space exploration may not directly involve space itself. Many of those problems surface right here on Earth. Some of the easier issues have been resolved, such as escaping the forces of gravity to reach outer space. More of these problems are far more arduous and the solutions need more time to be worked out properly. In â€Å"The Coming Schism† by James E. and Alcestis R. Oberg, humans have already begun colonizing space, yet there are still new problems arising. Major problems such as financing, communication and culture conflicts are important in the journey to space, because they all have the potential to disrupt progress. When people think of troubles that are related to space, they tend to overlook one of the most obvious and most important problems, financing. Money may prevent humans from leaving the very earth we stand on in the first place. Money can easily be the solution to a problem or the cause of one. In the supporting film, Stationed in the Stars, it was mentioned that in 1992, NASA spent 8 billion dollars without building a single piece of material. The money was spent on other things such as payroll and international conferences. The film also brought up the fact that every pound of water needed would cost up to 10 thousand dollars; therefore, 100 lbs. of water would cost 1 million dollars. This problem was later solved with the help of Russia in the creation of the closed loop system. But Russia has not always been so helpful. While Russia was working with NASA to help build a service module, they purposely delayed their efforts in order to receive more money from NASA, until NASA had enough and gave them a deadline to comply with. There are times when financing may prevent a project from being ventured into completely without even spending the money. For example, further servicing of the International Space Station would have cost upwards of 100 billion dollars. That is why that project is still uncompleted.