Page 4 - By Any Other Name Fall 2017 Lit Mag

Page 3 By Any Other Name

What’s the Point of Exploring national debt; the other thirty, amounting to a little over one
trillion dollars, was discretionary. Over half of that went to
Space? the military, and the rest was divided among other neces-

By Vincent Menozzi , Grade 11 sary outlets one of them being science. However of that 1.1
trillion dollars only 2.7 percent went to science, 0.7 percent
When asked, “Why explore space?” John F. Ken- of the total budget. Since space exploration makes up a rela-
nedy would have responded with questions like, “Why, 35 tively insignificant portion of each taxpayer’s return, its con-
years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?” tributions to society can be justly cherished. The second part
which encapsulates the answer to that fundamental ques- of that question inquires as to why the money isn’t spent on
tion. People often have a hard time grasping the purpose of real- world problems, like poverty or world hunger. Yes, any
processes without primarily tangible results. However, space contribution to these causes would be vindicated, but most
exploration is an exception. There is something inherently of the money is already going to these outlets. It is difficult to
interesting about the great, dark unknown, and the more we quantify how much more 0.7 percent would do in an already
know about it, the more questions arise. This engagement dilute pool of money. Why not invest that sum into a concen-
in one of the most advanced scientific fields cultivates early trated science like space exploration? Doing so would open
intellectual curiosity and a hunger for learning that benefits a colorful puzzle of new opportunities waiting to be fit into
society in the future. place in the grand picture.
“Why spend so much money on space when there’s “What is the purpose of collecting data in space? It
so many real problems on earth?” I will first address the first has no use.” The innate fascination with space that many
part of that question. Every year the U.S. spends a certain people deal with, can feel like an insatiable curiosity. By at-
amount of money. In 2015, about seventy percent of the taining more scientific data through experimentation and ex-
budget went to mandatory spending and the interest on the ploration, questions are answered and more questions take
their place. In a cycle, the curiosity facilitates the exploration.
Young people who grow up fascinated by these big ques-
tions will be more inclined to take an interest in learning.
Even if the only the top one percent make it to NASA the
other 99 percent is spread across STEM fields all over the
country.
Space exploration also answers questions of hu-
manity. As the population grows larger and nuclear tensions
rise, there’s no way to know how safe we are on our own
planet. Although, the end is not something pleasant to think
about, preparation is necessary. If in the event of a world-
wide disaster the Earth is left uninhabitable, it’s better to
have researched alternatives than to go into the dark naïve.
There is a reason why billionaire geniuses have been so fix-
ated on space travel lately, Elon Musk (PayPal, Tesla) with
SpaceX and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) with Origin Blue. These
privately-run aerospace companies are a new phenomenon
that ensure that there is something of value in research be-
yond the atmosphere.
Learning about something not because it is easy,
but because it is hard, is what drives future generations to
grapple with problems larger than humanity. As taxpayers,
we are allowed to care about where our tax dollars go. But
with a relatively low price, space exploration will broaden the
horizons of science and inspire young minds to ask ques-
tions about science.
These otherworldly discoveries tell us a great deal
about who we are individually. The reality of the universe
can bring out feelings and traits that you never knew you
had. The benefit of the initiation of scientific conversation is
difficult to quantify but certainly real. As a proponent of space
exploration, I leave you with this: “Ask not what space has
done for you but what you can do for space,” and the world
(Above) Helios, Sarah Kind, Grade 11, Digital media. will be a better place.