A Leap for All

This is NASA's astronomy picture of the day. Apparently it is a picture of a Fast Gas Bullet from Cosmic Blast N49... I'll continue to post these if they are to my liking. On the space topic, I remember we had an interesting AP Lang essay about space exploration. The assignment was to synthesize at least 3 (given) sources and develop a position about what issues should be considered most important in making decisions about space exploration.  Here you go:

      As Neil Armstrong was taking the first human steps on the moon he spoke, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” He was not only speaking literally, but rather that as a nation the United States could come together, collaborate our knowledge, and expand our resources to further develop and explore our comprehension of a world greater than imagined before: the solar system. This leap for all mankind was a step in the right direction for the entire planet. For Planet Earth to continue to break humanitarian boundaries, space exploration must continue to remain an important aspect of all societies.

     Beginning in the late 1970’s, the race to the moon became the most time consuming, money vacuum, and resource sucker there ever was in US history. Russia, our main and only competition, fought to not only be known as the first country to reach the stars, but to be seen as one of the dominating countries in the world. Source A explains, “India, Russia, China, Japan, and the Euro space agency know that manned space exploration builds wealth for their nation, solves problems, and enhances life for their people right here on Earth.” Space exploration provides jobs and allows for a nation to utilize their resources for the greater good. It is teaching us that as powerful, and some un powerful nations, we can focus our time and energy towards a common goal. Although developing the A-Bomb and other nuclear weapons help ensure the security of a nation, the race to space allows a country to utilize their resources in a positive manner: helping their own population and further expanding our imagination. The money spent towards space exploration is not only used to improve one nation, but instead to improve the global economy.

      Some space critics may argue that trips to space and space research could be better used to help the poverty in the US, and should not be spend on a world we know nothing about. However, Source C displays a chart where “space and technology” receives only $.06 of each federal dollar. In comparison to social security and national defense, this amount is miniscule. Although yes, reassuring the health and care of one’s country should remain the most important aspect of a budget, space research still receives four times less. This is a reasonable amount that still proves beneficial to space exploration. NASA and the space industry also create thousands of jobs which most would view as beneficial, not harmful to an economy.
      When a country has the ability and wealth it improve the state of its population, one must believe that they would take all measures to ensure their well being as well. However, space exploration represents more than just one nation’s population, but rather that mankind can collaborate to explore worlds greater than their own. In Source G, Michael Collins, one of the first astronauts in space, explains, “The Earth must become as it appears; blue and white; not capitalist or communist; blue and white; not rich or poor.” 100,000 miles away from the only life we’ve known, the only wars we’ve known, and the only poverty we’ve known, our Planet Earth is only one spec in the entire galaxy. The copious amount of knowledge we know only pertains to ourselves, and it would almost be selfish to believe that what we know is the only important and relevant information we will ever retain. In Outer Space the different political views are put aside, and all that is left is the human population as one.
      We owe it to future generations to continue to explore space as much as our minds will allow us, and expand our knowledge on something far greater than ourselves. Neil Armstrong took that step for the United States and that leap for all mankind. It is our moral duty to set aside money for space research and stop spending valuable funding on wars or national disputes.
(I only had 40 min, and I don't remember the grade I recieved, but the point it clear)