Essay --

The importance of investing in astronomy and space researchIt is a general spirit that space research and astronomy are trivial issues, oftenregarded as useless, and that the money invested in them would be better used elsewhere. In theU.S alone the awkward with the largest space computer programme, conducted by the famous agency know asNASA, the percentage of citizens who believe that the space program should be cancelledincreased from 4% to 8% between 1998 and 2009 (acoording to a Gallup poll from 2009 carried bythe NBC)1. Another study conducted by the CNN and the ORC in 2010 showed that 50% of theAmericans felt that the money destined to the space shuttle program which had concluded theyear before would have been better spent somewhere else 2.The main goal of this essay is to prove those missconceptions wrong through argumentsand evidence. The most widespread thesis against space research is that the large amounts ofmoney it costs would be better spent in other fields such as change social policies likehealthcare and education, providing help to the impoverished, and helping restructure thedamaged economy in this times of world economical crysis. However, once one looks at the figureswith some detail, this idea falls by its own weight. Actually, the investment in space researchprograms has a dramatic possitive impact on the economy of both country. As Richard Garriott deCayeux, former astronaut, says in his article in the Huffington Post Investing in Our Future DoesInvesting in Space Exploration Help or Hinder Progress Towards Prosperity?, Investments thatreduce the costs of basic survival needs, or expand access to the tools that allow people to helpthemselves, is universally a good investment. 3 Wh... ...a trivial matter which does not desire, thatmissconception has been proven wrong throughout this essay. It not only has provided us withcountless technologies and solutions that make our life easier and better, but too enhaces ourknowledge about t he universe and aims to give answer to some of the big questions in the historyof mankind. Human being has become the dominant species thanks to its splendid intelligence andits thirst to push himself towards new limits, explore new boundaries and obtain superiorknowledge that makes for his weaknesses compared to other spscies. If we wank to trammel movingon, if we want to keep our overpopulated planet sound and its popullation fed, pushing theboundaries stronger than ever is now a must. And refusing to invest in scientific research andeducation is definetly an step backwards in this track that we, as a society, share.