Humanity’s desire to explore the stars might not be as fruitless an endeavor as we think. It goes without saying that going to space costs a lot of money and is quite dangerous. However, few people realize the importance of space exploration to our society. Many technologies that we take for granted can be traced back to space research. Thus, considering that the positive impacts of space exploration have far outweighed its drawbacks, we should encourage and prioritize space travel as an international priority.
As you might imagine, living in space is hard. Many simple amenities that we take for granted here on Earth require years of research and planning to be made available for astronauts on extended space missions. Take water filtration, for example. On Earth, filtering water is as simple as pouring it through a filter and letting gravity take over. Unfortunately, this process becomes a lot more challenging in a zero-gravity environment. But how do you achieve this same result in outer space?
This challenge led NASA to develop the Microbial Check Valve, a device designed to prevent the transfer of microorganisms in water systems by using iodine to clean water supplies from the shuttles. This technology was compact and lightweight, low maintenance, reliable and, most importantly, effective at microbial control. Although MCVs have since been improved on and optimized, the fundamental technology remains in use today. In fact, this technology has become especially prevalent in areas where groundwater supplies have been contaminated.
This isn’t the first example of a technology developed by NASA for space travel being integrated into our daily lives. Due to its uniquely extreme conditions, space has become a breeding ground for technological development. More innovation is necessary to function in space than on Earth, so it’s unsurprising that new technologies end up trickling down into daily life. Memory foam, wireless headsets, athletic shoes, CAT scanners, scratch-resistant lenses and camera phones are just a few examples of inventions that were made or significantly advanced as a result of space travel.
Another significant byproduct of space exploration is its ability to inspire global cooperation. The International Space Station, for instance, brings together the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada for one common mission. Though each agency is responsible for managing and developing its own hardware, everyone’s cooperation is required to construct, assemble, maintain and operate the ISS. This has forced the U.S. to collaborate and rely on other countries in ways that Americans are not used to seeing.
For example, the ISS was launched in 1998. This was less than a decade after the fall of the Soviet Union, meaning tensions remained between the two nations. However, despite their strained relationship, the United States had to rely on Russia’s continued presence on the ISS following the tragedy of the Columbia space shuttle. Furthermore, after the Space Shuttle program was retired in 2011, NASA relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as the sole means of ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS until commercial crew capabilities were developed in the United States.
There’s no time for earthly politics in space because space itself looms as a far greater threat. Though we may identify as American or Russian on Earth, in space we are all united by our shared humanity and the common cause of science and research. Space exploration is a beacon for global peace and cooperation. Losing it would be losing one of our last hopes for unifying humanity on a global front.
Despite this, many who oppose space research believe that these efforts are fruitless and waste taxpayer money that could be better spent elsewhere. However, few people realize how underfunded NASA is. In 2024, for example, NASA was allocated roughly $24.9 billion. Though this sounds like a lot, it only amounts to 0.36% of U.S. spending. In comparison, the U.S. spends approximately 12% of its budget on defense, which equates to $877 billion or around 36 times NASA’s budget. This is also more money than China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan and Ukraine all spent on defense collectively in the same time frame.
Under this new lens, it would be hypocritical to claim that NASA’s funding could be better spent elsewhere without also acknowledging that other industries are causing a far greater disruption to our budget. Our government overspends on many other ventures besides space exploration.
Reallocating NASA’s funds to other agencies would have a trivial effect. By contrast, if each major facet of government spending were to fork over just 0.5% of their budget, we could increase NASA’s budget sevenfold. With an increased budget, NASA could invest more into the U.S.-led Artemis campaign of lunar exploration, enhance climate science and information, advance U.S. space industry technology development, support highly efficient and greener commercial airliners and increase STEM opportunities at minority-serving institutions.
While it’s unlikely that the federal budget will ever be reallocated in such a way, the point remains that NASA’s budget is largely inconsequential in comparison to the funding of other government programs. A sevenfold increase in NASA’s budget is not required to pursue the aforementioned ventures. And when taking into consideration the added benefits of technological development and global cooperation, this seems like a more than reasonable expense of federal funding.
Moreover, NASA and space exploration serve to inspire the younger generations. Who doesn’t love space? As a kid, there’s nothing more amazing than learning about stars, black holes, galaxies, wormholes and other crazy space phenomena. Learning about space can serve as an entry point for kids to pursue science and other STEM fields.
I myself am an example of this. Space inspired me so much that it dictated my career path. If it weren’t for space, I wouldn’t be at the University of Michigan studying aerospace engineering. My life’s mission is to explore space and discover the unknown, and not just because of its benefits. Technical talk aside, I just think space is just awesome.
Human nature is to explore. America itself is a product of human exploration, the answer to the question of, “What else is out there?” Giving up on space exploration would be giving up on what makes us human.
Sam Wit is an Opinion Columnist and can be reached at samwit@umich.edu.
