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how does space exploration benefit the environment

by Mr. Kennedi Lebsack PhD Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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What are the good things about space exploration?

  • Improving health care. ...
  • Protecting our planet and our environment. ...
  • Creating scientific and technical jobs. ...
  • Improving our day-to-day lives. ...
  • Enhancing safety on Earth. ...
  • Making scientific discoveries. ...
  • Sparking youth's interest in science. ...
  • Cooperating with countries around the world.

Space exploration is foundational to climate science because it provides us with more information about the Earth, our solar system and the role of gases in our atmosphere, and nuclear energy has played an important role powering our missions into space.Sep 17, 2021

Full Answer

Why we should invest in space exploration?

space exploration, such as those related to miniaturisation, will drive improvements in other space systems and services resulting in higher performance and lower cost. These will in turn result in better services on Earth and better return of investment in institutional and commercial space activities.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of space exploration?

  • We have a better idea about the age of the universe (around 13.7 billion years).
  • Images of the deep universe show that there are thousands of galaxies out there.
  • It helped us to discover four of the five moons that orbit Pluto.
  • We have a better understanding of planetary seasons in our universe.

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Is space exploration good (yes) or bad (no)?

Yes, space exploration is good. Space exploration is good because we never know what we could find. For all we know we could find a new type of species that are similar to humans and could be peaceful. Even though there are the chance of a war of some sort, we should think about the planets we could find and the materials we could find.

Is space exploration worth it?

Space exploration is worth the cost. People are too vulnerable on Earth. Anything can happen - the Sun can threaten us, asteroids, and so many other things. The resources are being widely used and some day people will be left almost without anything for living. In order to preserve humanity and our home world we need to find new homes. Report Post

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What are 3 benefits of space exploration?

Everyday benefits of space explorationImproving health care. ... Protecting our planet and our environment. ... Creating scientific and technical jobs. ... Improving our day-to-day lives. ... Enhancing safety on Earth. ... Making scientific discoveries. ... Sparking youth's interest in science. ... Cooperating with countries around the world.

Can space exploration be environmentally friendly?

Sustainable fuels are the top priority to enable greener space travel. Current spacecraft use a variety of fuels, but most are based on fossil fuels. One potentially greener option is liquid hydrogen and oxygen, used by the New Shepard Propulsion Module from private spaceflight company Blue Origin.

How does space tourism affect the environment?

That “space tourism” could add hundreds more rocket launches to the mix each year as companies like Virgin Galactic say they plan to expand flights to hundreds a year, and experts say those launches could generate more greenhouse gases amid the battle against global warming.

How has NASA helped climate change?

NASA conducts a program of breakthrough research on climate science, enhancing the ability of the international scientific community to advance global integrated Earth system science using space-based observations.

What are the benefits of space?

Benefits of Space: Environment. Human actions have had an indisputable impact on the Earth's natural environment. Human activities have contributed to deforestation, desertification, soil degradation, depletion of the ozone layer and climate change. Space-based technologies, such as remotely sensed data, have enhanced scientific understanding ...

What are space based technologies?

Space-based technologies, such as remotely sensed data, have enhanced scientific understanding of water cycles, air quality, forests and other aspects of the natural environment.

What are the benefits of space exploration?

There are many other benefits derived from space exploration. These include research and discoveries in the areas of science, technology, and medical fields as well. Computer technology, cell phone technology, cancer detection, and the building and placing of, satellites in orbit to help fight wildfires and to develop GPS technology, to name a few, ...

How does space exploration affect the environment?

Space Exploration Benefits Climate Change Environmental Change. Space exploration has affected the earth’s climate and environment. However, exploring space has only affected it positively. Given the popularity of the recent blockbuster movie, “2012”, that portrayed Nostradamus’s prediction of the end of the world coming true, ...

What is NASA responsible for?

NASA, and its team of navigators, engineers, scientists, physicians, and technicians, is responsible for our knowledge of environmental and climate changes taking place on earth. Data collected from NASA satellites, along with observations made by astronauts in the US Space Program, provided valuable information for scientists to study regarding ...

How long did it take for the Earth's solar system to erupt?

In addition, NASA, partnered with a European spacecraft, recorded a solar eruption. The blast of high-energy particles took four days to reach the earth, and pumped huge amounts of this energy into the earth’s atmosphere.

Does NASA need to study the Sun's energy?

NASA personnel believe that although disruption of radio communications may seem minor, they need to further study the sun’s emissions of solar energy particles that may produce long-term effects, such as environmental and climate changes on earth.

What are the environmental effects of space launches?

In a technical manual addressing the environmental effects of space launches at the Kennedy Center, NASA found that toxins like hydrochloric acid can also reduce the number of plant species near launch sites.

What are the technologies astronauts use in space?

The harsh and resource-limited environment of space means that astronauts must frequently use technology that ensures their survival while being frugal with resources. Air revitalization, water recovery, and waste management systems are just some of the technologies that have made their way into everyday life.

What fuel is used in rockets?

The fuel used in NASA's solid booster rockets consists mainly of aluminum powder and ammonium perchlorate. When these two compounds combine during combustion, aluminum oxide and a variety of other products are formed.

How much carbon dioxide is in a rocket?

The combustion of RP-1 together with oxygen produces significant amounts of carbon dioxide during launch. RP-1 has 34% carbon content and each Falcon rocket contains roughly 440 tons of kerosene. While this is relatively small compared to global CO2 emissions, it can become a concern if Space X's plan to launch every two weeks becomes a reality.

Is NASA a leader in space?

In fact, NASA played a crucial role in the federal response to the energy crisis in the 1970s. Today, NASA is considered a leader in the field of photovoltaics, fuel cells, solar power, geothermal energy, ...

Does space travel affect the environment?

While space launches can have adverse effects on the environment, NASA has spurred numerous initiatives for more research on sustainable space travel.

Is NASA a leader in the field of energy?

Today, NASA is considered a leader in the field of photovoltaics, fuel cells, solar power, geothermal energy, hydrogen-based fuels, and power management distribution. More rigorous and long-term space missions, including planned trips to Mars, can potentially lead to the development of new and unique alternative energy technologies that can help solve down-to-Earth challenges.

How We Take Care of Space Junk

Space junk is a very serious problem for environmentalists, but fortunately, scientists, academics, corporations, and government agencies have proposed plans and technology to deal with space debris:

International Space Station (ISS)

The International Space Station (ISS) is one of the most environmentally- friendly objects that have been launched into space. We can confidently say this because the ISS is 100% powered by solar panels attached to the wings of the space craft.

How does space exploration affect agriculture?

Farming techniques, food production and the creation of new medicines are also impacted by space exploration technologies. This directly benefits all of us, whether we are food producers or simply food and medicine consumers.

How does space exploration pay off?

It's simple: space exploration pays off in goods, technology, and paychecks. The work is done by people who are paid to do it here on Earth. The money they receive helps them buy food, get homes, cars, and clothing. They pay taxes in their communities, which helps keep schools going, roads paved, and other services that benefit a town or city.

What do satellites talk to?

They "talk" to GPS satellites circling our planet , giving location data. There are other satellites monitoring the Sun that warn scientists, astronauts, and satellite owners of upcoming space weather "storms" that could affect communications infrastructure.

How do we travel in space?

Travel much? The airplanes we fly in, the cars we drive, the trains we ride in and the boats we sail on all use space-age technology to navigate. Their construction is influenced by lighter materials used to build spacecraft and rockets. Although few of us are able to travel to space, our understanding of it is enlarged by the use of orbiting space telescopes and probes that explore other worlds. For example, every day or so, new images come to Earth from Mars, sent by robotic probes that deliver new views and studies for scientists to analyze. People also explore the sea bottoms of our own planet using craft influenced by the life support systems needed to survive in space.

How much of the federal budget does NASA spend?

The return to each of us is much higher. As a part of the general budget, NASA's portion is less than one percent of the total federal spending in the U.S. That's far, far less than military spending, infrastructure costs, and other expenses the government takes on.

Will space exploration continue?

In the future, as humans spread out to space, the investment in space exploration technologies such as new rockets and light sails will continue to spur jobs and growth on Earth. As always, the money spent to get "out there" will be spent right here on the planet.

Is NASA's return on investment good?

For that sliver of money, NASA's "return on investment" is very good.

What about green technologies for deep space missions?

Like large GEO satellites, deep space missions can benefit a lot from electric propulsion. So far, the distances that spacecraft could travel have been partly limited by fuel, and high thrust levels are often not a necessary requirement. Being more efficient using electric propulsion thus enables spacecrafts to travel further and to explore beyond our solar system.

How much less propellant is needed to achieve the same power output?

As a result, up to 10 times less propellant is required to achieve the same power output. This results in significant benefits related to weight reduction, especially at the launch phase. Thus, more payload can be embedded in one single rocket, which reduces emissions.

Does electric propulsion have a disadvantage?

It has to be mentioned that electric propulsion does have one big disadvantage, which is thrust. While hydrazine thrusters can produce thrust of up to 400N, electric propulsion systems only produce a few mN. Therefore, in order to address the complete range of satellite missions, the industry still needs a chemical propellant at their disposal. With this goal in mind, 3 “cleaner” alternatives have emerged with different level of maturity:

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