Some people think that we should explore space and visit other planets. Other people say that space exploration is a waste of time and money.

There’re two types of people: those who believe we need to explore space and those who think it’s nothing but a waste of time, money and resources.

I think that one can make an argument for either of those stances. Clearly space exploration is very expensive. At first glance it appears completely morally unjustified to spend so much money on space exploration whilewe still have people here on Earth dying from malnutrition every day. However, space exploration is important. First of all, it drives our technology.For example, if it wasn’t for space exploration we wouldn’t have the self-driving cars that we have now. Statistically, only in the US about 30.000 people die in car accidents every year. It’s estimated that self-driving cars would bring that number to less than 5000, and the self-driving algorithm will only get better over time. That’s only one example. There’s another reason why we must explore space: we need it if we are to survive as a species. It seems like a problem of some distant future, but it is only a matter of time before an asteroid big enough to wipe out all life on our planet starts heading our way. We must prepare for it now while we still have time.

There are people who believe that nothing good will ever come out of space exploration. For example, we may encounter an alien race that’s much more advanced than us, and there’s no guarantee they will be friendly. Also our planet is quite unique and perhaps aliens, whoever they are, will want to live here with us – or without us.

I think that we have nothing to fear from aliens. First of all, there’s almost certainly no sentient life anywhere in our solar system. We’ve tried to send long distance signals further into space hoping for a response, but it never came. Second, even if we encounter an alien race and they somehow get here and try to take over our planet, there’s almost no chance they’ll survive here. The very atmosphere and all the viruses that our immune system has evolved to successfully keep at bay will be deadly for them, because their immune system has not evolved in this environment.

In conclusion I’d like to say that space exploration is important. There’s no question we need to spend more money on people who need it the most. But we also need the technology. We need to think about our future – and do our best to make sure we have one. Because if we’re not ready by the time that asteroid comes, nothing else will matter anymore.