Some people believe space travel is a frivolous endeavor, wasting money and human ingenuity, never mind dangerous to boot. Therefore, our focus should be on saving and solving problems on planet Earth first. Others believe it to be a worthwhile venture, much like the pioneering efforts with early flying machines many decades ago, ultimately giving us solutions to Earth's problems. Which opinion do you support? And why?

Due to developments in aerospace technology, space voyages have become a reality. In the past, conservationists have spent vast sums of money on space exploration, while critical social issues arise on our planet. However, the public funding devoted to the development of technology for space exploration does not provide any benefits for our society, therefore the government should place an emphasis on funding education, critical social issues, and environmental conservation. The biggest downside of space travel is that it might have a huge impact on the Earth's climate. Climate change is the average weather at a given point and time of year, over a long period. For the last few decades, existential threats such as the extinction of the animals such as dinosaurs due to climate change, and global warming led to ice melt at the poles. The ozone layer is thinning because of the emission of CFCs, and the hole is widening. For instance, NASA satellite data revealed a frightening and growing hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole (1987) leading to health, crops, and biodiversity loss. They are devoting the best minds to exploring other planets rather than saving this one. Instead of rescuing this world, they are diverting the brightest minds to exploring distant planets. This useless undertaking consumes a lot of time, energy, and money, when there are plainly numerous crises on Earth that must be addressed first. There are many existing problems on Earth, and trying to find something new may not guarantee that those problems will be treated. So, instead of spending money on things that people are not fully aware of, humans need to find a solution to solve these problems, that should be maintained parallel with these problems on the Earth. Despite the fact that the effects are disastrous, scientists do not mean stop developing space technology. In conclusion, this is a difficult issue because, while space travel is important, it seems hard to justify the vast amounts of money spent on it. Technology for space exploration is a waste of scarce resources due to its effects on the atmosphere and lack of immediate advantages; therefore, national leaders should prioritize environmental conservation. While space technology is not far off, the critics are correct, but that does not mean that space technology should be used to solve all of the world's issues. Space technology will be crucial in the future expansion of new things.