Sean Mathews
10/14/13
F Block
Data Essay
Is
space travel worth the time and the money?
“I always wanted to be an astronaut,” recalls Mansfield
High School student Chris Cameron, “I got the idea from watching Star Wars when
I was young”. Chris’s childhood dream is not an uncommon one when asking
current high school and college students. The new millennium was supposed to be
the beginning of the sci-fi era of flying cars, extensive space exploration and
robots. Star Wars made space all too
real, and Ray Bradbury’s The Martian
Chronicles took place during the early 2000’s. Fast forward to 2013, none
of this science fiction seems to be happening; which begs the question, is it
just that, fiction? It just might be. With the 2011 closing of the NASA shuttle
program, many saw space travel taking a step back. Now, with the current
government shutdown, space travel is growing increasingly at risk. NASA is shut
down along with the government. Its website is down and although the people
already in space “are safe”, there are no foreseeable rockets being
launched. What does this mean? Is space
traveling just a waste of time and money? How does the younger generation feel
about their childhood dreams being shut down, once and for all? High school and
college students gave their different opinions.
Local high school and college students were asked if
they; strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed or were
indifferent to the statement, “Space travel is worth the time and money”. Out of a pool of 22 students, 17 of them
agreed with the statement. 8 of these 17 “strongly agreed” leaving 9 simply “agreeing”.
Only 5 students disagreed with the statement and none of them voted “strongly
disagree”. Perhaps the most alarming conclusion from the survey was that no
student said they were indifferent.
In a day and age where young adults are quick to say “who
cares” the subject of space ignited fierce opinions within some of the 22
students in the survey. No student expressed indifference, but some students
were adamant behind their feelings toward space travel. Most students who
strongly agreed with space travel had in depth defenses on the matter. Boston
University student John Snyder was most passionate in his response claiming, “I
don’t care how we fund it, it just has to get done. I’d pay 50% income taxes if
it all went to space travel”. However, he went on to say private space is
superior to NASA, “because private space isn’t determined by a bunch of
clueless old rich dudes”. Now Snyder brings up a whole different argument,
which has to deal with the recent progress made by southern California companies,
launching their first rockets into space. Others, such as Umass Dartmouth
student Russell Orcutt shared Snyder’s opinion by saying space travel, “moves
faster with private industries”. On the contrary, Norton High School student
Nate Barrett countered with, “We already have a great program running”, in
regards to NASA. Another college student, Connor F or the University of New
Hampshire agreed with Nate, “I don’t think the private industry is
well-equipped to handle such an endeavor”, but he also offered an alternative
that suggested international help with the space program, “if several of the
world’s superpowers were to combine funds and resources, things would move much
quicker”.
Out of all the different opinions thrown out on the
subject matter, most of the students in favor of space travel expressed the
need to find a planet to occupy once Earth is used up. This fear was common in
about half of the students who advocated space travel. As Merrimack College
student James Patten puts it, “as a species, we have a time limit on the planet
we reside on”. Norton High student Sam
Carignan shared the same opinion and stated, “bottom line is, we need to invest
in it (space travel) for our own survival”. Finally, A Brockton High School
student, Tyler Bryan, had a darker view on things saying, “With the way we
treat our planet, we have no choice but to explore other possible planets”.
Others, however, were not concerned about when doomsday
comes, but were simply intrigued by exploration as a science in itself. Norton High school student Kylie Werner said,
“Discovery is worth it” and her classmate Nicole Littlefield said, “who knows
what we could find”, but only after admitting, “it’s really, really dangerous”.
Similar to Patten’s opinion, regarding humans as a species with a duty,
Assumption College student Matt Olbert was quick to state, “We are explorers,
with nowhere to go but up”. There was certainly a sense of duty felt in some of
the students in the survey.
Only a small portion of the 22 students disagreed with
space travel, but the opinions expressed by the 5 disagreeing students all
seemed to concern the problems here on earth first. Norton High school student
Cody Shannon was blunt in saying, “it’s just too much money”. Others, such as
Levi Kahn, elaborated and said, “We have enough issues on earth to worry
about”. The tendency of students against space travel is that they think the
government is shut down and that at times, humans can’t even function properly
on earth. Space should not be a priority. As Bridgewater State student Brian
Farrell puts it, “Let’s explore our own oceans first”.
Space is out there for humans to explore. Is now the
time? For some, yes it is, more than ever. But for some, it’s just a waste, a
hopeless endeavor and a distraction. However, among young adults and students,
the common opinion is that yes, space is worth the time and the money put into
it. Whether it may be for survival reasons or just for pure exploration, most
students seem to think NASA and private industries must continue to receive
funding. Some students don’t agree and see the government shut down as
representative to our society, where we have too many problems to be in space.
One thing is for sure though, students have an opinion on space travel and they
all seem ready to defend their opinion to whoever asks.
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