Space exploration is the ongoing investigation of the environment beyond Earth's atmosphere. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun in our solar system that could possibly contain life. It contains many unknown things to discover and could overall greatly advance humanity. It is greatly debatable whether the United States should expand our space exploration to Mars for many reasons. The United States should not lead a mission to send humans to Mars since it would be too costly, take an exessive amount of time to carry out, and it would be overall too dangerous.
First, a mission to Mars would be very expensive to perform. According to NASA, "Sending humans to Mars would be incredibly expensive. NASA estimates the total cost would be about 100 billion overall" (Source #6). This displays why the United States should not lead a mission to Mars by showing how much resources it would take to carry out the mission. Some may say that although it costs a lot of money, it would be going to good use and more advances in science and technology. However, 100 billion dollars is a lot of money that can be put to other uses with similar or more beneficial outcomes. This proves that the United States should not send a mission …show more content…
According to Source #4, gravity can cause many health problems for humans, since we are not made for it. Some effects could include bone and muscle weakness, vision problems, and swelling of the optic nerve. This shows another reason why a mission should not be sent to Mars since we are not prepared for the negative impacts the gravity can have on the astronauts. Some could argue that this is only a small problem that the astronauts should be able to handle. However, since a mission to Mars would take about 500 days, it would be unsafe for the astronauts to be exposed for this long. This evidence further proves that a mission to Mars would be too dangerous, so it therefore should not be carried
First, a mission to Mars would be very expensive to perform. According to NASA, "Sending humans to Mars would be incredibly expensive. NASA estimates the total cost would be about 100 billion overall" (Source #6). This displays why the United States should not lead a mission to Mars by showing how much resources it would take to carry out the mission. Some may say that although it costs a lot of money, it would be going to good use and more advances in science and technology. However, 100 billion dollars is a lot of money that can be put to other uses with similar or more beneficial outcomes. This proves that the United States should not send a mission …show more content…
According to Source #4, gravity can cause many health problems for humans, since we are not made for it. Some effects could include bone and muscle weakness, vision problems, and swelling of the optic nerve. This shows another reason why a mission should not be sent to Mars since we are not prepared for the negative impacts the gravity can have on the astronauts. Some could argue that this is only a small problem that the astronauts should be able to handle. However, since a mission to Mars would take about 500 days, it would be unsafe for the astronauts to be exposed for this long. This evidence further proves that a mission to Mars would be too dangerous, so it therefore should not be carried