Since the first moon landing, back in 1969, many people imagined that by the beginning of the 21st century, space travel would become routine and that we would be visiting other planets in our solar system and even daring to venture into interstellar space.
Sadly, that future has not yet arrived. In fact, some people wonder if it really is necessary to do more space travel because of how expensive it is. Wasn’t going to the moon good enough?
For those who have always dreamed of humans becoming a true space race, they argue that exploring space provides practical benefits in areas such as health, mining, and security. And more inspiring benefits, too. These are some of the most compelling arguments for continuing space exploration.
If we don’t want to go the way of the dinosaurs one day, we must protect ourselves from the threat of being hit by a large asteroid, for example.
Additionally, a long list of gadgets have been developed for the US space program but found other applications on Earth, so many that NASA has an office looking for ways to repurpose space technology as products. We all know about freeze-dried foods, but there are many others. In the 1960s, for example, NASA scientists developed a plastic coated with a metallic reflective agent. When used on a blanket, it reflects around 80% of a user’s body heat, a skill that helps accident victims and athletes stay warm.
As it is, we all know that learning about space is fun, right? While we can’t just take a vacation in space, there are still some opportunities to learn more about our solar system and other worlds. A good way to do this is by using one of the many applications available to observe the cosmos.
Our smartphones, in combination with augmented reality, offer a great way to explore the sky and discover the many wonders of the universe. Most astronomy and stargazing applications work in a similar way: they determine our location using the GPS sensor and electronic compass on the device, which allows us to simply point the mobile or tablet in any direction, see things that otherwise they would be visible only with expensive and professional equipment.
