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A man was once asked why he kept trying to climb Mount Everest; his answer, "because it was there. " Exploration is an intrinsic part of human nature. And here is where I shall begin my argument. Contention 1. Space exploration will allow man to eventually set up human civilization in another world. As most people know all too well, it was natural catastrophe that caused the demise of our predecessors, the dinosaurs. If man stopped exploring outer space it would be irresponsible. The same natural disaster on earth, killing the dinosaurs, could happen once and again, and over billions of years it is highly probable an event like it will happen again. It simply would be irresponsible to stop exploring space now when space exploration could potentially be the only thing saving the human race. John M. Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute and acting director of the Center for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, states "eventually some number of people in the future will establish permanent settlements away from Earth, in the extreme case to ensure that the human species will survive a planetary catastrophe, but also because people migrate for both economic opportunities and new experiences. " Mankind needs to take a broader approach to this topic. Contention 2. Space exploration can help improve economies Let's take the United States for instance, in 2009, NASA's budget was 17.78 billion dollars (1), this represents a minute portion of the United State's GDP which is in the trillions. G. Scott Hubbard, a professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, estimates for every 1 dollar spent on the space program, the United States government makes 8 dollars. An 800% profit. You may ask ? how does that work? " Here is the simple answer: royalties on NASA patents and licenses made directly from the space program go into the US Treasury, not NASA's budget. Joan Vernikos, a member of the Space Studies Board of the National Academy and former director of NASA's Life Sciences Division, believes if NASA was allowed the returns on their own patents, NASA would be self-sustaining. NASAs budget is not large enough to even require it to be cut. "Studying humans living in the microgravity of space has expanded our understanding of osteoporosis and balance disorders, and has led to new treatments. Wealth-generating medical devices and instrumentation such as digital mammography and outpatient breast biopsy procedures and the application of telemedicine to emergency care are but a few of the social and economic benefits of manned exploration that we take for granted. " Joan Vernikos knows what she is talking about. When you look at all the good space exploration has done and weigh it against the bad, the good outweighs the bad. The world would NOT be as technologically advanced without space exploration. Keith Cowing, founder and editor of NASAWatch. com and a former NASA space biologist, states "tax dollars spent on space projects result in jobs — a large proportion of which are high paying, high tech positions. " NASA creates jobs within the United States. "If we Americans do not think so, then why is it that nations such as China and India — nations with far greater social welfare issues to address with their limited budgets — are speeding up their space exploration programs? What is it about human space exploration that they see? " Countries with far worse societal problems than the United States are speeding up their space exploration program. The question is why should the United States end this program when there are obvious benefits? Contention 3. Great civilizations never stopped exploring. Throughout history, all great empires explored the bounds of their world. Today, the world is basically all but explored. People now need to explore towards the outer limits of the universe. Contention 4. Exploration of outer space provides humanity with the answer to two fundamental questions: Are we alone? Are there other forms of life beside those on Earth? The reason why this happens is obvious, without exploring outer space, we cannot know what is in outer space. Source 1) . http://www.nasa.gov... (page 4)