Imagine what you could do with $23 billion dollars, such as improving education, healthcare, and more. Our government chose to put this money towards the Space Race. The Space Race began after the nuclear arms race between the US and Russia. Part of the reason for America’s desire to make space advancements is due to it’s immature competitiveness against other countries, which is costing billions. The money spent on the space race was not a legitimate use of government funds because the money could have gone to more relevant causes, it is extremely dangerous, and exploration beyond earth is unnecessary until we can first solve problems on earth. This money could have gone to more relevant causes. NASA spent twenty three billion dollars on manned programs from 1961 to 1969(Granath). This money could have gone to much better causes such as education and healthcare. Many communities in the US need more funds for education that NASA is instead using for space exploration. The U.S. Department of Education stated that the richest 25 percent …show more content…
A tragic example of this danger is the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart and killed all seven astronauts on it (Howell). These people would still be alive if it wasn’t for the Space Race. Our government shouldn’t have spent so much money on the Space Race, especially considering that it killed a group of people. NASA is fully aware of the dangers of space and sending men into it, but they continue to do it for the sake of research (Abadie). Our government is meant to protect us yet has paid for men to be sent out into an unsafe environment and even be killed. Space research may be interesting but it is not worth it when it is endangering and even killing people. We have plenty of research to do here on Earth, and problems to solve before we travel to problems beyond the world we live