Is space exploration worth it?
Humans have been fascinated with the stars for centuries. It’s not just the romance that they elicit; our endeavours to explore the universe are strongly linked to our innate curiosity. The race to the moon in the 1950s and 60s grabbed the attention of the world and images collected by the Hubble telescope in the 1990s and beyond inspired countless people to pursue a career in science. The James Webb space telescope has just started to deliver its first images, hopefully inspiring a new generation of scientists.
These space programmes haven’t been without cost. The James Webb space telescope cost $10 bn and given that organisations like the United Nations are set on tackling global problems like inequality, the climate emergency and the challenges of the recent pandemic, there’s an argument that space exploration isn’t worth it. Some would say that the ability of the James Webb space telescope to look deep into the past and help uncover the very origins of the universe simply isn’t needed.
But then again, if you compare the cost of the new telescope to some national programmes, it seems pretty inconsequential. The UK spent around £277 billion on the National Health Service in 2021 ($310 billion — USD), so the new space telescope, which was twenty years in the making seems inexpensive in comparison.
