T eac her ’s not es

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Group B
colonizing disruptive dwarfs inspire mindset
mission mitigate origins prohibitive vice 
versa
1. 
the places or moments where something begins to exist 
2. 
a way of thinking about things 
3. 
a flight into space 
4. 
too expensive to afford 
5. 
sending people somewhere so they can live there and take control of the
place 
6. 
reduce the harmful effects of something 
7. 
causing difficulties that interrupt something or prevent it from continuing 
8. 
makes something seem small or unimportant 
9. 
the opposite of what has been said 
10. 
give someone the enthusiasm to do something 
Is space exploration a waste of money?

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© Springer Nature Limited (Macmillan Education is part of the Springer Nature Group) and Spotlight Verlag GmbH, 2019
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT / Is space exploration a waste of money?
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Is space exploration a waste of money?
Stars and planets have 
fascinated people since 
ancient times. But while 
some people think space 
exploration is a huge waste 
of money, others see it as a 
necessary measure for the 
survival of humankind. Here, 
Julian Earwaker passes on 
both opinions.
Yes!
“There is an infinity of unexplored things here on earth” 
– Robin Hanbury-Tenison
NASA’s cumulative funding a few years ago totalled $850
billion, and the annual budget now is around $20 billion –
an obscenely large sum of money linked to fairly abstruse
research. I disagree with people like Stephen Hawking, who was
passionate about the future of the human race and civilization
depending on going into outer space. It is a kind of despair
. It 
means that we have given up on this planet, handled things so
badly that we have to find another planet to live on. That seems
like a nihilistic approach to life because this planet is quite
extraordinary, possibly unique in the universe.
There is a greater infinity of small things here on Earth than
there is in the vastness of outer space. A cubic centimetre of
soil contains a virtual infinity of life. These are real things that
are not just interesting in themselves but also have a significa
nt 
effect on our own lives. Microbes in your large intestine af
fect 
your mood, and we know very little about how that happens.
There is an infinity of unexplored things here on Earth. 
Yet the 
amount of money spent on that sort of research is insignificant
compared to the $850 billion spent on exploring the universe.
Scientific advances and products can’t justify the costs of
space exploration. Velcro, the non-stick frying pan, rocket
fuel? Helpful but hardly the be-all and end-all of life. Sending
a body into outer space to test the limits of human endurance
is interesting, but it’s hard to believe the future of mankind
depends on it, whereas finding out how to stop this planet falli
ng 
apart and to live more sustainably certainly is. Understanding
the symbiotic relationships that hold the planet together is
a whole universe of studies that we’re only scraping the
surface of.
There’s a lot of concern about the amount of junk flying
around in outer space, but it’s of much less importance than
the immense amount of junk we’re polluting this planet with.
Would we be any poorer if we didn’t know what was happening
on Mars? It would be more exciting to spend that money
on cleaning up the oceans and on developing the science of
weather management. Instead, we are seeing investment in
space travel and tourism. Who wants to go and sit in a capsule
out in space? It’s like being on a fairground ride. It’s a pretty
disgraceful example of humanity’s misguided priorities.
ROBIN HANBURY-TENISON is an explorer, author and
farmer living in Cornwall.