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NASA has identified the cost of sending astronauts to the International Space Station at $81 million per seat. The average cost of building a new hospital is $2 million. Ladies and gentlemen, we could build 40 hospitals with an $80 million investment! The mere thought of developing a colony on another planet is an injustice to people who do not possess access to even the basic needs in life like food, clothing, and shelter. But with the Indian Government planning to spend about ₹13,479 crores on space exploration, I believe it is high time to evaluate whether the move of increasing 8% of spending on space is suitable or wholly ignorant.
Good evening. Today, I, Tamanna Sharma, will be expressing my thoughts against the motion, "Humans should invest in technology to explore and colonize other planets".
J. Richard Gott has estimated that the human race could survive for another 7.8 million years, but it is not likely to ever colonize other planets. Now, the argument put forward by my fellow debaters is that space exploration is a significant investment for the day when we have used up all the natural reserves on Earth. It could prove to be our last hope of survival. But are humanity’s prospects that dire? In my opinion, we should first try to preserve the existing resources while we still have time, instead of finding alternatives. Financing space exploration plays into the nihilistic feeling that there is nothing we can do to save this planet. But if we can "hope" to colonize a habitable planet, we can certainly hope to save ours!
Another concern is that there are far too many global problems that should hold our attention right now, rather than space tech. We humans collectively face pressing physical and social risks that need immediate solutions. A space colony would currently be a massively expensive project as the present cost of sending anything from Earth into orbit is around $1400 per kg. Instead of wasting our hard-earned wealth on the promise of resources for the future, we should invest in plausible and pragmatic measures for the betterment of all human beings. Investing in technology for the miraculous colonization of another planet does not combat the need to save our planet first.
Also, the commodification of the cosmos will intensify the interests of the already powerful major economic and military institutions, to lead to new wars, and to exacerbate pre-existing exploitation of workers and resources, economic inequality, and other detrimental processes.
Space settlements would have to provide for all the material needs of thousands of humans, in an environment that is very hostile to human life. Currently, the building of a space colony presents a huge set of technological and economic challenges. Hence, I would like to conclude by saying that we should not chase a dream that is unattainable to us right now, but rather, we should build a strong foundation for those dreams to come true.
With this, I rest my case.
