Significance of Manned Missions to Mars Essay Example for Free

Significance of Manned Missions to Mars Essay After Apollo 11 succeeded in the first manned mission to land on the Moon in 1969, people’s interests were gradually leaving the Moon and went on to Mars, which is the most similar planet to Earth in the solar system. In such a current of public opinion, the U. S. and other countries have been trying to send human beings to Mars. However, today, there is a debate as to whether we should continue making efforts to send mankind to Mars, or not. Some people say that it is not worth the expense and risk to make a manned flight to Mars. On the other hand, others think it is still important to continue making those attempts – not for a material purpose, but for pursuing romance of space travel. Opponents of a manned mission to Mars claim that it costs too much to keep making attempts, and if we did not have to spend such money on those missions, we could increase health-care, education, and some other budgets. It is true. However, what is waiting for us in such a future as we will get at the sacrifice of dream or romance? What is necessary for people of today is not material wealth which we can get by cutting the budget of missions to Mars but mental wealth which we can cultivate by pursuing romance or dreaming of it. Opponents also maintain that we should quit trying to make those impractical attempts and wait until the technology is established because we cannot send mankind to Mars with the current technology. However, this argument is off the point because it is not important whether those attempts are impractical or not at the present moment. Necessity always makes technology develop. By practically continuing making efforts to send mankind to Mars, we can develop the technology which is needed to make it possible. In order to get something, we have to do something. Just waiting for something doesn’t help. The other arguments advanced by opponents is that we will not have any beneficial results except mental satisfaction such as dream or romance even if we can make a manned flight to Mars. However, of course, there are several beneficial things we will get from the success of missions to Mars. At first, understanding Mars helps us to understand more about our planet Earth because of the similarity between these two planets. We may be able to know how to protect the environment on Earth by studying how Mars died. Additionally, space engineering is one of the latest frontiers of science. We will be able to apply the technology we will have developed in this field to several other fields. Accordingly, missions to Mars have a benefit not only for people who are interested in Mars but also for people who are not. Certainly, it may not be easy to continue making efforts to send mankind to Mars, and it costs a lot. Nonetheless, things we get by missions to Mars are more than things we lose by it as mentioned above. By pursuing romance of space travel, we make dream which seems impossible to be achieved come true, and while we enjoy technology and knowledge we get from missions to Mars, we can avoid losing mental wealth at the same time. We should continue trying to make a manned flight to Mars.