Looks like we are going back to the moon, and to be clear, I am thrilled that the Artemis mission is a success so far, and I look forward to a safe and successful splashdown next week.
Having said that, I would like to remind readers of a Blog that I wrote five years ago, when I said ….
“Although the author thinks Space Exploration is exciting and important, and I fully endorse all of the goals of the Artemis Mission, I can’t help but wonder why the Government is not spending at least as much money on exploration of the deep oceans. I would challenge the US to start investing more money in Ocean Exploration, but not at the expense of Space Exploration. “
Here we are in 2026, and the earth is in the midst of so many urgent crises including but not limited to Nuclear Proliferation, War, Famine, Climate Change and Global Economic Uncertainty. There are so many problems that need solving right now on earth. Again, I ask myself, why are we investing huge sums of money on going to places other than earth. In the last five years, my opinion on the matter has not changed, but I would like dig a little deeper into subject at this time. In researching this topic, I have come to learn that Space Exploration is a good deal for the USA, but as I said five years ago, ocean exploration is also a good deal, and should be getting more funding than it currently is.
First, several points in favor of the current spending on Space Exploration.
- Funding for Space Exploration does seem huge, but in the big picture, it is small compared to global spending, in fact, it represents barely one percent of the federal budget.
- Money spent on Space Exploration does not simply disappear. It goes into our economy and supports companies, people, and local economies.
- Space Programs produce unrelated technology advances. So many of the things that we use today are products of the research and development associated with Space Exploration in prior decades.
- Space Exploration is a platform for Scientific Discovery. As we learn about space, we can apply what we learn to solving more local problems on earth.
But, wouldn’t Ocean Exploration ALSO accomplish many of these same goals? Goals that would be similarly matched would include
- Technology Development
- Scientific Discovery
- Helps fund companies, people, and the local economies
But Ocean Exploration would NOT accomplish some of the goals of space exploration, including
- Planetary Defense against asteroids, or adversary attack from Space
- Satellite Development, critical to earth infrastructure
And Ocean Exploration would accomplish some new goals, including
- Direct Benefits to life on earth, like climate change
- Knowledge of species we live alongside
- Discovery of earth minerals for use by mankind.
So, Ocean Exploration can never replace Space Exploration, but it should be getting more attention than it currently receives. While exploration of Deep Space should continue, exploration of Deep Ocean should ramp up.
The author hopes that Artemis is the first of many upcoming successful Space Missions, and that we begin seeing Ocean Missions get as much attention, and as much government funding as Artemis.
ATI offers courses that would be beneficial to scientists and engineers with interest in Space OR Ocean exploration. Check out the ATI catalog for courses that may interest you, regardless of whether you are a Space Nut, or an Ocean Nut.