So why do people explore space? For over half a century, human exploration of space has been a prime mover and shaker of the scientific community in the U.S. as well as other nations, particularly Russia and the former Soviet Union. Billions of dollars have been spent in an effort to discover new terrain, and leverage technological achievements to new goals for humanity. During the Cold War, the space program was an objective measurement tool of the ongoing conflict between East and West, a factor still prevalent in today’s reasons people explore space. It was used as a competition piece, commonly referred to as the space race, driving the U.S. and Soviet Union to orbit and the Moon in an effort to outdo each other.
The fact that these principles existed for such a long time makes it hard for many people to accept the dismantling of the space program. Simply because it has existed for most of our lives, it is hard for proponents to comprehend its nonexistence.
