Space exploration is often a controversial topic that is discussed in the futuristic community in which we live today.
Recently our school had a debate, organized by the BEST club, concerning this topic, questioning if exploring space was worth the billions that are spent into the program each year. Both sides debated fiercely, bringing unique perspectives and points to the table.
The team against space exploration began the debate. They started with bold statements questioning the safety and economic aspects of space exploration. They claimed that instead of investing billions of dollars in a rocket that has a high potential to fail and kills human lives, we should invest the same money into the Earth to improve sustainability and solve the problems we face today.
Over the debate, the against team would argue that sustainability should be achieved on Earth before exploring outer space and solving problems such as poverty and hunger on Earth, should be the priority. Furthermore, they stated that the risk space exploration has of being unsuccessful is high. The cost of one rocket would be enough to feed thousands of people and we should cater to the needs of humans on Earth instead of the curiosity of humans to go explore outer space.
After an impressive argument by the opposing team, the team supporting space exploration took control of the debate. They stated that the economics benefit from mining the moon or asteroids from space outweighs the initial investment by millions of dollars. Furthermore, it would allow us to develop interesting futuristic technology that would help progress humanity. They claimed that the Earth would eventually reach an end and if the human species was not prepared to escape it then we would no longer survive as a race. To conclude their starting argument, they would state the benefits of space exploration towards the sustainability of resources on Earth. The reduced pressure on the usage of Earth's resources because of the excess resources from other planets would allow humans to correct their mistake of overusing resources and would allow them to achieve sustainability faster.
The debate was intense with both the teams bringing up powerful points. Viewers would be left on the edge of their seats as one team approached victory only to be pulled down by a counter argument by another team. As the debate came to an end the online live audience was requested to put in their vote to decide the winner. Both teams waited in anticipation as viewers submitted their votes in chat. It was only a matter of time before the host announced that the team against space exploration had won the debate.