Space Exploration - G07: Earth Sciences - Earth in Space - WAB Learns at Western Academy of Beijing

European Space Station

Cost of European Space Station
The cost of the International Space Station, including development, assembly and running costs over 10 years, comes to €100 billion. High technology on the space frontier is not cheap.

How SpaceX lowered costs and reduced barriers to space
While a major milestone for a private company, SpaceX’s most significant achievement has been in lowering the launch costs that have limited many space activities. While making several modifications to the fuel and engines, SpaceX’s major breakthroughs have come through recovering and reusing as much of the rocket and launch vehicle as possible.

Book of the Moon by Maggie Aderin-Pocock Have you ever wondered if there are seasons on the moon or if space tourism will ever become commonplace? So has Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock. In fact, she earned her nickname "Lunatic" because of her deep fascination for all things lunar. In her lucidly written, comprehensive guide to the moon, Aderin-Pocock takes readers on a journey to our closest celestial neighbor, exploring folklore, facts, and future plans.         She begins with the basics, unpacking everything from the moon's topography and composition to its formation and orbit around the Earth. She travels back in time to track humanity's relationship with the moon -- beliefs held by ancient civilizations, the technology that allowed for the first moon landing, a brief history of moongazing, and how the moon has influenced culture throughout the years -- and then to the future, analyzing the pros and cons of continued space travel and exploration. Throughout the book are sidebars, graphs, and charts to enhance the facts as well as black-and-white illustrations of the moon and stars. The Book of the Moon will be published for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
ISBN: 9781419738494
Publication Date: 2019-04-09

Socio-economic impact of space activities
Europe's citizens benefit every day from the technological advances that investment in the space industry has brought through recent decades. Whether it is withdrawing money at a cashpoint, sending text messages to friends, checking the latest weather forecast or getting directions to a new restaurant, many routine tasks are now performed at the touch of a button thanks to the digital revolution accelerated by sophisticated infrastructure in space.

Deal with Poverty or Go to Mars?
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its Mars orbiter, Mangalyan (Translation: Mars Craft) on November 5th 2013 with a hope to become the 4th such organization in the world, to step into Mars exploration. I must say, it is quite a fete for a developing country which has to deal with a myriad of other socio-economic menaces. Besides that, this mission also placed India above every other Mars mission ever, in terms of the total cost involved. Frugal engineering, has helped ISRO to go to Mars with low costs – with a mere $73 Million dollar budget, MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) has become the cheapest mission ever to Mars.
Statistic - India Space exploration costs
Government expenditure on space sector in India from financial year 2017 to 2019, with an estimate for 2020

Government Funding in Space Exploration to Surpass $20 Billion by 2027
According to Euroconsult’s latest report, Prospects for Space Exploration, global government investment in space exploration totaled $14.6 billion in 2017, a 6% increase compared to 2016. Fifteen leading space programs worldwide are estimated to contribute to this global investment, with the U.S. accounting for 74% of the total. Global expenditures have grown in the past five years driven by programs in leading countries and new countries investing in space exploration. In a still constrained budgetary environment, global space budgets for space exploration are expected to grow to over $20 billion by 2027.

Five things that cost more than space exploration
Does the US spend too much on space exploration, or not enough? The percentage of US federal spending dedicated to NASA has dropped fairly consistently since the early 1990s—from 1.05% in 1991 to 0.48% in 2012—and that’s a far cry from the 4.41% it commanded in 1966. NASA estimates that for the $18 billion or so it costs to run, the “space economy” produces $180 billion in jobs, commercial goods and services. Whether or not that 10x return on investment is accurate, space programs still look like a bargain compared to other industries.

The cost of space missions (2015)
This week, NASA’s New Horizons probe made the first ever flyby of distant, frozen Pluto. We were wondering how much the mission cost, how that stacked up against the price of other space exploration, and how that looked in context with other expenditure…in this case, the war in Iraq.

Human beings in space: debate and consequences
Human spaceflight is both risky and expensive. From the crash landing of the first crewed Soyuz spacecraft in 1967 to the breakup of the shuttle orbiter Columbia in 2003, 18 people died during spaceflights. Providing the systems to support people while in orbit adds significant additional costs to a space mission, and ensuring that the launch, flight, and reentry are carried out as safely as possible also requires highly reliable and thus costly equipment, including both spacecraft and launchers.
Space Probes Advantages & Disadvantages
Space has spurred the collective imagination of humans since ancient times. While the astronomers of the Renaissance era began to unlock the secrets of the heavenly bodies, it wasn't until the 20th century that humans could actually travel to outer space. Today most space exploration is done by unmanned space probes. These probes present a number of issues for government-run space agencies.
Space exploration
Space exploration has benefited many areas of science and technology including satellites and GPS. It carries significant risks including radiation, extreme temperatures and high speed impacts.