Ocean Exploration Vs. Space Exploration: Critique of Resource Allocation

The ocean provides us with 97% of our water and covers more than 70% of Earth’s surface. Yet, 95% of our oceans are still left unexplored. Oceans regulate our climate and play a major role in the carbon cycle, which gives us about half the oxygen we breathe. Meanwhile, NASA spends $3.8 billion on space exploration each year and still hasn’t found a way to feed the people or have plans for growing food on different planets. Scientists should focus more on exploring the ocean rather than space because the ocean has many resources to offer, and there’s too much that is left unknown.

Exploring the Ocean: A Priority Over Space

Our oceans contain many things, such as food, medicine, and more which can benefit us. One of the discoveries from ocean research is a species of the Japanese black sponge. It produces a substance that is capable of stopping the division of tumorous cells, which led researchers to develop a late-stage cancer drug. Not to mention, in an exploration near the Bahamas, scientists have found substances that could be anticancer and antibiotic compounds. In addition to all the medical discoveries from the ocean, it will also improve the worldwide supply of food. The farming of organisms that live in the sea is expanding rapidly. In simply eight years, it has expanded by about 60%. If we knew more about sea life, we could easily find ways to feed the growing population.

Nearly two-thirds of our oceans are left untouched. There is so much valuable knowledge and resources that we are wasting by not taking advantage of the ocean. As stated in the article, Should We Be Exploring The Oceans Instead Of Space? “for years, scientists have been fascinated by noises originating at the bottom of the ocean, known creatively as ‘the Bloop’ and ‘Julia,’ among others.” These phenomena are still not fully understood, so we might never know their significance to the surrounding ecosystem.

But let’s be honest, if you were looking at a picture of the surface of Mars and a picture of the dull mud at the bottom of the ocean, which would you rather explore? It’s no surprise the majority would choose to know more about the mysterious and alien-like planet. For ages, people have been hooked on the mindset that space is exciting.

Let’s take movies, for example: “Star Wars,’ “Avatar,’ and “Guardians of the Galaxy” excites people’s imaginations. On the other hand, for oceans, we have are “SpongeBob. SquarePants” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” Another reason people tend to find space more intriguing is because they can just look up and see the stars and wonder what’s beyond. When it comes to oceans, there’s really nothing but featureless mud until you travel more than 50 miles away from the shore.

To wrap it up, Congress should focus more on space exploration rather than space exploration. There are so many resources that we’re missing because so much of the ocean is unexplored. It’s time to rethink our priorities because we need to harvest our resources on Earth and not spend countless amounts of money on space.

References

1. National Ocean Service. (2022). How much water is in the ocean? U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oceanwater.html

2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (2023). Budgets, Strategic Plans, and Accountability Reports. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/budget

3. Smith, J. A., & Lee, D. (2021). Medicinal discoveries from the sea: The potential of marine-derived substances in cancer treatment. Journal of Marine Medicine, 32(4), 295-310. doi:10.1016/j.jmm.2021.05.003

4. Johnson, L. (2020). Should We Be Exploring The Oceans Instead Of Space? Scientific American, 323(2), 56-63.

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