Space Exploration’s Influence on Society
- Tanisha Dharmik
- Jul 8, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 11, 2025
Introduction:
Space exploration is still a profound mystery, due to the vastness of the universe
and the limited number of planets we can travel to, at the moment. Nevertheless,
it’s not entirely impossible. Take the Moon landing in 1969, for example. No one
could fathom the idea of a group of people going to the Moon; it sounded like it
was straight from a sci-fi movie. However, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz
Aldrin, and Michael Collins, as well as the NASA staff, defied the odds and
changed history. This raises the question: What else is possible in the field of
space exploration? How can this affect us as a whole?
Current Missions on Space Exploration
Currently, NASA is working on the Artemis II mission, which aims to send
humans back to the Moon by mid-2027, to the south pole of the Moon. Artemis I
had already been completed back in 2022, when they completed an uncrewed
test flight of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket,
launching on November 16, 2022, and returning to Earth on December 11, 2022.
In early June, the Artemis science team at NASA ran a mission simulation for the
first time in the newly established Science Evaluation Room and used it to test
how they would work together to lead lunar science activities during Artemis II
and future crewed missions to the Moon.
Another ongoing mission conducted by NASA is the James Webb Space
Telescope launch, which launched back on December 25th, 2021, and reached
the second Lagrange point, or L2, on January 24th, 2022. It does not orbit
around the Earth like the Hubble Space Telescope; it orbits the Sun 1.5 million
kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth. To this day, it takes flawless and
neat photographs of the universe sky, and spotting distant galaxies as far as 46
billion light years away!
These missions are a testament to the capabilities and ambitions of space
agencies and what they seek to achieve in the span of a few decades. But how
do these efforts affect society? What can such a discovery entail for ordinary
people?
How does this influence society?
Space exploration can affect us in many ways. One of them is that it fuels
scientific and technological advancements and expands our knowledge about
space, galaxies, and even the universe. Data that is collected via space probes,
rovers, and telescopes challenge our hypotheses. For example, scientists have
learned that the number of planets, stars, and galaxies in the universe is much
higher than they expected.
Because of space exploration, researchers working at the Canadian Space
Agency have found out that gravitational waves hypothesized by Einstein more
than 100 years ago do exist, giving us a new way to look at the universe. They’ve
even discovered ice on Mars and the Moon, as well as liquid water on moons in
our solar system!
Space exploration can also help protect our planet Earth from possible threats
such as near-Earth objects. Ground-based telescopes like ATLAS (Asteroid
Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) can do an outstanding job in detecting
asteroids or moving objects in the night sky, which can bring awareness to space
agencies and ultimately work on combating these issues.
Another way that space exploration can benefit us is that it can create more job
openings that people can choose to pursue. Therefore, it boosts the economic
sector. NASA, in particular, has supported almost 340,000 jobs all over the
country, in fields such as manufacturing and scientific research. Discoveries that
are generated by increased space activity, such as GPS and compact hardware,
can propel economic output to higher growth.
Lastly, space exploration and research can aid in developing day-to-day products
that most of us use. A few examples of products that use space technology are
as follows:
● Air Purifiers - An ethylene scrubber that was developed for the
International Space Station has been proven to purify air on Earth.
● Memory Foam - The material of your mattress was developed due to
space research. Researchers invented this material to keep test pilots
cushioned during flights.
● Cordless Vacuum Cleaners - Researchers developed a lightweight battery-
powered drill to efficiently gather soil and rock samples on the Moon, but
the technology was later used for cordless vacuum cleaners
● Baby Formula - Scientists and researchers discovered a natural source of
omega-3 fatty acids. This is now included in most of the baby formulas
sold in the market.
Space exploration has plenty of advantages and is an ever-expanding field.
How can it impact us negatively?
As much as space exploration is important to hone our knowledge and
development of technology, it can pose some considerable risks. The most
common and potentially dangerous one is the risk of space radiation. Space
radiation is high-energy radiation that comes from particles that originate outside
of Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronauts taking up missions in space are at risk of radiation, which can cause
symptoms of risk of cancer or other diseases caused by space radiation, the risk
of eye and vision problems, the risk of brain changes that negatively affect
behavior, mood, and thinking abilities, and the risk of a poor diet.
It can also impact the human psyche, due to the isolation that astronauts may
feel in space, away from their homes. Specifically, this can cause symptoms of
emotional dysregulation, cognitive dysfunction, disruption of sleep-wake rhythms,
visual phenomena, and significant changes in body weight.
Space exploration can raise concerns about environmental impacts. A study
done by Elois Marias, associate professor in physical geography at University
College London, and Christopher Maloney, a research scientist at the NOAA
Chemical Sciences Laboratory, talks about the impact of rocket emissions on the
environment. The team used a 3D model to investigate the topic of their study.
Their study shows that black carbon emissions will more than double in the next
3 years of space tourism launches, and particles emitted by rockets are
approximately 500 times more efficient at trapping heat in the atmosphere than
all other sources of soot combined.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, exploring space can bring us tremendous benefits: technological
advancements, planetary protection, and even incorporation into our daily lives.
Even though it has some disadvantages, which are the risk of space radiation
and environmental impacts, the advantages can greatly outweigh them if
scientists and researchers can work together to build better, protective suits and
gear or create rockets that release fewer emissions.
Sources:
NASA’s Artemis Science Team Inaugurates Flight Control Room - NASA. (2025,
June 13). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2025/06/13/nasas-
artemis-science-team-inaugurates-flight-control-room/
James Webb Space Telescope - NASA Science. (n.d.). Science.nasa.gov.
Dreier, C. (2022, December 2). NASA’s economic impact? Hundreds of
thousands of jobs. The Planetary Society; The Planetary Society.
Piesing, M. (2022, July 15). The pollution caused by rocket launches.
rocket-launches-less-polluting
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