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Example research essay topic: Twenty First Century Space Shuttle - 1,078 words

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... o Lunar Module had a computer in it, as we all know. According to Gene Kranz in Failure is Not an Option, this computer, the most advanced one that they could possibly fit into the diminutive LM, had an amazing capacity of 36, 864 words of fixed storage and 2, 048 words of erasable storage. (A "word" is a variable amount of computer storage; it's the chunk that a computer is most comfortable working with. The LM's words were 16 bits in the hardware, so that equates to 4, 096 bytes of erasable storage. ) In contrast, the Texas Instruments TI- 92 + calculator has some 2 million bytes of fixed storage and five hundred thousand bytes of erasable storage. All in a handheld package costing some $ 200. (Not to mention that the TI- 92 + represents ancient technology as well; it contains a Motorola 68000 processor, the same kind as used in the 8 MHz original Macintosh of January 1984. Current processors reach over 1000 MHz, and modern personal computers often have over 200 million bytes of erasable storage, to say nothing of fixed storage. ) My point is, that Apollo-era technology is REALLY old, and 30 years of advancement have given us the ability to do even more in rocketry and computing and everywhere else.

Our future achievements should not be dwarfed by our past achievements - quite the opposite! Over thirty years ago, about two decades after the invention of the transistor, hardworking Americans constructed machinery that safely carried men to the Moon and back, creating an achievement that will be remembered for all time. When the twentieth century is dimly remembered by the inhabitants of Earth, Apollo will shine brightly as a reminder that, even in that dark era, men were capable of great things. "In retrospect, it is clear that Apollo was an element of twenty-first-century exploration which was somehow drawn forward 50 years and, incredibly, implemented with early- 1960 s electronics technology - a fact which demonstrates the supreme mastery that the astronauts and their ground support team had over their remarkable vehicles" - David M. Harland, Exploring the Moon: The Apollo Expeditions Our challenge, then, is to not rest on our laurels. It has been the dream of many to land on another planet; humans still have not done so. We " ve planted our flags and footprints on a chunk of rock blasted out of Earth some 4 billion years ago by a great impact, but never on another planet.

It is time. The Apollo Moon mission was, indeed, sparked by politics, by a drive for the Americans to finally beat the Soviets at something. Scientific exploration had nothing to do with how Apollo got started. And, indeed, once Apollo really began to return with scientific discoveries, it was shut down exactly as Lyndon B.

Johnson prophesied. That diminishes in no way the accomplishment of the American people, a though it does say something about the American political process. John F. Kennedy, regardless of his motivations, really did challenge the American people "to dare and to dream", as Gene Kranz aptly put it. That spirit of exploration must continue into the twenty-first century.

Robert Zubrin, in his book The Case for Mars, makes similar points to my own, and also emphasizes that even old technology is capable of landing men on Mars, therefore with modern technology we can do equally well or better. He dares to dream as well (and makes it cost affordable to boot). Imagine my shock when in Voodoo Science by Robert Park, I read that he includes Robert Zubrin among the cast of quacks debunked. I could not believe my very eyes.

Park concentrated on making fun of Zubrin's idea to terraform Mars (a speculative idea at best, which everyone realizes) and of his claim that a small nuclear reactor could be brought to Mars to assist in producing fuel. Park then rapidly launched into debunking the (rather more speculative) L 5 society, leaving Zubrin far behind. I feel that he did a great injustice to Robert Zubrin. I read The Case for Mars myself and found nothing reminiscent of quackery in the book. Rather, I found only sane and thoughtful judgements about what's possible and what's not; what should be considered and what should be ignored.

Yes, terraform ing Mars is a wildly speculative idea that, even if put into action, won't take place for several centuries. Zubrin recognizes that, I recognize that, everyone recognizes that, but Park didn't seem to. Whatever Robert Zubrin thinks should be done with Mars in the far future doesn't affect his ideas about what can be accomplished right now. And those ideas are practical and absolutely not voodoo. (Zubrin's book is rather less speculative than Mind Children and Robot by Hans Moravac, and even while Moravec gets extremely speculative he still doesn't fall into what should be considered "voodoo science." ) The rest of Robert Park's book was good. But I can't forgive him for his reluctance to dream, to dare to think that Americans are still capable of great achievements. That kind of pessimism is simply unforgivable. "When a Saturn V stage was in place for a night firing, its bright flame would cast a glow across the land.

During the brief minutes of its firing it would hold back the night. And in that state, one could cherish the dream that somehow there would be other lights, brighter and stronger, to drive shadows from the hearts of men" - T. A. Heppenheimer, Countdown: A History of Space Flight The path to the future is clear. Humans must continue to explore space, and to do it in the right way. The whole idea of a Space Shuttle and an International Space Station, while all very interesting, is rather useless.

It is wading in shallow tide pools when we " ve already crossed a lake, and an ocean awaits us. (The Space Shuttle can reach only the lowest of low Earth orbit and can't even reach most satellites. ) We need to explore space, using a combination of automated probes and manned missions. We need to do so out of a greater need than economics or politics. Humans need to explore space because by not doing so, we are denying our creative and curious nature. You may find reviews of books mentioned on this page, and many others dealing with space exploration, on my Book Reviews page.


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Research essay sample on Twenty First Century Space Shuttle

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