Going to Mars

Sarah: So do you think we should sent people to Mars or Moon to spend all this money on space travel?

John: Well, I think we should. Space travel can give people hope for the future, and space travel can unite people from different countries for a common goal.

Sarah: But do any countries work together to travel in space?

John: Oh certainly. The International Space station has astronauts from different countries working together. And I think that a joint effort is the best way to do space missions. I think that we could go back to the Moon and learn much more by going there than we can learn if we don't go there.

Sarah: I see what you mean, but I think we could learn more and we could improve more if we can help the people on Earth. Think of everything we could learn from the children that can't get an education these days. Maybe the next Einstein is a poor little girl who doesn't have the money to go to school. If we spent more money on school or clean water and vaccines, maybe we could learn more from ourselves than from going to space and going to Mars.

John: I agree with you that more should be spent on education, but we don't need the next Einstein if were not doing space travel. The problem is what are people with money willing to spend it on. I think that it would be nice if we could have all the rich countries spend money on education for poor people, but if you look at the numbers, the cost of one space mission is much cheaper than the things we spend money on now.

Sarah: Like what?

John: Well, the first example that comes to mind is war. One day of war is so expensive for all the governments and the militaries that are involved. One day of war costs more money than one space mission. But war goes on and on for days.

Sarah: Yeah, and years.

John: So, if you think about money in terms of ... sorry ... so the money for a space mission is expensive by itself, but when you compare it to other things it's actually kind of cheap.

Sarah: I see what you're saying. You're comparing the cost of space travel to war, but I would compare the cost of space travel to the cost of, for example, getting rid of malaria. I think we could get rid of a terrible disease like malaria for as much as we would spend on a trip to Mars.

John: Getting rid of malaria or going to Mars? Well, of course I would also choose that we get rid of malaria.

Sarah: Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree.

John: We might have to disagree this time.

Sarah: OK.