Module 5.4 - UNSY 501

Space exploration is an enterprise that was accomplished by manned missions during the beginning stages of its development.  But as technology has advanced over the decades, more and more unmanned systems have been implemented in space exploration missions. There have consistently been debates on whether manned or unmanned missions provide a greater advantage in the completion of missions in different areas of space exploration. Once the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shuttle program was retired and the Constellation program was cancelled in 2010, the U.S. manned space program was essentially shutdown (Millis, 2010).  These events left the International Space Station (ISS) as the only avenue for the continuation of manned space flight for the U.S. via astronaut launches from Russia.  But as the manned missions to space have dwindled, the unmanned missions have increased in number and spectrum.  In this discussion, I will review an article that compares the respective benefits and disadvantages of both manned and unmanned explorations of space.

The article I reviewed compared manned and unmanned missions for space exploration and found four distinct disadvantages for manned spaceflight: safety concerns, health risks, time frame, and costs (Chavis 2015).  The most obvious disadvantage of manned space exploration is the safety risk placed upon the astronauts assigned to the mission.  Any deaths or injuries to astronauts are regarded as major mission failures by both government and public agencies involved in space (Chavis 2015).  In the history of manned space flight, five percent of all who have attempted to fly in space have died for a total of 22 people (Chavis 2015).  When you compare these safety risks to an unmanned mission, there is no possibility of the loss of life which is a major advantage for unmanned exploration.  The second advantage of unmanned missions is similar to the first being health risks to the astronauts.  Even when manned launches and missions are completed successfully, the astronauts involved in the missions can experience a multitude of health issues over the course of the mission.  The most common health issues that can result from extended time in space are immune deficiency, loss of bone density, muscle atrophy, and radiation poisoning (Chavis 2015).  As with the first advantage, there is no possibility of these issues with an unmanned mission as there is no one present to experience the negative effects. 

The first two advantages of unmanned missions address the lack of a human presence, the other two advantages are in regards to the logistical portion of the mission.  The first logistical advantage of an unmanned mission is the time frame for the mission, both leading up to and during the mission (Chavis 2015).  When a space exploration mission has the manned component, there is a large amount of training that is required for members of the mission team that can take months to years in order to accomplish (Chavis 2015).  Unmanned systems are designed to accomplish their mission as soon as they are constructed even though it can take years to build these systems (Chavis 2015).  The bigger advantage when it comes to time frame for unmanned missions is the actual length of time available for mission accomplishment.  Due to the fact that astronauts can experience negative effects from extended periods of time in space, the mission timeframe is much shorter than that of unmanned space missions (Chavis 2015).  The final advantage addressed is that the cost of manned space missions is higher than that of unmanned missions (Chavis 2015).  Some unmanned mission systems may be more expensive overall than manned missions, but the manned missions only last for weeks or months and unmanned missions last years (Chavis 2015). 

For the most part, I agree with the article that unmanned systems provide many advantages over manned space exploration.  However, I do think that manned exploration missions allow for far more depth of research and discovery.  I think that unmanned systems are better suited for long term missions that have a broad scope in their goals.  Based on the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, using manned and unmanned missions in complement to one another would result in the best overall results for space exploration.      

References

Chavis, J.C.  (2015). Disadvantages to Manned Missions to Space.  Brighthub.  Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/science/space/articles/72499.aspx

Millis, J.P.  (2010). The Future of Manned Space Flight.  About Education.  Retrieved from http://space.about.com/od/spacebasics/a/Future-of-Manned-Space-Flight.htm