If America plans to continue its space exploration program, the question that must be asked next is: "Where do we go from here?" America has made major strides in space exploration in this century. We have built enormous rockets that can carry three men and their supplies to the moon and back. We have mastered the physics that are involved in shooting a rocket out of our atmosphere and bringing the return capsule back again. The next step in the space exploration process should be to build an orbiting space station.

A space station could be used to learn many things about spending large amounts of time in space. If man plans on further exploring the vastness of space, we must understand what the effect of space will be on our bodies. Once we understand this concept, then we can start engineering projects that can send humans far out into space. A space station in orbit around the earth will also teach us about what preparations will need to be made when we decide to set up a colony on the moon. The only way we can learn about these things is if we experiment with them in a space station. How could we know what to expect when we start colonizing the moon if we

An alternative to a space station could be to spend more money on projects developing rockets that run on nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. These rockets would be much more powerful than the conventional rockets used today. With this new rocket technology, it would be possible to send rockets out to the moon in a single stage. These new rockets would open up many new doors in space exploration. A major advocate of these new rockets is retired NASA engineer Homer H. Hickam Jr. In his opinion, we are "losing ground in the highly competitive launch industry." He believes that NASA should not spend so much money on its International Space Station and start devoting more time and effort to bigger and better rockets. America needs to continue to dominate space exploration and one way to do it is to develop more powerful rockets.

The space station will also serve as a stopping point for future missions out into space. The station could be used like a pit stop in space where astronauts could refuel and make any necessary repairs before starting their journey into outer space. This will prove very useful since there is a limit to how much fuel can be carried on board a rocket leaving earth because of gravity. There would be no weight restrictions out in space and the amount of fuel needed for a long trip out into space will no longer be as much of a

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Approximate Word count = 921
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)