“Why should we go to space? What is the justification for spending all the effort and money to get a few pieces of moon rocks? Aren't there better causes here on Earth? » -Stephen Hawking. Space is the eternal and ever-changing place where we live. Since the beginning of intelligent life here on Earth, we have wanted to learn. Whether it's simply lighting a fire or solving puzzles that still intrigue us today. Most of the questions we still ask ourselves are about space. Are we alone? How did we get here? Where are we going? Many answers can come from space exploration. Getting "a few pieces of moon rock" can answer so many questions we've been asking for millennia. Can we really belong to a place we don't know? Space exploration will improve us now and in the future for several reasons. The idea of ​​traveling into the unknown made life perplexing since it could move. Where we fail is what puzzles us the most. Ancient civilizations, like the Chinese, made rockets for celebrations and to “get up in the air.” Leonardo da Vinci himself attempted to make a machine capable of gliding. In recent history, many countries are developing rockets to go to the stars. The three main countries affected are Germany, Russia and the United States of America (Brief). Germany's attempts made little or no news, but the United States and Russia became involved in what we today call "the space race." Each country is trying to be the first to go into space, put a man in orbit around the Earth and go to the Moon. Russia struck first with Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to intentionally go into space. The United States caught up and a year later sent Explorer 1. The Russians were in the middle of paper......this. April 2, 2014. Hawking, Stephen. “Why should we go to space”. National Space Society (NSS). April 27, 2011. April 4, 2014.. “NASA Budget.” NASA. April 4, 2014.. “NASA technologies benefit our lives”. NASA. 2008. April 3, 2014. Plumer, Brad. “Defense Budget”. Washington Post. January 7, 2013. April 2, 2014. “What is NASA doing?” NASA. September 2013. April 8, 2014. “Why We Explore.” NASA. April 3, 2014.