What is the purpose of space exploration?

We are curious. We want to know what is out there. the earth is just a spec on the map of the universe(if there was one). There is so much out there, that it's impossible to count. For all we know, there could be life and/or life forms on a distant planet across the galaxy. With our growing technology, who knows what's out there. I think it's important to explore space to know what things and elements are out there, there could be things that could be linked to earth's past, and we can be one step forward to find out the history of space.