The possibility of space travel has always fascinated mankind. The desire to be the first to touch down
on the moon drove the development of new technology in the US and Russia for decades. And the 1969
moon landing is believed to be one of the most important events of the 20th century by many people.
What was once science fiction is becoming science fact.
But in the 21st century, travelling into space has as much to do with big business as it does with human
exploration. Today, many space missions have a strong commercial purpose, with rockets being
launched to deliver satellites into orbit for global communication companies. It is also thought that
other planets may contain minerals that could have great value on Earth. So, it’s always possible that, at
some point in the distant future, these resources will be mined and exploited by astronauts.
And for many years it’s been believed that the age of mass space tourism is nearly here. But, over
fifteen years since the world’s first space tourist, Dennis Tito, was flown into space to join the
International Space Station crew for almost seven days in orbit, the development of the space tourism
industry has been slower than predicted. Physicist, Anu Ohja, explains why …
When it comes down to space tourism, the idea of thousands of people taking holidays in space will be
as much a fantasy in 50 years’ time as it is today. The challenges of human space exploration and staying
in space are still extreme.
If you want to be an astronaut, the official definition is that you must go above 100 kilometers altitude.
If you go higher than that, you are one of the 500 people that have ever been astronauts. And what
they’re developing are spacecraft that will not go fast enough to go around the planet, but will just go
up and down. And the people paying hundreds of thousands of dollars or hundreds of thousands of
Euros, will have a fantastic experience. They will feel the thrust of a rocket ride into space, they will get
an experience of floating and they’ll see the beautiful curvature of the Earth from space and they’ll see
the blackness of space, but they’ll only see it for a few minutes before they fall back down to the
surface.
For some people this might be enough. After all, they’ll experience zero gravity, they can say they are an
astronaut, but for others this simply won’t be worth the enormous cost and the very real risks.
There is a very good reason why, since 1961, only 500 people, out of the billions of people alive, have
ever been into space, and it’s to do with the enormous amounts of energy we need and the enormous
limits of science and engineering that we have to try and face.
Now rocket science and rocket engineering, it’s safe, but even though 500 people have been into space,
eighteen have died in the process. Human space flight is not 100% safe, it’s a risky business, and so
whenever human beings want to explore and they want to go further, there is always a risk factor.
I think for the foreseeable future, human space flight is going to be about going around the Earth, is
going to be about doing experiments that we can’t do on Earth, and it’s going to have some fantastic
discoveries that are made, but for me, that is not what space exploration is.
While space tourism is an idea that I think would be fantastic and I would love to experience, I don’t
think we’re going to see a time in the next century when we have thousands and thousands of tourists
taking holidays in space, I think that’s more science fiction than science fact.
Now Based on your reading of this text answer the following questions
I Choose the correct answers.
1 What economic reasons are mentioned for exploring other planets?
a) They can be used for global communications.
b) They may contain valuable minerals and other resources.
c) They could create a huge tourist industry.
2 How many people have been into space?
a) about 50
b) about 500
c) about 1,000
3 What does physicist Anu Ohja think will happen in the near future?
a) Space travel will be about orbiting the Earth.
b) Astronauts will go to Mars.
c) Lots of tourists will go into space.
II Number the things (A–H) in the order you first see them.
A a scientist floating in zero gravity
___
B a rocket launch.
___
C a satellite being released into orbit. ___
D an airfield.
___
E a simulated space flight.
___
F a pilot flying an aircraft.
___
G astronomers and telescopes.
___
H the planets in our solar system.
___
III Are the sentences true or false?
1 The first moon landings took place in 1969.
true / false
2 Today a lot of missions into space are for commercial reasons.
true / false
3 The first space tourist was flown to the International Space Station six times. true / false
4 Anu Ohja believes that in fifty years’ time space tourism will be common.
true / false
5 To be called an astronaut, you have to go about 1,000 km into space.
true / false
6 Eighteen people have died while going into space.
true / false
IV Match the definitions with the words below:
Gravity,
1
2
3
4
5
6
launch,
orbit,
planet,
satellite,
To go around something.
When an aircraft lands on the ground.
An unmanned spacecraft that continually goes round the Earth.
Mars, Venus or Jupiter.
When a spacecraft leaves the ground and goes into space.
An invisible force that keeps us on the ground.
V Answer these:
1. Who is the intended audience?
2. What is the purpose of the article?
3. What is the overall tone of the article?
4. What is the purpose of using so many facts in the article?
touchdown
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