10.

1
SPACE
The final frontier

vw
Speaking
1 The pictures show
CHEAP ACCESS TO SPACE
people in imaginary
‘Cheap’ is an important word in space technology nowadays and re-usable
future situations away
rockets will be a key way of controlling costs. They will deliver things, bring stuff
from the Earth. Compare back to Earth and then go up again, perhaps with machinery for a space factory,
the people and say or even carrying tourists. In the future, these space vehicles will be orbiting the
whether you think these Earth as efficiently as air freight carriers. There could be a billion-dollar market
situations could happen in taking packages from one side of the planet to the other in an hour.
in the future.
NASA, the government-owned space the Space Shuttle, the United States has an
program, once aimed to develop a re-usable urgent need for commercial manned space
rocket. 1 It plans to launch a manned flight. Until that happens, NASA will be
expedition to an asteroid by 2025 and since totally dependent on the Russian Soyuz to
this will require different technology, it is more carry astronauts to and from the International
likely that people outside the NASA program Space Station, at a price of over $50 million
will develop re-usable rocket design. per seat. 4 They submitted their
Rick Tumlinson, co-founder of the Space proposal to NASA just days after Dragon
Frontier Foundation (SFF), has spent the past returned to Earth.
two decades pushing for human exploration At one point, the SFF ran a survey on the
and settlement of the solar system. Space internet called ‘Cheap Access to Space’,
News magazine described him as one of where it asked American taxpayers for their
the 100 most influential people in the space opinions on the US space program and future
industry. Tumlinson has always maintained priorities for space transportation. Their own
that businesses should get involved, and view has always been that it is impossible
views NASA as a bit of a dinosaur. for NASA to offer an ‘open frontier’. NASA
2 ‘25 years after the Wright brothers is ‘elitist and exclusive’, whereas the SFF
flew a plane for the first time, people could believes in opportunities for everyone: ‘a
buy a commercial plane ticket, but 25 years future of endlessly expanding new choices’.
after landing on the Moon, we sat around The SFF wants to see ‘irreversible human
watching old astronauts on TV talking about settlement’ in space as soon as possible and
the good old days.’ maintains that this is only going to happen
Using his high profile, Tumlinson is going through free enterprise. It is inappropriate
to try to prove a point. Space is our destiny, for government-sponsored astronauts to be
he says, so why not get on with it? He and constructing buildings and driving trucks.
his colleagues encourage any business that 5 SpaceX’s achievements to date
shares this aim. 3 For example, in demonstrate a willingness to make this
December 2010, SpaceX (Space Exploration happen.
Technologies) launched their re-usable space Once space transportation becomes
capsule Dragon. After circling the planet affordable, mass space travel will be
twice, it returned with parachutes, landing possible. Many people believe that by 2025
Reading as planned in the Pacific Ocean. Tumlinson space tourism will have become a viable
immediately congratulated the company industry. However, US government officials
2 Skim the article on on successfully completing the world’s first don’t really see a future for space tourism.
space travel for its commercial orbital space flight and recovery, 6 David Ashford, Managing Director
general meaning, saying, ‘This flight will go down in history as of the British company Bristol Spaceplanes
ignoring the missing a turning point for the opening of space to Limited, once said that space tourism would
sentences. Why do regular people.’ begin ten years after people stopped
NASA and the SFF have While it was a significant technical laughing at the concept. People have already
achievement for SpaceX as a company, stopped laughing.
different priorities?
the flight was also highly significant for the
American taxpayer. With the retirement of

66 UNIT 10