1
Several generations of people have seen pictures of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon in 1969. At the time, the hundreds of millions who watched this historic event likely thought it marked the beginning of a bold new kind of exploration. Perhaps they thought they would soon hear more messages from outer space. Maybe they envisioned that by the turn of the century someone would walk on the surface of Mars. Now, though, more than 40 years later, it’s robots—not astronauts—who are making most of the voyages beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Robotic space exploration does have some advantages. However, there are many reasons why we should make sending more people into space a priority.
Beyond the Program
2
The capabilities of the space probes and rovers we now use would have been the stuff of science fiction just a few short decades ago. Like any other machines, though, they have one major weakness. They can do only what they are programmed to do. They cannot make a distinction between unusual and expected observations. They cannot reason. They cannot think. A human scientist who identified a curious specimen on Mars would likely concentrate on finding out everything possible about it. The unthinking robot would probably treat it as just another sample.
Efforts Yield Results
3
One of the arguments in favor of using robots to explore space is that machines can go places humans cannot. This may be true, but let’s consider the other side. Maybe the reason astronauts are not able to go to these places yet is that we aren’t putting enough effort into figuring out how to meet their complex needs during prolonged space missions. Humans have proven time and again that they are able to solve problems that may have seemed impossible at first. There is no reason to assume that the challenge of sending people to Mars, Jupiter, or Neptune and getting them back home safely would be any different.
Costs and Benefits
4
Humans, as living things, have many needs that robots do not. Giving astronauts what they require to stay healthy in space naturally makes these kinds of missions more expensive than ones that use robots. It’s vital to weigh these increased costs against the benefits. If sending one human crew to Venus could advance our knowledge of the universe as much as three robotic space missions could, even a much higher cost would be justified.
Keeping the Dream Alive
5
It is said that the idea of traveling into space captures the imagination. For most, though, it’s not an image of a small vehicle rolling across the surface of Mars that inspires awe and wonder. It’s the notion that—one day—people from Earth will explore distant worlds that are literally millions of miles away from our home planet.
Multiple Choice Question
Read this sentence from paragraph 2 of The Importance of Sending People to Space.
The capabilities of the space probes and rovers we now use would have been the stuff of science fiction just a few short decades ago.
Which statement explains what the author means by the phrase stuff of science fiction?
A.
Audiences watched the ideas in blockbuster movies.
B.
Scientists have worked on the ideas for years.
C.
People would not have believed it was possible.
D.
The technology was kept from the public.
1 answer
The correct answer is C. People would not have believed it was possible.
The phrase "stuff of science fiction" implies that the capabilities of the space probes and rovers were once considered to be only imaginative ideas found in science fiction stories, and thus many people at the time would have thought these advancements were not feasible or realistic.
