UNIT 10: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
My name‿ is Laura,│ and‿ I have wantedwan-did to be an‿ astronaut│ since‿ I was seven. I did not become one,│ but Ibud I teach physics,│ and‿ I have taken my students to watch two rocket launches.
The argumen(t) people‿ always make‿ is│ that we should spen(d) the money on hospitals‿ instead. It‿ is‿ a fair question,│ but‿ it‿ is based‿ on‿ a misunderstanding. A spacecraf(t) to Mars‿ is‿ expensive,│ yet satellites cos(t) much less│ an(d) they give‿ us weather forecasts,│ navigation,│ an(d) communications. Research‿ in space has‿ also produced medical breakthroughs:│ equipmen(t) designed for‿ astronauts‿ is now used‿ in hospitals,│ an(d) materials developed for spacecraft‿ are‿ in my running shoes.
Astronauts themselves say something‿ interesting:│ from‿ orbit,│ there‿ are no borders. That does not solve politics,│ of course,│ an(d) the funding will‿ always be limited. However,│ if we only spen(d) money on‿ urgen(t) problems,│ we will never make the long-term discoveries that solve them. As for living‿ on Mars,│ my students believe‿ it will happen‿ in their lifetime. I hope they are right. They would‿ also be more habitable neighbours than we have been‿ on this planet.