154 Part 11 IWritingan£ssal'
Reading 2
Thisarticlefroma popularweeklynewsmagazinearguesagainstsendinga manned
spacecrafttoexploreMars.WhyWeShouldn'tGotoMars:Somedaypeoplemaywalk
ontheplanet,butnotuntilitmakestechnologicalsensei
1 "Twocenturiesago,MeriwetherLewisandWilliamClarkleftSt.Louisto
explorethenewlandsacquiredintheLouisianaPurchase,"GeorgeW.Bush
said,announcinghisdesirefora programtosendmenandwomentoMars.^2
"Theymadethatjourneyinthespiritofdiscovery....Americahasventured
forthintospaceforthesamereasons."
2 YettherearevitaldifferencesbetweenLewisandClark'sexpeditionanda
Marsmission.First,LewisandClarkwereheadedtoa placeamenabletolife;
hundredsofthousandsofpeoplewerealreadylivingthere.Second,Lewisand
Clarkwerecertaintodiscoverplacesandthingsofimmediatevaluetothenew
nation.Third,theLewisandClarkventurecostnexttonothingbytoday's
standards.In 1989 NASAestimatedthata people-to-Marsprogramwouldcost
$400billion,whichinflatesto$600billiontoday.TheHooverDamcost$700
millionintoday'smoney,meaningthatsendingpeopletoMarsmightcostas
muchasbuildingabout 800 newHooverDams.A Marsmissionmaybethe
singlemostexpensivenon-wartimeundertakinginU.S.history.
3 ThethoughtoftraveltoMarsisexhilarating.Surelymenandwomenwill
somedaywalkuponthatplanet,andsurelytheywillmakewondrousdiscoveries
aboutgeologyandthehistoryofthesolarsystem,perhapsevenaboutthevery
originoflife.ManytimesI havestaredupatMarsintheeveningsky-inthe
mountains,awayfromcities,youcanalmostseetheredtint-andwondered
whatisthereorwasthere.
4 Butthefactthata destinationis tantalizingdoesnotmeanthejourney
makessense,evenconsideringthehumancallingtoexplore.AndMarsas
a destinationforpeoplemakesabsolutelynosensewithcurrenttechnology.
5 PresentsystemsforgettingfromEarth'ssurfacetolow-Earthorbitareso
fantasticallyexpensivethatmerelylaunchingthe1,000tonsorsoofspacecraft
andequipmenta Marsmissionwouldrequirecouldbeaccomplishedonlyby
cuttinghealth-carebenefits,educationspending,orotherimportantprograms-
orbyraisingtaxes.Absentsomeremarkablediscovery,astronauts,geologists,
andbiologistsonceonMarscoulddolittlemorethananalyzerocksandfeel
awestruckbeholdingtheskyofanotherworld.Yetrockscanbeanalyzedby
automatedprobeswithoutrisktohumanlife,andata tiny fractionofthecostof
sendingpeople.
6 ItisinterestingtonotethatwhenPresidentBushunveiledhisproposal,he
listedtheserecentmajorachievementsofspaceexploration:picturesoftherings
ofSaturnandtheouterplanets,evidenceofwateronMarsandthemoonsof
Jupiter,discoveryofmorethan 100 planetsoutsideoursolarsystem,andstudy
ofthesoilofMars.AlltheseaccomplishmentscamefromautomatedprobesorIEasterbrook,Greg."WhyWeShouldn'tGotoMars:Somedaypeoplemaywalkontheplanet.butnotuntil
it makestechnologicalsense."Time 26 Jan.2004:S1.
2TheLouisianaPurchasewasa verylargeareaoflandthatwasboughtbytheUnitedStatesfromFrancein
1803.Twomen,LewisandClark,spentmorethantwoyearsexploringandmappingthe.area.