Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
When you look up into the night sky are you filled with wonder? Do you see the stars and planets and ask, “What is outer space like? Is there life on other planets? Could we someday fly among the stars?” If so, you are not alone. As long as people have been on earth, they have looked into the sky with wonder.
Voice 2
For most of history, space travel was only a dream. It was not until 1961 that the first human travelled into space. It cost a lot of money to send someone into space. Because of this, for the next forty-seven [47] years space travel was limited to government programs.
Voice 1
During this time, only a few people went into space. These astronauts and cosmonauts were very skilled pilots. They had years of training. Average people could only dream of travelling into space.
Voice 2
But today space travel is changing. It is beginning to cost less. Soon, space travel will not just be for trained pilots. It will be for anyone who can pay for it. There are several private companies that are trying to make space travel possible for anyone. One such company is called Virgin Galactic.
Voice 1
Virgin Galactic will not take a person to the moon. But it will take him on a very special trip. The trip is a suborbital space trip. It will not move beyond earth’s gravity. The ship will stay close to earth. But passengers will still get to experience much lower gravity than on earth. They will float in the air. This is “zero gravity.”
Voice 2
The trip begins with three days of training. Eight people fly together in the spaceship. Together, they learn to manage being in zero gravity. They prepare for the feeling of launch and landing. They use this time to prepare for one of the most exciting events of their lives: travelling into outer space.
Voice 1
The Virgin Galactic trip starts in a special launch area in the Mojave Desert in the United States. The spaceship is attached to the bottom of a larger airplane. The larger airplane carries the spaceship high into the sky.
Voice 2
This smaller ship is then released from the large airplane. A rocket engine pushes the spaceship at four thousand [4,000] kilometres an hour. The spaceship reaches one hundred [100] kilometres above the earth. This burst of speed lasts only ninety [90] seconds but the spaceship will reach three times the speed of sound.
Voice 1
The ship is now out of the earth’s atmosphere. The rocket stops, and the ship slows. It is very quiet. At this point, the passengers are free to leave their seats. They can move around the ship and float through the air. They are able to see the earth from above. They can take pictures of the other passengers and of the earth.
Voice 2
Passengers float in the air for only five minutes. After this, the pilot will ask passengers to return to their seats. Then the ship begins to fall back toward earth. The ship lands the same way airplanes do.
Voice 1
Virgin Galactic describes the experience of flying in space this way, “Below you is an image that is more beautiful that you can imagine. It is a blue and green map, but it lacks human-made lines between countries. You are looking at the place that supplies everything humans need. It is part of what it means to be human. It is our home.”
Voice 2
In the past, people who were not astronauts have gone into space. But only a few people have enough money to pay for it. A trip to the international space station costs between twenty five [25,000,000] and forty million [40,000,000] dollars.
Voice 1
A Virgin Galactic trip costs much less. It costs two hundred thousand [200,000] dollars. A suborbital trip may be less time in space, but it costs much less money than a trip to the international space station.
Voice 2
Two hundred thousand [200,000] dollars is still a lot of money. But as more people begin to fly into space, more companies will begin to offer suborbital trips. This will lower the cost of travelling into space.
Voice 1
A suborbital trip is not only about giving passengers an amazing experience. There are issues here on earth that these trips may help. The desires of the rich will pay for the trips. But these spaceships can be used to help peoples all around the world.
Voice 2
These suborbital trips will reduce the cost of satellites. Today, launching satellites into space costs eighty million [80,000,000] dollars. Using a suborbital ship will cost much less. And the cost savings will be seen in many areas.
Voice 1
Satellites are important to modern life. They make telephones work. They broadcast television signals and carry the Internet. With more satellites these things will be much less costly. People from all around the world will be able to share information, knowledge, and culture.
Voice 2
People also use satellites to take pictures of weather systems. Knowing weather is important for people in high risk areas. More satellites create a better picture. Better pictures increase the warning time during a weather emergency.
Voice 1
Satellites can also be turned away from the earth. They can take pictures of far off planets and stars.
Voice 2
Also, suborbital trips can reduce the time it takes to travel around the world. Suborbital trips work with the earth’s rotation, or turning. This means that one day people may be able to travel around the world in only ninety [90] minutes.
Voice 1
This could be very important for some sick people. Especially people waiting for a heart, lung, kidney or other organ. It will reduce the time an organ is transported from one doctor to another doctor. This would improve the chances of a good medical process.
Voice 2
And finally, it will reduce the time it takes to react to any emergency situations world-wide. For example, equipment for cleaning up oil spills could be transported in minutes instead of days.
Voice 1
Most important is the change that can happen to people on these trips. Virgin Galactic says this,
Voice 3
“Already, our limited travel in space has changed the way we live and think, from world-wide communications to a better understanding of climate change... When you return, you will know that life will never be the same.”
Voice 2
When a person returns she may find that she has a deep wonder toward our planet. She may come back less concerned with her own life. She will no longer be able to see only her own corner of the planet. She will see that we are all part of something much larger. Many things seem to separate people. But everyone shares the same home: the earth.
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