1 . Travel enthusiasts fifty years ago talked about travelling to fascinating places around the world. Today the talk is about going beyond the world and the Earth. The thirst is creating a demand for space travel, giving rise to space tourism.
The space fights are not cheap - each flight into outer space costs about U.S. $20 million. Up till now, it has solely been enjoyed by a few adventurous super-ich men. To reduce the high cost of space travel for the mass market, space travel agencies now have a creative plan to offer suborbital flights, which cost much less. These joyrides will enable the tourists to reach the edge of space, which is more than 62 miles above the Earth, and allow them the experience of a few minutes of weighlessness as they gaze at the Earth below, before they return down to Earth again.
Space tourism is, however, not an environmentally friendly adventure. The black carbon emitted by the spacecraft could either raise temperatures at the poles, causing a melting of the ice or lead to rising temperatures, contributing to global warming. The emission of black carbon also causes the ozone molecules to break apart, contributing to several kilotons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Looking beyond Earth, an increase in space travel would mean that Man would not only leave his footprint in space but also his waste—space tourism can contribute to pollution of the environment of the outer space. With no current plans for waste disposal, one can only imagine clumps of litter floating around the planets.
Without doubt, space tourism opens up new exciting possibilities. With time, the price of the flights to space would become more reasonable. Increasing commercialization of space travel would also mean that a structure would be put in place for the disposal of space waste. However, with no immediate solution to counter the possible impact on climate changes and the thinning of the ozone layer, space tourism would probably prove to be yet another controversial (有争议的) venture of mankind.
1. What push space tourism to develop?| A．Investment from millionaires. | B．Talks between travel enthusiasts. |
| C．People’s ambition to travel. | D．Human’s travel habits and customs. |
| A．By reaching the orbit of the spaceship. |
| B．By cutting the distance of space travelling. |
| C．By allowing the people to travel alone in space. |
| D．By guiding travelers to gaze at the earth when landing. |
| A．The high cost of space fight. | B．Causing global warming. |
| C．The lack of waste disposal project. | D．Further Ozone layer build-up. |
| A．The Next Tourist Attraction: Space |
| B．Pros and Cons: Space Science Is on the Way |
| C．A Milestone in Technology: Manned Spaceship |
| D．A Controversial Program: Travel for the Ozone Layer. |
