From a Beep to the Moon and Beyond: the History and Future of Space Travel

1Before you read

1. Name any spacecraft, astronaut or space agency you have heard of. What do you know about it?
2. Have you ever seen a satellite or the International Space Station cross the night sky? What did it look like?
3. Would you spend a country's money on space travel or on something else? Note your answer now; you will come back to it.

2Reading: From a Beep to the Moon and Beyond

A feature article written for this course. The dates and figures come from NASA and ESA.

1 On the evening of 4 October 1957, radio listeners worldwide picked up a faint, regular beep. It came from Sputnik 1, a polished metal ball 58 centimetres across that the Soviet Union had just launched into orbit. It carried no camera and no crew; it simply circled the Earth, sending out its signal. Yet that signal changed history. It proved that a machine built by people could stay up above the atmosphere, and it began a race between the Soviet Union and the United States that put people on the Moon within twelve years.

2 On 12 April 1961, the Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, completing a single orbit of the Earth aboard Vostok 1. Six weeks later, President John F. Kennedy set the United States a goal: to land a man on the Moon and return him safely before the decade was out. The goal was met with months to spare. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon in the lunar module of Apollo 11 and, a few hours later, stepped out onto its surface, while Michael Collins circled overhead. By December 1972, when the crew of Apollo 17 left, twelve astronauts had walked on the Moon. Nobody has walked there since.

3 Why did the landings stop? They were enormously expensive, and once the race had been won, the political reason for them faded. Space agencies turned from travelling far to staying long. The Soviet Union, and later Russia, built space stations, while the United States flew the Space Shuttle, a winged spacecraft used again and again from 1981 to 2011. The two paths met in the International Space Station (ISS). It has been occupied without a break since November 2000, and five space agencies, representing 15 countries, run it together. It circles the Earth roughly every 90 minutes, so its crew sees 16 sunrises and sunsets a day.

4 The biggest change of recent years may be who builds the spacecraft. Rockets used to belong to governments and were thrown away after one flight. Today private companies build them too, and some boosters fly back and land so that they can be used again. In May 2020, two NASA astronauts reached the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, the first time NASA astronauts had flown to orbit in a spacecraft owned and operated by a private company.

5 The Moon is back on the agenda. NASA's Artemis programme, named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, aims to send people back to the Moon and, this time, to stay longer. In November 2022, Artemis I sent an uncrewed Orion capsule around the Moon and back. On 1 April 2026, Artemis II carried four astronauts, three from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency, around the Moon; they splashed down nine days later. Orion is powered by a European Service Module, built for the European Space Agency (ESA), which supplies the capsule's electricity, water and oxygen. NASA plans to test landing systems in Earth orbit on Artemis III in 2027, with Moon landings beginning on Artemis IV.

6 Beyond the Moon lies Mars. NASA's Perseverance rover landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021 and is collecting rock samples that scientists hope to bring to Earth. Sending people would be far harder. The journey would take months each way, exposing the crew to radiation and to the loss of muscle and bone in weightlessness. Even a radio message, travelling at the speed of light, needs between about 3 and 22 minutes to cross the gap, so in an emergency the crew could not wait for advice from Earth.

7 Is any of this worth the cost? Critics argue that the money would do more good spent on health and schools on Earth. Supporters reply that space programmes gave us the satellites that forecast the weather and guide the maps on our phones, and that problems such as recycling water in a closed system matter on Earth too. Both sides agree on one thing: the question for the next seventy years is no longer whether humans can leave the Earth, but who will go, who will pay, and who will benefit.

3Seventy years in eight steps

The article jumps between decades. The timeline puts its main events in order.

4Comprehension

Answer in full sentences. Questions 1 to 5 test what the article says; 6 to 8 test what it means; 9 asks what you think.

1. What was Sputnik 1, and why did it matter even though it carried no crew? (paragraph 1)
2. Who was the first person in space, and in which spacecraft did he fly?
3. What did each member of the Apollo 11 crew do during the landing?
4. Give the two reasons the writer offers for the end of the Moon landings.
5. What part does the European Space Agency play in the Artemis flights?
6. Kennedy's goal was to land on the Moon "before the decade was out". How many months were left when Apollo 11 landed? Show how you worked it out.
7. What does the writer mean by "Space agencies turned from travelling far to staying long" (paragraph 3)?
8. Why does the writer mention the delay of a radio message in paragraph 6?
9. Paragraph 7 gives two views on the cost of space travel. Which do you find more convincing? Support your answer with one point from the article and one of your own.

Show answersHide answers

1. It was a metal ball 58 cm across, the first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union. It mattered because it proved that a machine built by people could stay in orbit, and it started the space race.
2. Yuri Gagarin, on 12 April 1961, aboard Vostok 1.
3. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the lunar module and stepped out onto the surface; Michael Collins stayed in orbit overhead.
4. The landings were enormously expensive, and once the race had been won, the political reason for them faded.
5. ESA provides the European Service Module, which powers Orion and supplies its electricity, water and oxygen.
6. About five months: the landing was in July 1969, and the decade ended on 31 December 1969, leaving August, September, October, November and December.
7. After the Moon race, agencies stopped trying to reach distant places and instead learned how people can live in space for long periods, on space stations close to the Earth.
8. To show how isolated a Mars crew would be: because each message takes many minutes, the crew could not get quick help from Earth and would have to solve emergencies alone.
9. Any answer that takes a side and supports it. Example: "The supporters, because weather satellites came from space programmes, and in Rwanda accurate rain forecasts help farmers decide when to plant."

5Vocabulary in context

Several words in the article have a space meaning and an everyday one. The sentence tells you which is meant.