环球英语 — 716：Living on the Moon
Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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“There is little question that man will get to the moon. At first he will have to bring his own food, water, shelter and tools. But once established, there is reason to be sure that he can learn to live there. Compared with the planets and stars, the moon is probably most similar to earth. In a recognizable state, man could live by means of today’s technology, rough as it is.”
Voice 1
These words were written in 1959. It was for a Time Magazine article titled, “Race into Space.” During the nineteen fifties many people dreamed about living on the moon. No one had yet travelled to the moon. But people believed that once they did, there would soon be a city on the moon. Fifty years later, this still has not happened.
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on the moon. All around the world, when people look up at night, they see the same moon. But the moon does more than give us light at night. The moon brings out the human desire to explore and discover. And when we learn more about it, the moon shows us that our own planet is very special.
Voice 1
Some ancient people believed that the moon was a container of fire travelling through heaven. Other people believed that the moon was a mirror that showed an image of earth’s lands and oceans. But by the year one hundred, people discovered that the moon was round, like the earth. They also discovered that it moved around the earth. But people also thought that the sun moved around the earth. It would take another fourteen hundred [1400] years before scientist discovered that the earth goes around the sun and the moon goes around the earth.
Voice 2
During the sixteen hundreds, better telescopes helped people understand the moon. Telescopes are long tubes with a rounded glass at each end. Astronomers, look through them to study space. Things that are far away then appear closer. During this time in history, astronomers created a map of the moon. It included high mountains and deep craters, holes in the moon’s surface.
Voice 1
But people still had not tried to get close to the moon. When scientists developed modern rockets, it became possible to try. In 1959 both the United States and Russia sent ships to fly around the moon and take pictures. Then they sent ships without people to land on the moon. But the real goal was to send people to the moon.
Voice 2
But why would people in the nineteen fifties, especially in the United States, dream about living on the moon? There are two reasons. The first reason is the struggle between the United States and Russia. At this time, both countries wanted to be powerful. They tried to prove their power by being the first country to reach the moon.
Voice 1
In this way, getting to the moon had national importance. Normal people cared about this goal. They demonstrated pride in their country. Space travel was in the news. Children played with model rockets. They dreamed of growing up and flying through space.
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The second reason many people thought about living on the moon is because the moon represented something. It represented the human desire to explore and discover new things. It is what people feel when they look at the stars and think, “I wonder what, or who, is out there?” While relations between Russia and the United States have now changed, people still feel called to explore space.
Voice 1
Finally, in 1969 three men from the United States finally landed on the moon. Back on earth, Thomas O. Paine, the director of the space program, was very happy. He told the Associated Press:
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“I think that this success is something that has raised the spirits of men around the world. It has caused us to stop and think about its meaning, which only history will show us. But we have clearly entered a new time of history.”
Voice 2
But are we really any closer to living on the moon? We do know more about the moon than we did. We know about the rocks, the gravity, and the atmosphere of the moon. But we also know that if we were going to live on the moon, we would need to take everything with us. We would need to bring food, water, and air. We would also need something to protect us from the sun.
Voice 1
Sadly, the moon just does not have enough resources to support life. There is no atmosphere to provide air or protection from radiation. There is no plant or animal life. Where the sun shines it can reach 127 degrees Celsius. Without the sun it is as cold as negative 173 degrees Celsius. The moon is not an easy place to live.
Voice 2
And it was this discovery that slowed excitement for space travel. Often, people now think space travel costs too much money. And it brings too little gain. They think that governments should spend money on problems here on earth. People want to know: why spend so much money to go to the moon, when the earth already has everything we need?
Voice 1
And this is very true. Our planet has food, water, and air. The atmosphere protects us from the sun’s radiation. The moon is cold and dead and still. The earth is moving and warm and alive. The earth has the perfect conditions necessary to support life. But sometimes we need to travel away from home to learn how nice it is. And the moon has shown us how amazing is our planet earth.
Voice 2
And yet, many countries have space programs. These include India, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States. There are also people with a lot of money who have started private space travel companies. So there are still plenty of people who want to travel to the moon. Some want to go to better study it and the stars. Other people want to make money. Others want to go simply because they like to learn about it. So the dream of living on the moon may still be a long way away. But the dream lives on.
