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5. Mr. Chang writes that the space station has “become the hub for stimulating capitalism in space.” What evidence does it provide to support this claim?
6. What is the future of the International Space Station? What will happen when he retires? What role will private companies play?
7. The article concludes with the reflections of Michael T. Suffredini, who was in charge of the NASA space station program for a decade, from 2005 to 2015:
Mr. Suffredini said the current trajectory of life in orbit followed the path of the previous exploration of new territories. “In any government exploration in the history of mankind, you send some government-funded people to do a relatively risky thing, just to see what’s there,” he said.
If there is anything of value, the pioneers and eventually the settlers follow. “To establish low Earth orbit,” Suffredini said, “we need to get to the pioneering stage, which is what we’re really doing.”
What does Mr. Suffredini mean by “pioneers” and “settlers”? How do you think the experiences at the International Space Station will help the future of space exploration and colonization? What do you think is the legacy of the ISS?
To move on
Option 1: share your thoughts.
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What’s your reaction to the article? What was the most fascinating, intriguing or surprising thing you have read? Does it make you more excited about the International Space Station or about space travel and exploration in general?
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In a 2018 opinion paper, “Don’t Give Up on the International Space Station,” Mark Kelly, a former astronaut who lived on the space station and twin brother of Scott Kelly, writes:
It was the United States that led the international coalition of 16 nations to build the space station. Building this outpost in outer space took dozens of missions over a decade to complete and considerable money. It is clearly one of the most complicated engineering projects that humans have undertaken.
It is not perfect and it is not designed to last forever, but what the International Space Station offers men and nations is remarkable: an important opportunity to collaborate on shared scientific goals, mostly free of politics and almost entirely free. from the influences of our planet …
But all of this will stop abruptly (though you won’t hear the “squeal” in the vacuum of space) if the Trump administration ends funding for the International Space Station program beyond 2024, a step it is considering. The reasons are unclear, although President Trump has said he wants to prioritize human travel to the moon.
Whatever the priorities, this kind of compromise is shortsighted. Cutting funding for the station, now between $ 3 billion and $ 4 billion a year, would be a step backwards for the space agency and certainly not in the best interest of the country.
Should the US government continue to fund the International Space Station? Or is it better for private companies to build and maintain this and other new ones? What is the benefit of the International Space Station for humanity and our future?
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Would you like to visit or spend time on the International Space Station? What do you think you would like most? What do you think would be the hardest part of living there?
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Make some predictions: Do you think ordinary people (those who aren’t astronauts) will live on space stations like the International Space Station over the next 20 years? Do you think you will ever live in space in your life?
Option 2: Write a letter home – On board the International Space Station!
Imagine living on the International Space Station: write a letter home telling friends and loved ones about your life aboard an outpost 250 miles above the earth.
Describe your daily life and routines, such as sleeping, eating and exercising while floating weightlessly in an environment of microgravity, the challenges you face, as well as the discoveries, joys and beauty you are seeing and experiencing.
To get help with your letter, you could start by taking a visual tour of the International Space Station in the Times photo essay “Home Sweet Home in Orbit”. Or, browse the Times science writers’ collection of musings and thoughts to celebrate the anniversary in “The International Space Station: 20 Years of Promise, Peril and Fun.” You could also visit the NASA website for more details on the space station and its missions.
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