READING EXPLORER 9B

THE ULTIMATE TRIP

During
During the
the early
early days
days of
of space
space exploration,
exploration, motivation
motivation for
for venturing
venturing into
into space
space

came
came from
from competition.
competition. The
The cold
cold war
war between
between the
the Soviet
Soviet Union
Union and
and the
the United
United

States
States grew
grew extremely
extremely tense,
tense, and
and with
with pressure
pressure and
and competition
competition comes
comes the
the desire
desire

to
to be
be victorious.
victorious. Therefore,
Therefore, the
the race
race to
to get
get to
to space
space commenced,
commenced, with
with both
both sides
sides

finding
finding success.
success. This
This urged
urged both
both the
the east
east and
and the
the west
west to
to invest
invest on
on developing
developing

space
space travel
travel technology.
technology.

In
In the
the modern
modern times,
times, space
space travel
travel is
is mainly
mainly profit-driven,
profit-driven, with
with companies
companies such
such as
as
Amazon
Amazon and
and SpaceX
SpaceX planning
planning for
for the
the future
future of
of commercial
commercial space
space tourism
tourism and
and
colony
colony on
on mars.
mars. The
The creation
creation of
of space
space companies
companies can
can be
be seen
seen as
as the
the “renaissance”
“renaissance”
for
for space
space development.
development. After
After almost
almost 50
50 years
years of
of lack
lack of
of space
space projects
projects by
by
government
government agencies,
agencies, private
private companies
companies are
are competing
competing for
for space
space technology
technology
once
once again.
again. However,
However, since
since they
they are
are profit
profit driven,
driven, itit would
would be
be dangerous
dangerous ifif they
they
hold
hold too
too much
much power
power over
over the
the future
future civilization.
civilization. Currently,
Currently, there
there are
are only
only very
very
few
few space
space travel
travel companies,
companies, and
and in
in the
the future
future when
when outer-space
outer-space colonization
colonization
becomes
becomes an
an important
important aspect
aspect of
of human
human life,
life, these
these companies
companies might
might hold
hold power
power
that
that reins
reins over
over world
world governments.
governments. The
The profit-driven
profit-driven nature
nature of
of these
these companies
companies
might
might suggest
suggest an
an dystopian
dystopian future.
future. (Words:
(Words: 195)
195)

4E 24
Lucas
Martins