Track 14

Unit 7

Astronomy

Mission to Mars

Page 63

Build your vocabulary

1. All large projects have to meet bureaucratic requirements. They have to get approval from different individuals, departments or organizations.

2. Scientists spend thousands of hours first detecting then solving potential problems before any spacecraft is given the all-clear for takeoff.

3. High levels of mental fitness and physical training are essential for all astronauts. Without them, astronauts would be unable to do their job.

4. As the largest space researcher in the world, NASA has facilities located in more than a dozen cities across the United States.

5. Astronauts are trained to maintain their composure in situations that are dangerous and stressful. They must never panic.

6. Some believe that money spent on the space program should be used instead to help overcome problems on Earth. We should first solve things like global warming and world hunger, they say.

7. NASA has invested billions of dollars of resources -both human and technological- in its space program.

8. Politicians often argue that NASA’s space research is not sustainable because the cost of development programs is so high. They say there’s not enough money to keep the program going.

9. Despite cutting-edge technology, spacecraft are still notoriously unreliable. Their performance in space can’t be trusted.

10. Scientists have already produced and successfully tested a vehicle for traveling across the Martian surface. It looks like a fancy off-road truck but moves more slowly.