TPO 50 Integrated Writing

The passage discusses the problems for human traveling to Mars, including a long period in a zero-gravity environment, limited cargo capacity for two years, and fatal space radiation. Nonetheless, the professor in the listening content disagrees with the statement and lists three points to argue with it.

First of all, the passage indicates that a round-trip to Mars takes two years, and the spaceship has no sufficient capacity to carry resource for astronauts. However, the professor introduces a technique that astronauts can grow the crops in the water, and they can recycle wasted water into drinkable water. Furthermore, with growing plants in the spacecraft, it can consume carbon dioxide and support humans with enough oxygen for living.

On the other hand, the author in the reading claims that staying in a zero-gravity environment can decrease bone density and muscle mass, causing grave medical problems. Nevertheless, as the professor explains, with several space missions in the past, we have sent many space stations into the orbit and developed some methods to prevent these problems, such as regular exercise and replenishing calcium periodically.

Finally, the reading says that astronauts will expose to dangerous solar radiation while traveling in interplanetary space without the protection from Earth’s magnetic field. However, the professor suggests that the Sun’s activity is occasional, and we can equip the spaceship with a detector to monitor the activity. In this way, the spaceship only needs to carry a shelter instead of covering shields all over the body. Therefore, astronauts can work normally, yet when Sun begins its activity, they can stay in the shelter to escape the solar radiation.

Word count: 269