About the blogger
Graciela is a producer at 成人快手 Learning English. This week she talks about an American mission to Mars.
Life on Mars
How alien is your partner? That's the first thing that came to my mind when I heard that American billionaire Dennis Tito has plans to send a couple on a mission to Mars, which would launch in January 2018.
Tito and his team don't want just any couple on this 501-day return trip to the planet. They want two peas in a pod. The ideal candidates would be people who can cope with being alone, together all the time, for about a year and a half, in a confined space. And there will be no distractions.
The view might be the only entertainment during the trip
The facilities will be very basic in order to save money. For the same reason, there is no landing on the cards. So you will go all the way to the Red Planet and get the blues. No leg-stretching stroll, no glorious holiday snaps by your Martian sandcastle to show the family, no 'meet the neighbours'!
Is there any excitement left in this trip? After the fun of the first week in space, all you'll have around is your partner. The risk of flying in the face of danger under such precarious conditions is that when radiation overexposure gets you, you'll be long dead... of boredom!
I'm passionate about space and sci-fi things. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. But the journey to adventure has to be a bumpy ride.
If I'm sent to Mars, I want to go with a total stranger. The more alien the better. Each mind, each personal history, is like a planet and I would have all that to discover on my way to Mars.
The unknown is exciting! Too much familiarity might kill passion and what is left is comfort and boredom.
I would go to space with my own alien on board. How about you - who would you take on a journey to Mars?
Graciela
Vocabulary
- alien (adjective)
different, not familiar
- two peas in a pod
two people who are very similar
- a confined space
a place with limited room
- distractions
activities for entertainment (to avoid boredom)
- no landing on the cards
there are no plans to land
- get the blues
become sad
- fly in the face of danger
take risks
- precarious
insecure, dangerous
- radiation overexposure
being subjected (for a longer time than it is safe) to fast-moving particles of matter that can penetrate the body and be harmful to health
- a bumpy ride
a journey full of problems and difficulties
- alien (noun)
someone from another country or from another world
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