Wednesday, March 1, 2017

SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018



Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

The article that I read this week is called “SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018.” This article is about how SpaceX wants to send private citizens into Space. Mr. Musk said that the space tourists would not land on the moon, but instead loop around it, taking them 300,000 to 400,000 miles away from Earth, something that has not been done since the early 1970s. The Rocket, called the “Falcon Heavy,” will be carrying these space tourists. The rocket has not flown yet and still has not been tested by NASA as safe to use, experts such as Dr. Dittmar say it is “unsafe for use,” due to the lack of crew aboard the rocket. Musk has said that the rocket will be fully automated and his space tourists will be trained for emergency scenarios only. Finally, the article concludes by discussing the founding for SpaceX, which has been mostly NASA. NASA will finally be able to reap the rewards of the billions of dollars they poured into R&D because they will be able to send astronauts to land on the surface of the moon along with the journey. In addition, Musk has stated that “Nasa will get the first priority,” on many of the missions the rocket will be used for.
This article impacts society greatly. The first reason is because astronauts have not been out of low earth orbit since the 1970s, and this will be another large step for mankind should private citizens be sent into space. Also, with new advancements in rocketry, a safe maiden voyage will sway the public opinion more in favor of deep-space exploration. Also, with new planets being discovered, this could be the first step towards discovering them.
Overall, this was a very well written article as Mr. Chang provided a very good summary of what Mr.Musk plans to do with his first trip without making it too confusing for the reader. Also, he was able to acknowledge that some people don't believe that it is safe for private citizens to go into space and refute it beautifully. Overall, Mr.Chang wrote a very good article on a poppin’ topic.

12 comments:

  1. I read Alex's review of the article "Space X Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around the Moon in 2018." There were many aspects of his review that were well done. Firstly, his summary was clear and concise. This could be a difficult topic, however, Alex wrote in a way that is easy to understand. The second aspect that he did well was explaining how this impacts society. As he stated, there has not been a mission into space like this for awhile and it would be a huge step for the world. The third thing Alex did very well was comment on the strengths of the author.
    Although Alex's review was very good, there were some aspects that could have been better. First, he could have added a few more quotes from experts. This would have made his review even better. Secondly, he could have identified the author's weaknesses in his article.
    Overall, Alex did a very good job on his review. I chose this review because I didn't know that NASA wanted to send tourists around the moon, and I thought it was very interesting. It will be interesting to see what happens with this mission.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alex did a great job with his review of the article "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." His summary was very thorough and touched on many different aspects of the article. His use of details, such as an explanation of Musk's relationship to NASA, strengthened his review even more. Finally, his the connection he drew from this topic to the rest of society was very relevant and gave me a whole new protective on the issue of privatized space travel.
    Although Alex did a good job, there are a few things he could improve on. At times, his review was hard to follow because he did not explain certain terms that the reader might not know (such as "R&D"). He also should have included a quote to give the reader a taste of what the article was actually like to read.
    Alex's review gave me a new perspective on a topic I have not given much thought to. It would be amazing to have moon travel available for tourists in the new future, and I look forward to following this topic as it evolves into a reality.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
    The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
    .

    Alex’s review of "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018" had multiple positive aspects. First, his summary was concise and to the point. Second, his incorporation of the quote gave a better sense of the issue as well as the article’s tone. Third, he did well establishing the article’s relevance to society.

    Although his review was generally well written, there were a few aspects that could be improved. First, he could have expanded on the research and development operations of the company. Second, he could have provided more background for SpaceX.

    This review was indeed quite informative. Space travel for ordinary citizens is an exciting prospect – the possibility of which increases with every passing day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
    The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
    .

    I read Alex Swenson’s review of the article “SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018” where he discusses that SpaceX has been trying to send private citizens to space. Alex states that the citizens would not land on the moon, rather they would circle it. NASA experts have stated that the rocket is “unsafe for use” due to the fact that there is an insufficient number of crew members aboard. Finally, Alex explained that NASA will now be able to earn money from their investment in SpaceX.

    I think that Alex could have done a better job explaining why this rocket is unsafe. He also could’ve explained more in depth about the SpaceX company. This would give the reader more insight into the topic so that they aren’t confused

    I chose to read Alex’s review because the topic seemed interesting. I learned a little about new possible space trips for regular citizens. This will change my life understanding because this could be so cool is people like me could travel to space without becoming an astronaut.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
    .

    Alex’s review of SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018 was a very interesting review. First of all, it really helped that he used statistics regarding the journey as it gave me a better idea of what exactly the trip composes of. In addition, the fact that he had a lot of details about the rocket, even stating its name aided me in understanding this topic better and gave me some additional information about it. Finally, Alex did a really good job on going even further into the topic and explaining what NASA has to gain from this new rocket.
    Although this review was well written, one way it could have been made better is that Alex could have expanded on the owner of this rocket as I was interested in learning more about him. So by adding a few sentences about this topic, he could have been even more thorough. Moreover, I would have added a quote to the review so we could get more detail about this project, especially if it was from someone from SpaceX, which could really catch people’s attention.
    Overall, this review was captivating and thorough. I had never heard about this new project that SpaceX was working on, so I was intrigued when I read Alex’s review. Thus, learning about this was very enlightening and taught me many new things. Reading this review made me realize that science is always changing and we are always learning and making new inventions.

    ReplyDelete

  7. I read Alex’s review of the article "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." , the article was about the plan by the company SpaceX to turn space travel and tourism and create a new kind of travel. One thing that the author did well in their review is provide the details and numbers of the background of the idea. He also included a good argument as to why this story is relevant. Finally the author also made sure he talked about his opinion, which made the review a good one.

    Although Alex did a good job, there could have been some improvements. Some sentences could have been reworded but this did not affect the overall meaning of the review. He also could have included more examples from the text to give better depth to the review.

    Before reading this I had not heard about the plan to make space travel into tourism. I learned a lot from reading this review and think that this is a relevant and high demand topic that should be studied more before anything is done.

    ReplyDelete

  8. Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
    The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
    .

    I read Alex Swenson’s review of “SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018” and thought that he did a very good job. I particularly liked his summary of the article and its main points. He kept his summary short and concise, which summaries are supposed to be, yet still included enough information for the reader to understand what happened in the article. I also liked how he gave details and specific numbers, especially when saying, “but instead loop around it, taking them 300,000 to 400,000 miles away from Earth, something that has not been done since the early 1970s”. These numbers helped provide the reader with more information on the time period and allowed them to conceptualize the distance away from Earth. Finally, I really enjoyed Alex’s connection to society. He did a very good job connecting the topic to society, explaining how there has not been a mission like this for a while, implying that it will be a huge step for the world.

    Although Alex did a very good job in his review, he could use some improvement. For example, Alex never used quotes. By adding quotes he would have been able to emphasize the validity of all that he was saying. This would have thoroughly improved his review. Lastly, I think that he should have defined certain terms that he used throughout the article. For example, I did not know what the term “R&D” was and therefore was quite confused when reading this section.

    I thought that the review was written very well and Alex chose a great article to talk about. I think that the topic is very interesting and relevant and Alex has further educated me on the topic. I never knew about this topic before reading Alex’s review and now feel knowledgeable on this topic. Overall, I really enjoyed Alex’s review and learned a lot from it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alex, I read your review of "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018.” by Kenneth Chang and I thought that you did a very good job. I thought that you did a good job at summarizing the article. I was not confused about your topic. This is good for the readers since it creates a firm base for your review. Also, I like that your summary is brief. It does not bore the reader with useless information and you are able to move to the main point of your review faster. Finally, I like that you quote Dr. Dittmar . His insight provide credibility and clarity for the article.

    Although your article was good, there are some things that you could improve on. First, I think you could elaborate on weaknesses that the author had within the article. Also, I believe that you could improve some minor grammatical errors. This would stop the reader’s attention from being drawn away from the content of the review towards the grammar.

    Overall, I enjoyed your review. I’m interested to see how space exploration advances within the private sector. It will be interesting to see how space exploration will become more normalized within our society.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
    The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
    .

    I read Alex’s review of the article “Space X Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around the Moon in 2018.” I thought Alex did a good job reviewing the article, his summary of the article was very thorough and used many details. Another aspect of the review that I enjoyed was his connection from the article to society today and was able to give me a different perspective.
    Although his review was very well done there were a few things that I think he could improve. I think he could have gone into more detail and researched more on the company of Space X and given the reader more information. I also think that Alex could have added in some quotes from the article to strengthen his review.
    Overall, his review was very well done and it was very interesting. Before reading this article I did not know that this plan existed, and I think it will be fascinating to see where this project goes in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Allison Barker
    AP Biology
    Current Event Comment
    March 21, 2017

    Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
    The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
    .

    I greatly enjoyed Alex Swenson’s review of the article “SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists around Moon in 2018.” I thought that Alex did a great job of explaining where the citizens will go when they travel, as I find this very interesting and very important to my understanding of the topic. I also appreciated that Alex included relevant background information, such as the fact that this is the first time astronauts will have left low earth orbit since the 1970s. Further, I liked that Alex used language that was easy to comprehend when describing his topic. Space travel is a complicated issue, and I was happy to be able to understand every term that Alex used.
    Although Alex’s review was great, there are a couple of things that I would do to change it. First, I would have included some more in-depth quotes from the author or from experts on the subject. While I did comprehend what was told to me, I feel that I only have a very rudimentary understanding of the topic at hand, and I would like to be more informed by learning from those who have dedicated their lives to studying it. Further, Alex could have given some more information about the company, SpaceX, that is planning these space visits. I would like to know how long they have been working towards this, how much the trips would cost, etc. I understand that these may not be included in the article, but they would have aided my understanding of the topic as a whole.
    I found Alex’s topic very interesting and his review engaging and informative. I had not known that civilian travel into space is a realistic possibility, as I had previously only heard of it in science fiction, so this was an exciting topic to read about.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Caroline McGrath
    10/17/19
    Current Event 5

    Chang, Kenneth. "SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018." The New York Times.
    The New York Times, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. 01 Mar. 2017. NYTimearticle
    https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2017/03/chang-kenneth.html

    I think the author did a very good job of writing this review, he was clear and concise in his summary which allowed the reader to develop a good understanding of the background of Elon Musk and his SpaceX program. The second thing he did well was give an explanation on how it will impact society. He mentioned that “astronauts have not been out of low earth orbit since the 1970s”, which is something most people look past when hearing about astronauts. The third thing he did very well was provide brief context onto where the citizens will be going once they get to space. I found this detail very interesting and overall completed the review.
    Some things the author could have done better was included in depth quotes and research from other professionals instead of just stating that it was unsafe. I also would have liked more details about the trip. How the citizens are chosen, how much it’ll cost, how long they have been working on it, etc. These pieces of information would be very informative and contribute to the overall understanding of the topic.
    I chose to read this article because when I saw the title I found myself laughing, as obviously sending citizens into space did not happen in 2018, in fact Musk lost his company shortly there after. But I was intrigued over what the mission was going to look like and how they planned to carry it out because it is huge in the process of discovering new planets, and other solar system objects that could potentially impact Earth and myself.

    ReplyDelete