Directions (next 10 questions) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions. Certain words/phrases are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions. Today, the discipline of science that Sir Isaac Newton helped found in the second half of the 17th Century has extended humanity’ s horizons to a degree he could scarcely have envisaged. Even though Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006, with the discovery of other similarly sized bodies nearby , the latest mission of America’s space agency NASA to Pluto is expected to produce plenty of data for planetary scientists to pore over. But then the stream of mission to the outer planets namely- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune- turns into a trickle. At the same time, Cassini was launched in 1997 to explore Saturn and its moons but by 2017 its propellant will be depleted and provided it survives a series of fly-bye through Saturn’s rings- It will burn up as it plunges through the planet’s thick atmosphere. Sometime, before 2025 even the stalwart voyage probes, both launched in 1977, will lack the power to continue sending back data. Voyager-1, now in interstellar space, is the most distant man-made object in the Universe, and Voyage-2 is not far behind. The upshot is that for a decade or so, discoveries will come mostly from objects closer to Earth, regular excursions to Mars are planned. There will also be plenty of instruments launched to look at Earth itself. The hiatus might not end until two proposed space missions are launched in the early 2020s.
It seems an abrupt slowdown after a golden age of missions by NASA and European Space Agency (ESA). But, building a space probe in both complicated and expensive, it takes years of planning and jostling for funds as well as hefty dose of lack to ensure that complex equipment works well. We are travelling today from some good science and good funding in the 1990s. And money has become much scarcer in recent years. In 1981, the recent high-water mark for NASA, the agency received $25 billion. Its budget fell to a low of $16.9 billion in 2013. Some of NASA’S cash has been shifted to other projects. NASA’S co-operation with ESA on future missions has also been scaled back as a result of budget cuts. The Europeans, by contrast, have kept their funding fairly steady. But ESA’s budget is just £ 4.4 billion ($4.9 billion). Other countries are interested in space and have missions under way or in the making, including China, Japan and India. But so far they have no ambitions to venture beyond mars.
Does the coming gap in planetary exploration matter ? Studying the geology, atmospheres and evolution of plants, and comets provides valuable science. Others have loftier ambitions-Keeping planetary science going is critical to the long term survival of the species on this planet. Because space missions have such long lead times, the looming urn of years will have deleterious effects even if budgets start to rise again. The concern is that when funding does get back, there will be a missing generation of valuable knowledge almost. It’s really difficult to go through boom and bust cycles since you’ve got to keep the scientific community and the engineers ticking over to maintain the expertise will have in outer solar-system exploration.
