In his preface to Spaceflight Revolution, David Ashford recalls how he started his research into rocket motors. As he later explains, these were motors that would power a space plane — one that would launch space travellers and satellites cheaply and reliably into orbit. That was 1961. Ashford admits he would probably have taken another job if he’d known that, 42 years later, satellites would still be launched by rockets descended from ballistic missiles. The technology is there, but political and budgetary decisions have so far stopped space planes getting off the ground. But Ashford presents a compelling argument that a small orbital space plane would cost relatively little to design and develop — the equivalent of just two shuttle flights.
As we understand from the passage, Ashford’s space plane project _____.
has made space travel extremely cheap and reliable
has been welcomed by political authorities and received much attention
has received no political or financial support since the early 1960s
has been proved faulty in the course of several trials
was originally inspired by ballistic missile technology
According to the passage, Ashford ____.
has not yet completed his research into rocket motors
feels that his decades-long work on rocket motors has been unjustly ignored
has written his book Spaceflight Revolution mainly to criticize politicians
has been recognized as a leading scientist in space research and rocket technology for quite some time now
has proposed a project which can only be realized if a sizeable budget is available
As can be understood from the passage, Ashford is firmly convinced that ____.
the development of a space plane would cost no more than two shuttle flights
politicians and financial authorities need to be careful about investing money in space projects
rockets bear no relation to ballistic missiles
there are many people eager to be space travellers and willing and able to pay a reasonable fare
his work on rocket motors has greatly contributed to space research
It is clear from the passage that there _____.
is an ongoing debate on the uses of ballistic missiles
is some discrepancy between Ashford’s words and his actions
is much public support for Ashford’s project
are many technological differences between Ashford’s rocket motors and the conventional rockets currently in use
is much concern among space scientists, including Ashford, about the ever-growing costs of the space programme in general and of shuttle flights in particular