每当有火箭升空，社交媒体上总会出现同一个质疑：地球上还有那么多问题没解决，为什么要花钱去太空？
Whenever a rocket lifts off, the same challenge shows up on social media: there are still so many unsolved problems on Earth, so why spend money going into space?
这个问题听起来很有道理，却忽略了一个事实：航天投入并没有被“扔进太空”，它最终花在了地面上的工程师和工厂身上。
The question sounds reasonable, but it overlooks one fact: money put into spaceflight is not actually "thrown into space" — it ends up being spent on engineers and factories here on the ground.
更何况，许多今天离不开的东西，都来自航天技术的意外收获，比如卫星导航、气象预报，以及医院里的一部分成像设备。
What is more, many things we cannot do without today came out of the unexpected spin-offs of aerospace technology: satellite navigation, weather forecasting, and some of the imaging equipment in hospitals.
不过，怀疑者的担忧也不是没有道理。
That said, the skeptics' worries are not without foundation either.
当亿万富翁把飞船当成个人玩具的时候，普通人很难感到这是“人类的探索”。
When billionaires treat spacecraft as personal toys, ordinary people find it hard to feel that this is "humanity's exploration."
近地轨道上越来越拥挤的卫星和碎片，同样是一笔迟早要还的账。
The satellites and debris crowding low Earth orbit are likewise a bill that will have to be paid sooner or later.
或许更值得讨论的不是要不要去，而是怎么去、由谁决定去。
Perhaps what deserves discussion is not whether to go, but how to go and who gets to decide.
一九六八年，阿波罗八号的宇航员从月球轨道拍下了那张著名的“地球升起”，第一次让人类看清自己住在一颗多么小的星球上。
In 1968 the astronauts of Apollo 8 took the famous "Earthrise" photograph from lunar orbit, letting humankind see for the first time just how small a planet it lives on.
从这个角度看，探索太空与照顾地球，未必是一道非此即彼的选择题。
Seen from that angle, exploring space and caring for the Earth are not necessarily an either-or question.
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Key words 生词
质疑zhìyíto question; to challenge; a challenge
航天hángtiānspaceflight; aerospace
忽略hūlüèto overlook; to neglect
卫星wèixīngsatellite
轨道guǐdàoorbit; track
碎片suìpiànfragments; debris
Grammar note 语法点
每当…，总…
'Whenever A, B always happens' — 每当 marks a recurring occasion (more formal than 每次), and 总(会/是) states the regular outcome. 例：每当想起那段日子，他总是笑着摇头。
每当有火箭升空，社交媒体上总会出现同一个质疑。 — Whenever a rocket lifts off, the same challenge always appears on social media.
更何况
'What is more; let alone' — adds a further, stronger reason after an argument has already been made, pushing the conclusion harder. 例：他连简单的句子都听不懂，更何况这样的长篇报告。
更何况，许多今天离不开的东西，都来自航天技术的意外收获。 — What is more, many things we cannot do without today came from the unexpected spin-offs of aerospace technology.
也不是没有…（双重否定）
A double negative that concedes a point mildly: 'it is not that there is no…', i.e. there is some. Softer and more balanced than a flat affirmative. 例：这个计划也不是没有风险，只是风险可以控制。
怀疑者的担忧也不是没有道理。 — The skeptics' worries are not without foundation either.
Check yourself 小测验
1. What fact does the writer say the common objection overlooks?
2. Which examples does the text give of unexpected spin-offs from aerospace technology?
3. What does the writer suggest is the more useful question to debate?
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