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Bon voyage: "Stories about travel" » English to Finnish

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

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Source text in English

The moment when, 50 years ago, Neil Armstrong planted his foot on the surface of the Moon inspired awe, pride and wonder around the world. This newspaper argued that “man, from this day on, can go wheresoever in the universe his mind wills and his ingenuity contrives…to the planets, sooner rather than later, man is now certain to go.” But no. The Moon landing was an aberration, a goal achieved not as an end in itself but as a means of signalling America’s extraordinary capabilities. That point, once made, required no remaking. Only 571 people have been into orbit; and since 1972 no one has ventured much farther into space than Des Moines is from Chicago.

The next 50 years will look very different. Falling costs, new technologies, Chinese and Indian ambitions, and a new generation of entrepreneurs promise a bold era of space development. It will almost certainly involve tourism for the rich and better communications networks for all; in the long run it might involve mineral exploitation and even mass transportation. Space will become ever more like an extension of Earth—an arena for firms and private individuals, not just governments. But for this promise to be fulfilled the world needs to create a system of laws to govern the heavens—both in peacetime and, should it come to that, in war.

The development of space thus far has been focused on facilitating activity down below—mainly satellite communications for broadcasting and navigation. Now two things are changing. First, geopolitics is stoking a new push to send humans beyond the shallows of low-Earth orbit. China plans to land people on the Moon by 2035. President Donald Trump’s administration wants Americans to be back there by 2024. Falling costs make this showing off more affordable than before. Apollo cost hundreds of billions of dollars (in today’s money). Now tens of billions are the ticket price.

[ … ]

It is a mistake to promote space as a romanticised Wild West, an anarchic frontier where humanity can throw off its fetters and rediscover its destiny. For space to fulfil its promise governance is required. At a time when the world cannot agree on rules for the terrestrial trade of steel bars and soybeans that may seem like a big ask. But without it the potential of all that lies beyond Earth will at best wait another 50 years to be fulfilled. At worst space could add to Earth’s problems.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 3 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (3 total) Expand all entries

Entry #27994 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
245 x42 x20
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 4 "like" tags
laski jalkansa
Flows well
Literary p​hrase fits​ in well.
Heikki Särkkä
mahtailusta
Flows well
Heikki Särkkä
nykyrahassa
Flows well
Heikki Särkkä
se saattaa olla paljon pyydetty.
Flows well
Heikki Särkkä
Entry #27145 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
204 x41 x22 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 2 "like" tags
lihastenpullistelusta
Good term selection
Heikki Särkkä
minkä ei pitäisi olla paljoa vaadittu
Flows well
Heikki Särkkä
Entry #27247 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Voting points1st2nd3rd
702 x23 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
pöyhkeilyyn
Flows well
Heikki Särkkä