PTA.S1.Q11- Building a space station

tae.d-22

Can someone explain why it's A and not B?

Steven_B-1

So the argument is basically saying look we need to build an awesome space station even if it doesn't result in any new knowledge that we can't get through other means. Okay.. why should we do that??

Because, according to the author of the argument the space craft will allows us to test human durability in space (i.e. do our bones hold up the same? do funky things start happening to our brains, or blood vessels, or who knows what? )

That does make some sense but what if we never plan to send humans to Mars because we have high tech robots that could not only perform better but allows us to stay safely on planet Earth? That's what A is saying. If that is true (that we will send only robots) then the whole argument falls apart like a house of cards because then there is no reason given as to why we should build the space station anymore. That's how you know its a necessary assumption.

B says that any astronaut that we pick out of a line of random astronauts will have the typical abilities of an ordinary person. Hmmmmm, do we need that to be true? So let's say your typical person can hold their breath for 30 seconds, jumps a 1 foot vertical, and can run an 8 minute mile. Why would the argument need this to be true for astronauts?

If you negate the answer, it says that astronauts do not have those typical abilities. This means they can either be below the average or above. So would it destroy the argument if astronauts were superhuman atheltes designed to withstand liftoff and life in space? No, it wouldn't because the argument doesn't hinge on astronauts abilities at all. We don't care what their typical abilities in this argument and so B is not necesary.

Hope this helps !

tae.d-22

I was thinking the argument assumes ordinary human & astronaut capacities to be the same because the stimulus says that the space station will provide medical knowledge "about the limits of human capacities," but your explanation does show why A is the better choice, so that helps, thank you!

markymymarkymark

Even if the astronauts limitations arent the same as an ordinary humans, it doesn't matter.= - we still learn about the limits of humans.

If it's by robots, why do we need to test it?