SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS: STUDY OF SPACE
Focus: Space Station Mir. The Hubble Telescope.
Grammar Focus: Conditional Sentences
Skills Focus: Reading for specific information about Russian and American scientific achievements in space exploration; making presentation; describing tools.
TEXT A
Vocabulary
to launch
artificial satellite
manned flight
permanent space station
crew
unmanned cargo vehicle /
to decommission ,
1. Everyone knows that the Soviet scientists have made the greatest contribution to space exploration. Work in pairs; complete the chart with achievements and dates connected with the universe investigation. Compare your notes with other students.
| Date | Achievements |
| Valentina Tereshkova was launched in the spacecraft Vostok 6, which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours. |
2. Read the text, check your suppositions; correct the dates if they are wrong, add more events to the chart.
Space Station Mir
On the 4th October 1957, the USSR launched the worlds first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. In response the USA founded NASA, the US space agency, and the Space Race began.
The USSR led race for the next few decades. In April 1961 the first manned flight was made by the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in the spacecraft Vostok 1. The less than a month later NASA sent the American astronaut Alan Shepherd into space. On the 19th of April 1971 the Soviet space station Salyut 1 was put into orbit, followed two years later by the Americans launch of Skylab. At about the same time NASA was beginning to focus on the development of a partially reusable space craft, the Space Shuttle. Meanwhile the USSR followed up the success of Salyut wi th the larger, more permanent space station Mir.
Mir was launched in1986 and continued in service for fifteen years. It was designed to give astronauts the opportunity to remain in space for a long time and enable them to work in a well-equipped scientific laboratory. It succeeded in this, proving to be the most successful of all the space projects initiated by the USSR, equaling the Americans major achievement the Apollo moon projects. Out of the 5,511 days that Mir was in orbit around the earth, 28 crews occupied the space station for a total of 4,459 days. Some astronauts stayed on board Mir for more than a year at a time. The cosmonauts were resupplied through regular visit from Soyuz space capsules, which brought new components or replacement crew. Routine supply missions were made by unmanned Progress cargo vehicles.
Since Perestroika, the emphasis in space exploration has been one of co-operation rather than competition. Mir truly lived up to its name of Peace and was visited and crewed not only by Soviet, and later, Russian cosmonauts, but by cosmonauts from other countries such as Syria, France, Germany. Even the Space Shuttle brought an American crew who worked alongside their Russian counterparts for several weeks. Mir was finally decommissioned in 2001, having served far longer than had been originally planned. Yet the work of the cosmonauts, designers and engineers continues in the new great symbol of scientific space co-operation the international space Station. Indeed, Mir was such a triumph that without the knowledge gained from its long flight around the earth, it is doubtful whether a permanent station in space would be possible today.
|
|
|
3. Read the text again and choose the best title for each paragraph.
Paragraph 1 Paragraph 3
A Founding NASA A Supplying Mir
B Sputnik B Years in space
C The race begins C Twenty-eight crews
D Visitors D Visitors
Paragraph 2 Paragraph 4
A Manned flights A International Space Station
B Leading the race B Co-operation
C Developments in space C Mirjustifies its name Peace
D Further exploration D The next generation
4. Match the words with the corresponding definitions
1. response a. great success
2. focus b. take out of service
3. initiate c. reply or reaction
4. decommission d. a thing one concentrates on
5. triumph e. begin
Speaking
5. Discuss the answers to these questions with the partner.
Is space travel useful to mankind? Why/ why not?
Could the money be better used for other things? What things?
Is there life on other planets?
6. Give a short presentation on advantages and disadvantages of space exploration for the world. Talk about:
New discoveries
New technologies
The costs
The danger
Use the notes to help you.
discoveries know more about planets, understand stars
technology new materials (metals, fabrics), new research (medicines, fuels)
costs expensive; spend money on hospitals, schools, developments
danger take off and landing (fire, human error), cosmonauts or robots?
Remember to:
give contrasting points of view
use conditional sentences (if present tense + will; if past tense + would) e.g. If we develop new inflammable materials, well make great progress in space exploration
use modals of possibility (may, could)
TEXT B
Vocabulary
online 1. , 2.
( )
to site , ,
distortion ,
to twinkle ,
to deploy ,
software
crystal clarity (, ), /
overjoyed , ,
to pool
1. Before reading the text answer the questions: 1. When was NASA set up? Why? 2.What field of research does NASA concentrate on?
2. Read the text and find the answer to the questions below.
The Hubble Space Telescope
(Extracts from the journal of DK Munro, Astronomer)
I can hardly wait tomorrow Hubble comes online and we will move into a new era of astronomy. Ever since Galileo identified the planets in the 17th century we have looked at the stars and been disappointed. We have spent years looking for the best place to site our telescope, to minimize the distortion caused by the earths atmosphere, to find the clearest skies. Though telescopes have improved over the years, stars still appear to twinkle. We know that they dont, its just the way the light comes into atmosphere. Now with a telescope in space we can see stars as they really are.
|
|
|
In a couple of hours, I will be able to see the first images from Hubble. All those years of planning NASA and the European Space Agency have been working together for almost twenty years, beginning in the 1970s, and have pooled their resources to build this telescope. The space shuttle Discovery was deployed to put Hubble 600 kilometres above the earth. Any time now we can expect the clearest images of the moon, the planets and the stars.
Ive just had a look at the first of Hubbles images and all I can say is Oh, dear! The pictures are no clearer than the ones taken through a telescope on earth. There seems to be a problem. Have we been wrong all this time and stars really twinkle? I dont think so. There could be any number of reasons why Hubbles images are out of focus. The people at NASA are checking the software, but it looks as if the problem is something to do with the mirror.
Im hoping today will be a good day. The Shuttle arrives at Hubble and the astronauts will spend as much time as they can fixing the mirror. They have to fix the mirror so that it moves in and out to focus accurately. If they can do that, then we can try to look at the stars again and hopefully this time well see them in crystal clarity.
At last, the astronauts have repaired the mirror and looking at images is just like being out there.
I wish Edwin Hubble could see these pictures. He was the scientist who first realized that the universe was expanding and would had been overjoyed to see the stars as clearly as I can see them now. Although Edwin Hubble expanded our outstanding of the universe, the telescope named after him will increase our knowledge of the planets, stars and galaxies we can now see properly.
1. Which project was run jointly by NASA and the European Space agency?
2. What place was chosen to site the Shuttle telescope?
3. What new technologies were deployed by investigators to get images from space?
4. What problem arose with the telescope? How was the problem solved?
5. Why was the telescope named after Edwin Hubble?
6. Could astronomers make new discoveries by using the Hubble telescope?
3. Read the text again and choose the best ending for the sentence.
1. Images of the stars are unclear because
A of poor quality telescopes.
B stars twinkle.
C of the light coming into the atmosphere.
D the sky isnt always clear.
2. Hubble was built
A by the Americans.
B by the Europeans.
C over a 20 year period.
D in space.
3. A space shuttle
A sent back clear images.
B launched the satellite.
C built the telescope.
D put Hubble into orbit.
4. There was a problem .
A with Hubbles mirror.
B with the Space Shuttle program.
C repairing the telescope.
D deploying the telescope.
5.Edwin Hubble was the first to .
A notice that the universe was getting larger.
B say how old the universe is.
C discover new planets.
D see another universe.
4. Match the words with the definitions.
1 identify a. use something for a specific purpose
2 site b. get bigger
3 pool c. combine or share
4 deploy d. recognize someone or something
5 expand e. put something in a particular place
Writing
5. A New Telescope
Your friend has a new telescope. Write a letter asking him about it.
1. Use these notes to help you.
The new telescope modern, size, price
