Task 1: (P5) Why explore the universe?
Space. What does the word mean to you?
For the men and women who support the U.S. space program as engineers, scientists, astronauts and government leaders, space is a place for exploration.
Read what some of these men and women have said about space exploration.
Use the quotations and the time line to answer the questions.
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win. . . . John F. Kennedy, 1962 35th U.S. President T he view of the moon that we’ve been having recently is really spectacular. It fills about three quarters of the hatch window, and of course we can see the entire circumference, even though part of it is in complete shadow, and part of it is in earthshine. It’s a view worth the price of the trip. Neil A. Armstrong, 1969 First man to walk on the moon, Apollo 11 spacecraft, 1969 | We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life. Virgil I. Grissom, 1967 Astronaut who died in a fire aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft in 1967 The thing I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun that I’ll ever have in my life. Sally K. Ride, 1983 First American woman in space, Challenger space shuttle, 1983 Space is for everybody. It’s not just for a few people in science or math or for a select group of astronauts. That’s our new frontier out there, and it’s everybody’s business to know about space. Christa McAuliffe, 1985 Teacher chosen to travel into space aboard the Challenger space shuttle, that exploded after liftoff in 1986 |
1. Who left the plaque, a piece of metal with writing on it, on the moon?
2. Which person said, “The conquest of space is worth the risk of life”?
3. In what year did Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the moon?
4. Do you agree or disagree with Christa McAuliffe’s quote? Why?
5. In what year did Sally Ride first travel on the space shuttle Challenger?
6. In what year was the first reusable spacecraft launched?
7. Who were the first two human beings to walk on the Moon?
8. Which happened first: The International Space Station receives its first crew or the first American woman travels in space?
9. True or false: Huygens is the world’s first space telescope.
10. How many years ago was NASA formed?
