Reading Comprehension Lunar Landings On July 20th 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first of twelve astronauts to walk on the Moon. There have been six further manned missions to the Moon, one of which - Apollo 13 - did not end up landing due to technical difficulties. The last astronauts to visit the Moon The man on the Moon left its surface on the December 14th 1972. Since then, there have been many After the planetary discussions about returning astronauts scientist Eugene Shoemaker died, to our closest world but none of these his ashes were missions have happened. Who knows sent to the Moon. when the footprint of a new astronaut Arriving there on might appear on the Moon? July 31st 1999, he is to date the only person to call the Moon his final resting place. Page 1 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension First contact! The first object made by humans to reach the Moon was Luna 2. This was launched by the Soviet Union and landed on September 13th 1959. Luna 2 was a spherical object with antennas which were able to send information about the Moon back to Earth. So that observers on Earth could see Lunar 2, it released a vapour cloud on landing. This cloud spread out to a diameter of 400 miles! The Apollo programme On May 25th 1961, the American President John F. Kennedy set NASA the aim of “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth” by the end of the 1960s. The Apollo space programme had already begun during the time of the previous president but later became dedicated to reaching President Kennedy’s goal of getting an astronaut to the Moon. President John F. Kennedy Apollo 8 Apollo 8 was the second manned spaceflight mission flown in the United States’ Apollo space programme and was launched on December 21st 1968. It was the first manned spacecraft to leave low earth orbit, reach the Moon, orbit it and return. The astronauts on board—Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders— were the first humans to see and photograph an Earthrise. Apollo 8 took almost three days to travel to the Moon. Once there, it orbited the Moon ten times over the course of twenty hours. Page 2 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension Did you know? During Apollo 8’s lunar orbits, the crew made a Christmas Eve television broadcast. At the time, this was the most watched television programme ever. Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was the mission that landed the first astronauts on the Moon. On July 20th 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed in an area known as the Sea of Tranquility. The other crewmember, Michael Collins, was orbiting the Moon at this time in the command module which would take all three astronauts home. One small step Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to walk on the Moon and his first step on the lunar surface was broadcast to the world. His first words on stepping onto the moon were: “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21 and a half hours on the Moon. During this time they experimented with different ways of moving in the Moon’s lower gravity and found that hopping worked best. On the Moon, they collected rock samples, took photographs and even spoke to the American President. Page 3 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension After leaving the Moon, they rejoined Michael Collins. The command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24th after more than eight days in space. Although scientists thought the idea of bringing bacteria back from the Moon was remote, precautions were taken. The Columbia command module was wiped with Betadine to remove any lunar dust. The astronauts were rubbed with a special solution to remove any dust and kept in quarantine for twenty one days. Astronauts from the Apollo 12 and 14 missions would also go into quarantine after their missions. After it was proved the Moon was empty of life, quarantine was no longer needed. The unused speech Everyone understood that the Apollo 11 mission was dangerous and that there was a strong possibility the astronauts might not return. Knowing this, a speech was prepared for the American president to read should he need to deliver the news that the space travellers had died. In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood. Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts. For every human being who looks up at the Moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind. Page 4 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension Apollo 12 Apollo 12 was the second Apollo mission to land on the Moon. Launching on November 14th 1969, just four months after Apollo 1, it carried Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Alan L. Bean and Richard F. Gordon into space. The landing site chosen for this mission was an area of the Moon called the Ocean of Storms. To improve the quality of television pictures of the Moon, a colour camera was carried on Apollo 12. Unfortunately, this was damaged when it was pointed directly at the sun. Not so famous second words Neil Armstrong’s first words on the Moon became one of the most famous quotes in history. When Charles Conrad, who was noticeably shorter than Armstrong, stepped onto the lunar surface, his first words were: “Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that’s a long one for me.” Conrad had made a £500 bet with an American reporter that he would say these words. He later reported that he was not able to collect this money. Apollo 13 Whilst Apollo 13 was the third mission intended to land on the Moon, it never completed its goal. It was landed on April 11th 1970, but an exploding oxygen tank crippled the service module, leading to the lunar landing being aborted. Page 5 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension The crew had to endure great difficulties including limited power, a shortage of water and a loss of heat as well as needing to make repairs to their spaceship. The ship passed the far side of the Moon and returned the crew safely to Earth on April 17th 1970. The crew of Apollo 13 with President Richard Nixon Apollo 14 Apollo 14 had originally been scheduled for October 1st 1970. Following the Apollo 13 mission, several changes were made to the service module power system to avoid the same problem happening again. This delayed the flight by about four months. The crew of Apollo 14 were Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. Their nine-day mission launched on January 31st 1971. Shepherd and Mitchell landed on February 5th in Space seeds the Fra Mauro formation which was originally the target of the Apollo 13 mission. The two Stuart Roosa took several astronauts spent thirty three and a half hours on hundred seeds into space with him. Many of the Moon. During this time, Shepherd hit two these were later golf balls with a club he had brought with him. grown back on Earth, creating so-called While Shepard and Mitchell were on the surface, “Moon Trees”. Roosa remained in lunar orbit aboard the command and service module. Here he performed scientific experiments and photographed the Moon, including the landing site of the Apollo 16 mission. Shepard, Roosa, and Mitchell landed in the Pacific Ocean on February 9th. Page 6 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension Apollo 15 The Apollo 15 mission began on July 26th 1971, with exploration taking place between between July 30th and August 2nd. Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin were able to explore their area using a lunar rover. This was a vehicle like a car which allowed them to travel further than astronauts had been able to on previous missions. They spent 18 and a half hours outside their lander. On the journey home, command module pilot Alfred Worden performed the first spacewalk in deep space. Even though one of its three parachutes was lost, the mission safely splashed down in the ocean on August 7th. The fallen astronaut On August 1st 1971, the crew of the Apollo 15 mission placed a memorial to honour the astronauts who had given their lives in the pursuit of space exploration. The memorial is a sculpture of an astronaut called “The fallen astronaut” and a plaque bearing the names of the six Soviet cosmonauts and 8 American astronauts who had died. The Fallen astronaut Apollo 16 Apollo 16’s landing spot was chosen so that astronauts could collect samples of rock which were geographically older. These were used to disprove the hypothesis that some of the lunar formations were caused by volcanic activity. Page 7 | Reading Comprehension copyright 2019 Reading Comprehension Commander John Young and Charles Duke spent 71 hours on the Moon’s surface and drove their lunar rover for 16.6 miles. During the return to earth, command module pilot Ken Mattingly performed a one-hour spacewalk. Apollo 17 The last mission to take humans to the moon was the Apollo 17 mission.