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【MODULE 5】The Conquest of the Universe

【READING AND VOCABULARY】

Space: the Final Frontier

[Part 1]

Ever since Neil Armstrong first set foot on the Moon back on 21st July, 1969, people have become accustomed to the idea of space travel. Millions of people watched that first moon landing on television, their hearts in their mouths, aware of how difficult and dangerous an adventure it was, and what risks had to be taken. With Armstrong`s now famous words:“That`s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”, a dream was achieved. All three astronauts made it safely back to Earth, using a spaceship computer that was much less powerful than the ones used by the average school students today.

There were several more journeys into space over the next few years but the single spaceships were very expensive as they could not take off more than once. People were no longer so enthusiastic about a peace travel programme that was costing the United States $10 million a day. That was until the arrival of the space shuttle——a spacecraft that could be used for several journeys. The first shuttle fight into space was the Columbia——launched from the Kennedy Space Centre on 12th April, 1981,. The aim of this flight was to test the new shuttle system, to go safely up into orbit and to return to the Earth for a safe landing. It was a success and a little more than a decade after Apollo 11`s historic voyage, the Columbia made a safe, controlled, aeroplane-style landing in California. This was the start of a new age of space travel.

By the time the Challenger took off in 1986, the world seemed to have lost its fear and wonder at the amazing achievement of people going to be a special flight and so millions of people turned in to witness the take-off on TV. An ordinary teacher, Christa McAuliffe, 37, who was married with two children, was to be the first civilian in space. She was going to give two fifteen-minute lessons from space. The first was to show the controls of the spacecraft and explain how gravity worked. The second was to describe the

aim of the Challenger space programme. Christa hoped to communicate a sense of excitement and create new interest in the space programme. Sadly, she never came back to her classroom again, as the shuttle exploded just over a minute after taking off in Florida and all seven astronauts were killed.

The world was in shock——maybe they assumed this space flight would be no more dangerous than getting on an aeroplane. But how wrong they were——in one moment excitement and success turned into fear and disaster. It was the worst space accident ever. As one Russian said at the time,“When something like this happens we are neither Russians nor Americans. We are just human being who have the same feelings.”

[Part 2]

I can remember that day so clearly, watching the take-off on TV at school. There was an ordinary teacher on the Challenger, and we were all very excited. We didn`t have much patience waiting for the launch. We had seen the smiling faces of the astronauts waving to the world as they stepped into the shuttle. Then, little more than a minute after take-off, we saw a strange red and orange light in the sky, followed by a cloud of white smoke. The Challenger had exploded in mid-air and we all started screaming.

It happened so quickly and everyone was schoolboy I had thought that going into space as an astronaut must be the best job in the world. When I heard, a few weeks later, that the bodies of the astronaut and even the teacher`s lesson plans had been found at the bottom of the ocean, I was not so sure it was worth it at all. In spite of all our advanced technology, the world is still only at the very beginning of its voyage into space.