(a) On the basis of your reading of the passage, make notes on it in
points only, using abbreviations, wherever necessary. Also suggest a
suitable title.
(b) Write a summary of the passage in not more than 80 words,
using the notes you have made.
The first crisis the lunar explorers faced came just short of moon fall. The
Apollo 11 Lunar Module, code – named ‘eagle’, was still 9.5 km (6 miles) up
when the vital guidance computer began flashing an alarm. It was
overloading. Any second it could give up the ghost under the mounting
pressure and nothing the two astronauts could do would save the mission.
Emergencies were nothing new to Commander Neil Armstrong but he and his
co – pilot Buzz Aldrin hadn’t even practiced for this one on the ground – no
one believed it could happen. Sweeping feet first towards their target, they
pressed ahead as controllers on Earth waited heart – in – mouth. Racing
against the computer, Eagle slowed and then pitched upright to stand on its
rocket plume and gave Armstrong his first view of the landing site. The
wrong one! They had overshot by four miles into unfamiliar territory and
were heading straight for a football field size crater filled with boulders “the
size of Volkswagens”.
With his fuel running out, and only a minute’s flying time left, Armstrong
coolly accelerated the hovering Eagle beyond the crater, touching 88 km/h
(55mph). Controllers were puzzled and alarmed by the unplanned
manoeuvres. Mission Director George Hale pleaded silently: “Get it down,
Neil. Get it down.” The seconds ticked away.
“Forward, drifting right,” Aldrin said. And then, with less than 20 seconds
left, came the magic word: “Contact!” Armstrong spoke first: “Tranquillity
base here, the Eagle has landed.” His words were heard by 600 million
people – a fifth of humanity. About six and a half hours later, Eagle’s front
door was opened and Armstrong backed out onto a small porch. He wore a
€200,000 moon suit, a sort of thermos flask capable of stopping
micrometeoroids travelling 30 times faster than a rifle bullet. He carried a
backpack which weighed 49 kg and enough oxygen for a few hours. Heading
down the ladder, Armstrong unveiled a €200,000 TV camera so the world
could witness his first step: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap
for mankind.” It was 3.56 am, 21 July, 1969.
Posted by Pratiksha Bramhdev
1 year, 9 months ago
