Объяснение:
The final frontier
There was a time, not so long ago, when space exploration
was a battleground where nations fought to be the first to
make new breakthroughs in space. Once, countries such as the
Soviet Union and the US kept all their space research secrets to
themselves to prevent the ‘other side’ from winning the space
race. But now all that has changed.
It all changed because the countries involved in space
research and exploration realised that working alone is just too
expensive. Working together and cooperating means they can
all make progress, so some of the countries involved in leading
space research decided to set up a space station together.
The International Space Station is run by space agencies from
Russia, the US, Europe, Japan and Canada.
The aim of the ISS is for the astronauts on the station to
carry out experiments in such fields as physics, astronomy
and meteorology. Work on board the station involves testing
space equipment and it will help to prepare for space missions
to the Moon and Mars. In addition, the station is involved in
educational programmes and encourages young people to
become interested in science and space.
So what is life like aboard a huge floating space laboratory?
What do the crew of six do every day while the space station
hurtles round the Earth’s orbit 15 times a day at 17,227 mph?
Well, the one thing the crew know for certain is that every day
is going to be a busy one. Firstly, as the crew is responsible
for all the maintenance on the station the day begins with
an inspection of the whole station. As well as carrying out
their duties and conducting experiments, each crew member
has to exercise several hours a day to counter the effects of
weightlessness, and have regular medical checks, too. By the
time their working day is over, the crew don’t have much time
to themselves before they have to sleep.
It’s not easy living in a weightless environment. Food is
sealed in individual vacuum-packed plastic bags and only has
to be heated to be ready for crew member to eat. When eating,
the astronauts have to be very careful not to create crumbs that
would float off into equipment and damage it. Drinks come
in powdered form and are then mixed with water and sipped
from a plastic bag with a straw. Even one drop of water floating
around could cause damage to systems. There are no showers
on the station, so the crew use a little water and wet wipes. They
also have shampoo that doesn’t need rinsing off and edible
toothpaste, so water is not wasted.
All in all, it can be quite stressful living on the space station,
but fascinating and exciting, too. If you think it is likely that you
would enjoy a trip to the ISS, then it is possible to arrange it.
The only drawback is that tickets cost $40 million. So far, seven
people have dug deep into their pockets to travel into outer
space to visit the ISS and see for themselves the work of the
astronauts and experience life outside Earth.
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DICTIONARY CORNER
1 Choose the correct word or phrase.
1 Millions of years ago, a huge asteroid hit the Earth and was ultimately responsible of / for the
dinosaurs becoming extinct.
2 In the film Armageddon, the heroes didn’t have much time to save / for savi
2. who
3. why
4. which
5. what
6. how
7. when
8. whose
9. when
10. what