решебник.рф ГДЗ по английскому языку 11 Класс класс упражнение - 8 р. Space
Russia has a long and distinguished history in space. It was the first country to send a satellite into space, the first country to send a man into space and the first country to launch a space station into space. Even when the International Space Station was launched in 1988, the Russians had already ‘been there and done that’.
The Mir Orbital Complex was in orbit for fifteen years, three times longer than initially planned. During that time, there were many manned missions to and from it and many spacewalks. Mir took ten years to build. The main piece, or module, weighing 20 tonnes, was launched into space in 1986. A further six modules were launched individually and added to the main module making a total weight of 130 tonnes. The main module contained the living quarters for two cosmonauts in tiny cabins with windows. The first two crew members were Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Soloviev.
Each module had a special purpose. Kvant was used for x-ray and UV astronomy, Kvant 2 was used as an experimental manoeuvring unit for space suited astronauts. Kristall was a micro-gravity research laboratory. Spektr and Priroda were Earth observation platforms.
Mir was taken out of orbit in 2001 because of financial reasons. What remains of the Mir Space Station is now somewhere at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but it will remain a huge achievement in space technology and a landmark in space flight history.
- With a partner, discuss anything you know about Mir that is not mentioned in the text.
- What other landmark events in space has Russia been involved in?
Do some research and make a timeline of the Mir Orbital Complex.
- While the text mentions Mir’s basic facts, there are some interesting details it doesn’t include. For example, Mir was so durable it survived several accidents, including a fire in 1997 and a collision with a cargo ship that same year. American astronauts also visited Mir during the Shuttle-Mir program, which helped prepare for the International Space Station.
- Besides Mir, Russia achieved other important space milestones. In 1961 Yuri Gagrin became the first human in space. Then Russia sent the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova, into space in 1963. Their Luna program brought back the first moon rocks in 1970, and their Venera probes were the first to land on Venus and send back pictures. The Soyuz rockets, first launched in 1966, are still used today to transport astronauts to the ISS.
- A timeline of the Mir Orbital Complex:
1986 — the core module launched
1987 — Kvant 1 module added for astronomy
1989 — Kvant 2 added for spacewalks
1990 — Kristall module added for science experiments
1995-1996 — Spektr and Priroda modules added
1990s — American shuttles dock with Mir
2001 — Mir falls back to Earth over the Pacific Ocean