Apollo 13

沈河滨

NASA had enough government money to continue its programme of lunar exploration. It calculated that there were sufficient funds for nine more missions after Apollo 11. Apollo 12， which went to the moon in November 1969， and collected moon rocks， was a great success.

But the '60s were coming to an end， and some people's attitudes to space exploration were changing. An American flag now flew on the moon， so some people thought that the USA had already won the spacerace. Others associated the moon programme with the politicians who had led the USA into an unpopular war in Vietnam， in Southeast Asia.

Even within NASA itself， some people felt that it was time to abandon moon exploration. Humans had been to the moon twice what was the point of risking lives by sending further missions when there were other areas of space to explore？ But in the face of such opposition on 11 April 1970， Apollo 13 took off as planned.

At first everything went well. The launch was smooth， and for the first two days of the three-day journey to the moon the spacecraft worked perfectly. Then there was a loud bang， as one of the astronauts turned on a fan in the oxygen tanks.

A radio message was sent from the spacecraft： “Okay， Houston; We've had a problem.”

They still had a problem， a big one. Although they did not know it yet， astronauts James Lovell， John Swigert and Fred Haise were facing a fight for their lives. Oxygen tank Number 2 had exploded when its fan was turned on. This had caused Apollo 13's other oxygen tank to burst its pipes and spill oxygen out of the side of the spacecraft. Soon the command module was virtually useless， and the astronauts were forced to through into the lunar module， named Aquarius should have been used for the moon landing. It was not designed to support three astronauts， and they had to use minimal power.

Low on oxygen and fuel， the astronauts nursed their spacecraft the rest of the way to the moon， around the lunar orbit and back towards earth. Once again， the drama of the space race caught the attention of millions of people. During the whole journey the world held its breath， waiting to see if the astronauts could survive against all the odds aboard the ruined capsule. They did make it back safely， splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on 17 April 1970. NASA official Robert Gilruth said that Apollo 13 had been a frightening reminder that “Flying to the moon is not just a bus ride.”

President Nixon visited NASA not long afterwards， awarding medals to the flight controllers who had helped save the Apollo 13 astronauts. But the White House had already let it be known that space was no longer a national priority.

A. Find one word in the passage that means the same as each of these words or prhrases.

1. connected in thought  （paragraph 2）

2. a separate unit in a spacecraft （paragraph 6）

3. as good as （paragraph 6）

4. the least possible （paragraph 6）

5. matter of first importance （paragraph 8）

B. Complet the following sentences by choosing the best ending.

1. One reason why many Americans now turned against the Apollo moon missions was because

___.

A. the first two moon landings had not achieved very much

B. they felt America had already won the space race

C. they felt the money should be used for more useful things

2. Some NASA scientists， too， felt they should abandon the Apollo moon programme because

___.

A. the missions were too costly

B. they knew the public had lost interest in the moon

C. they wanted to explore new areas in space

3. The Apollo 13 mission ___.

A. operated perfectly for two days

B. seemed cursed by the number 13 from the start

C. was shocked by a loud bang as it was launched

4. The message “Okay， Houston; We've had a problem” sent by the astronauts ___.

A. made the damage sound less serious than it was

B. made the damage sound more serious than it was

C. showed exactly how much damage there was

5. Millions of people took an interest in the return of Apollo 13 because ___.

A. they knew the astronauts were in great danger

B. the President was going to meet the astronauts

C. they knew it would be the last trip to the moon

C. Complet the summary below.

There was great excitement when the Apollo 11 spacecraft first put men on the ___ in 1969. Later that year， men from the expedition known as Apollo 12 also landed and collected ___. However， public opinion turned ___ the Apollo space programme， and even NASA scientists thought there was little point in countinuing with it. Nevertheless， in July 1970， the Apollo 13 mission was ___， and for two days everything went as planned. However， a serious problem

___ when there was an explosion in one of the oxygen ___. The damage this caused meant all the astronauts had to go into the lunar ___， which was not designed to hold three men. However， they managed to ___ the spaceship around the moon and they finally ___ safely in the Pacific Ocean while millions of people watched anxiously. This helped people to realise how ___ the moon missions really were. Although some of those involved were awarded ___， the government made it clear the space programmme was no longer considered a ___.

（Key  p. 37）