Vocabulary. to launch – запускать

to launch – запускать

artificial satellite – искусственный спутник

manned flight – пилотируемый человеком

permanent space station – космическая станция многоразового пользования

crew – экипаж

unmanned cargo vehicle – беспилотный/управляемый автоматически грузовой корабль

to decommission – списывать, переводить в резерв

1. Everyone knows that the Soviet scientists have made the greatest contribution to space exploration. Work in pairs; complete the chart with achievements and dates connected with the universe investigation. Compare your notes with other students.

Date	Achievements
	Valentina Tereshkova was launched in the spacecraft Vostok 6, which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours.

2. Read the text, check your suppositions; correct the dates if they are wrong, add more events to the chart.

Space Station Mir

On the 4^th October 1957, the USSR launched the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. In response the USA founded NASA, the US space agency, and the Space Race began.

The USSR led race for the next few decades. In April 1961 the first manned flight was made by the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in the spacecraft Vostok 1. The less than a month later NASA sent the American astronaut Alan Shepherd into space. On the 19^th of April 1971 the Soviet space station Salyut 1 was put into orbit, followed two years later by the Americans’ launch of Skylab. At about the same time NASA was beginning to focus on the development of a partially reusable space craft, the Space Shuttle. Meanwhile the USSR followed up the success of Salyut wi th the larger, more permanent space station Mir.

Mir was launched in1986 and continued in service for fifteen years. It was designed to give astronauts the opportunity to remain in space for a long time and enable them to work in a well-equipped scientific laboratory. It succeeded in this, proving to be the most successful of all the space projects initiated by the USSR, equaling the American’s major achievement – the Apollo moon projects. Out of the 5,511 days that Mir was in orbit around the earth, 28 crews occupied the space station for a total of 4,459 days. Some astronauts stayed on board Mir for more than a year at a time. The cosmonauts were resupplied through regular visit from Soyuz space capsules, which brought new components or replacement crew. Routine supply missions were made by unmanned Progress cargo vehicles.

Since Perestroika, the emphasis in space exploration has been one of co-operation rather than competition. Mir truly lived up to its name of ‘Peace’ and was visited and crewed not only by Soviet, and later, Russian cosmonauts, but by cosmonauts from other countries such as Syria, France, Germany. Even the Space Shuttle brought an American crew who worked alongside their Russian counterparts for several weeks. Mir was finally decommissioned in 2001, having served far longer than had been originally planned. Yet the work of the cosmonauts, designers and engineers continues in the new great symbol of scientific space co-operation – the international space Station. Indeed, Mir was such a triumph that without the knowledge gained from its long flight around the earth, it is doubtful whether a permanent station in space would be possible today.

3. Read the text again and choose the best title for each paragraph.

Paragraph 1 Paragraph 3

A Founding NASA A Supplying Mir

B Sputnik B Years in space

C The race begins C Twenty-eight crews

D Visitors D Visitors

Paragraph 2 Paragraph 4

A Manned flights A International Space Station

B Leading the race B Co-operation

C Developments in space C Mirjustifies its name ‘Peace’

D Further exploration D The next generation

4. Match the words with the corresponding definitions

1. response a. great success

2. focus b. take out of service

3. initiate c. reply or reaction

4. decommission d. a thing one concentrates on

5. triumph e. begin

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