A Trip to the Moon: 1969
Read the article. Use your dictionary for any words you are not
sure of.
In the early 1960s, the United States
challenged itself to land people on the
moon before the end of the decade. But,
space travel was in its infancy. It had
been only a few short years since
manned spacecraft could orbit the Earth.
A moon landing would be more
complicated and dangerous. Could it be
done? Scientists went to work to prove it
could.
First, unmanned missions were sent
more than 238,000 miles to the moon to
see what the moon was like. Different
crafts took thousands of pictures of the
moon and tested the air and soil. Then
manned flights were sent to the moon to
see if people could get there and return
safely. Finally, a spacecraft that could
land astronauts on the moon and return
to Earth was readied. It was called
Apollo 11.
The ship had three main parts. There
was a life-support section called the
service module. This provided air, water,
and electricity for the astronauts. It had a
command module called Columbia,
where the astronauts lived and worked.
Then there was a landing module (LM)
that would land on the moon. This was
called Eagle.
On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 was ready
to go. The spacecraft mounted on a
massive rocket was launched from the
Language Objective
Answer questions about
a
reading.
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On
board were three astronauts: Michael
Collins, Edwin Aldrin, and Neil
Armstrong.
It took four days for the astronauts to
get to the moon. When they reached the
Sea of Tranquility, Eagle separated from
Columbia. Edwin Aldrin and Neil
Armstrong piloted the LM down to the
moon. The world held its breath until it
heard Aldrin say, “The Eagle has
landed.” Then people watched in
amazement as Neil Armstrong opened
the hatch and stepped to the surface. He
said, “That’s one small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind.” The
scientists had done it! On July 20, 1969,
the United States had put people on the
moon with five months to spare!
Read each sentence below and decide if it is true or false. Write T if it is true. Write F if
it is false. Write ? if the story doesn’t give you enough information to decide.
1. Traveling to space was common before 1960.
2. The moon is about 238,000 miles from the Earth.
3. Apollo 11 had five main parts.
4. The command module Columbia landed on the moon.
5. Apollo 11 was launched on July 20, 1969.
6. It took the astronauts four days to reach the moon.
7. Six other Apollo LMs landed on the moon.
8. Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon.
SKILL OBJECTIVES: Reading for details; reviewing verb tenses. Have students read the selection quickly to get a general idea of the
subject. List and discuss unfamiliar vocabulary. Students should use context clues and try to guess the meaning. Have students read
the article again and answer the questions. Extension Activities: Ask students to: 1) name the main idea of the story, 2) find diagrams and
photos of Apollo 11 and the lunar voyage in the library, 3) list three things people might be able to do 100 years from now.
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