Lesson 12 Pioneer in Space

The countdown① had gone off without trouble. The Redstone booster② for the takeoff worked well. But it shot the Mercury capsule up too far. It rose 165 miles into space—40miles higher than the launchers had expected.

Where would the capsule come down?Would its passenger come back alive? Who and what he was had been kept secret. He was known only as Subject Number 65.

Eight ships of the United States Navy were waiting in the Caribbean Sea. Men aboard them watched the skies. The watchers were very anxious to rescue that valuable passenger mouse or monkey or man.

Word was sent to the ships: “The rocket has overshot.” The ships sailed out farther. Rescue planes took off from their decks. Helicopters joined the search.

Three hours later and 420 miles from the launching site, the pilot of a helicopter saw something bright on the sea. He flew down. Then he radioed to his ship: “The capsule has been found!”

Only when Subject Number 65 was safe on a rescue craft was the world told who he was. He was a three-year-old chimpanzee named Ham.

Ham had proved that chimps were champs in space. He had done everything he was supposed to do. He had also paved the way for the men who were to follow him.

Ham was the eighty-sixth living creature shot into space by U.S. scientists. Before him, rockets had taken up sixty-six mice, two frogs, two rabbits, eleven dogs, and four monkeys. Even the mice were dressed in small space suits. All were fitted with recording machines that told how their voyages in space had affected them.

But Ham’s flight was the most important. The chimpanzee’s reactions would tell the most about how a human astronaut might react in space. And Ham had been especially trained to perform all the actions that would make a record of how an intelligent creature would behave in space. He had been trained for all the things he might react to on the flight—dim light, great noise, greater speed.

On the morning of the big journey he was given a big breakfast—human style. He was dressed in his pressurized③ space suit. This he had worn many times before. He lay down on the contour couch. Its comfortable shape was familiar. His teachers strapped him in, as they had before. His arms were free. The special controls for oxygen,temperature, and pressure were set. The door of the capsule was locked. Ham was sent on his first trip into space.

In front of him, at chest level, were the lights and levers④ he had been taught to use. Under each lever were three lights—red, white, and blue. The red light was on all the time. The blue light came on every two minutes for a few seconds. This meant he had to pull that lever. If he did, the white light flashed. If he didn’t, he got a mild electric shock. He had learned to avoid that shock.

During the eighteen minutes of his space flight, Ham worked constantly on the levers. Records on the machines in the capsule told the story. Ham didn’t miss a signal.He stopped working only when they unstrapped him on the ship.

Neither the chimps nor the dogs that flew in spaceships could tell how they felt.Only men could do that. Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space, wrote a book about what he saw, heard, and felt. Those who followed him also gave full accounts.

Yet the animals were the real pioneers. Without them, and the information they gave, it would have taken men much longer to venture into space. Ham and other animal pioneers, including the sixty-six mice, showed today’s spacemen the way.

(626 words)

Ⅰ. How well did you read?

1. [Judge from details.] According to the first five paragraphs, the Mercury capsule was___________ .

A. known to be carrying a chimpanzee

B. rescued without any trouble

C. found after an anxious search

2. [Note the details.] In the count of animal pioneers in space, Ham was___________ .

A. sixty-fifth B. eighty-sixth C. the account does not say

3. [See the reason.] Ham was more important than the earlier pioneers because his___________ .

A. reactions were most like a man’s

B. reactions were the first to be recorded

C. suit was pressurized

4. [Draw a conclusion.] Ham’s arms were free so that he could ___________.

A. feed himself

B. control the oxygen supply

C. work the levers before him

5. [Choose the fact.] Ham acted on a signal from a___________ .

A. blue light B. red light C. white light

6. [Check the details.] The author says that machines in the capsule recorded___________ .

A. that Ham had kept working

B. when Ham felt afraid

C. how weightlessness affected Ham

7. [Give the conclusion.] The author believes that space-traveling animals___________ .

A. gave much information to scientists

B. helped men to venture sooner into space

C. both A and B

Ⅱ. Read for words.

Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

1. Word was sent to the ships: “The rocket has overshot.” (Para. 4)

A. shot beyond or over (a target) B. exploded C. failed

2. His teachers strapped him in, as they had before. His arms were free. (Para. 10)

A. tied B. asked C. guided

3. If he didn’t, he got a mild electric shock. (Para. 11)

A. criticisms B. rods or bars C. surprise

4. During the eighteen minutes of his space flight, Ham worked constantly on the levers. (Para. 12)

A. hardly B. quickly C. without resting

Ⅲ. Writing practice.

Write what Ham might have said about his flight if he had been able to give an account.

LANGUAGE BOX