Kn 6 Ls 6 History of Space Exploration and Astronauts

[Music]

welcome to ckla knowledge six

lesson six

history of space exploration and

astronauts

our purpose for listening today is we

want to identify the four phases of the

moon

listen carefully to describe the

experiences of the first astronauts

and listen to understand the word

launch the study of outer space is

called astronomy

let's think whose job is it to study the

stars

it's an astronomer's job

how does the moon appear to be glowing

at night

the moon appears to be glowing when in

fact it is the sun's light reflecting

off the moon that we see

what are the phases of the moon

there are four of them

new moon

crescent moon

half moon

and full moon

listen carefully to learn more about

space exploration

and astronauts

ever since they first gazed up at the

stars people have wondered if it was

possible and what it would be like to

travel into outer space

for most of human history the idea of

traveling into space

was considered to be impossible

space most people thought was out of

reach and there was no way humans would

ever be able to go there

still this did not keep people from

using their imaginations and coming up

with creative ideas for space travel

the chinese invented the first rockets

hundreds of years ago using gunpowder

the same type of explosive used to fire

guns and cannons

lighting the gunpower would launch the

rocket into the air

eventually people thought about using

rockets to go all the way to outer space

it was not until about 100 years ago

that scientists started to make serious

advances in rocket technology

by the 1950s

rocket technology had improved to the

point that people began to think

seriously about space travel and

exploration

back then there was a nation called the

soviet union which no longer exists

today but which consisted of russia and

other countries near russia

at the time the united states was the

only other nation in the world as large

or as strong as the soviet union

the leaders of the soviet union and the

united states each wanted to show the

world that theirs was the more powerful

country by being the first to launch a

rocket into outer space this photo shows

scientists in the united states

launching the first rocket from cape

canaveral florida this was just a test

to see whether this type of rocket

engine worked the soviet union succeeded

in putting the first man-made object

into orbit on october 4th

1957

by launching a satellite called sputnik

1.

a satellite is any object that moves in

a constant orbit around another object

in space

sputnik 1 was carried into space aboard

a rocket and then released it orbited

earth for several months before

re-entering the atmosphere and burning

up

after the success of sputnik 1 the space

race between the united states and the

soviet union had begun

each country wanted to prove that it had

a better space program than the other

country

for several years the soviet union

continued to lead in the space race the

leaders and people of each country took

the space race very seriously

the united states developed a program

called the national aeronautics and

space administration or nasa for short

the scientists at nasa hurried to try to

catch up to the program the soviets had

made

a few months after the soviet union

launched sputnik one nasa scientists in

the united states launched a satellite

of their own

explorer one

the space race continued at a heated

pace into

1961

when soviet yuri gagarin became the

first person to go into space and return

safely

this picture of gagarin was taken on the

way to the launch pad for his historic

journey

you can bet he was feeling nervous at

this point

the americans were close behind a couple

of months after gagarin made his famous

flight a man named alan shepard became

the first american to travel into space

this picture was taken shortly before

shepherd boarded the freedom 7

spacecraft

notice that like kagarin shepard was

wearing a helmet and a special suit

space travelers need special gear like

this in order to survive the extreme

conditions of outer space where there is

no air and where the temperatures can be

both incredibly hot and incredibly cold

returning from outer space is just as

dangerous as launching into outer space

this photo shows the freedom seven alan

shepard's ship after his flight

shepard is inside that little capsule

when his flight was finished the capsule

re-entered the atmosphere and a

parachute opened to lower it gently to

earth

shepard landed in the ocean as planned

and the capsule floated there until a

helicopter came to recover him

space travelers like alan shepard are

called astronauts

the word astronaut

comes from two greek words astro meaning

star and not meaning sail so an

astronaut is a star sailor

although being an astronaut can

certainly be one of the most interesting

jobs in the world it is by no means an

easy job

astronauts spend years in training to

prepare for journeys into outer space

astronauts must be healthy and strong

because space travel can be very

difficult

astronauts are stuffed into tiny spaces

and launched into space

in a rocket powered by thousands of

gallons of powerful fuel it is scary and

it is uncomfortable but astronauts put

up with it

this picture shows astronauts undergoing

training these apollo 17 astronauts are

learning to use equipment for their

mission

early nasa astronauts also spent hours

and hours running in place on treadmills

soaking their feet in ice water and

undergoing a number of other difficult

painful tests

intended to make them tough

they had to be tough to be astronauts

what did you learn share with a friend

something you learned about astronauts

and space travel

try these sentence starters

the space race was

or

i think being an astronaut would be

have fun see you back here next time