Walking on the Moon by David R. Scott – BA Modern English Essays
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Question Answers Notes of Walking on the Moon by David R. Scott – BA Modern English Essays
Q. How does Scott describe his experience of twelve revolutions in the orbit Of the moon before the landing on the moon?
Ans. Sitting in their Lunar Module on the surface of the moon, Scott and-Irwin wait for the dust to settle. Scott recalls the twelve revolutions in the lunar orbit aboard their spaceship “Endeavour”. One revolution was completed in two hours, one through the lunar night and the other on a lunar day.
The night on the moon was bright with the light reflected by the earth. As the ‘Endeavour’ moved through strange darkness of space, they could see the cold fire of distant stars above, and the pitch-black far side of the moon below. Then the faint rays of light illuminated the moon’s horizon. A little later suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, the sun sprang up in its harsh dazzling glory.
In the early lunar morning, the colour of the moon was pale brown which later turned into bright grey. As the sun reached its zenith, the moon’s surface looked white and almost featureless. The blazing light of the sun Obscured the craters, canyons, and hills which had looked prominent in the light and shade of. the early lunar morning.
Q. Describe the scene of the moon as seen by Scott from the top hatch of the Lunar Module.
Ans. After the dust had settled, Scott opened the top hatch of the Lunar Module and looked out. The moonscape before his eyes spread in gentle curves and slopes and looked soft brown. The craters made by meteorites, however, looked white.
Scott could see only a small area of the moon because the horizon on the moon is only a mile and a half away from the viewer. Even this small area presented a great variety of landforms.
The Lunar Module had landed on the edge of a plain that stretched 650 miles across the moon’s surface. To the south rose a mountain ridge 1100 feet above the bare plain, there were even higher mountains on the east. A great mountain stood on the north-east. It was almost three miles high. To his west, Scott could see a gorge more than one thousand feet deep,
The lunar mountains stood as silent and still, as they were when they were created. There never was any rain or wind or any living forms to tamper with their awesome barren majesty.
Over his head, the limitless black Space stretched on all sides. The only glow of colour was provided by the white and blue planet of the earth with its seas and clouds.
Q. How was walking on the moon different from waling on the earth? Or “Locomotion on the moon has its own peculiar restrictions” Explain
Ans. Scott felt a pleasant sense of freedom as he climbed down the Lunar Module. For five days he had been confined to the spacecraft where he could not move about freely. Now, he thought, he would have full freedom of movement on the surface of the moon.
But soon he found out that walking on the moon was different from walking on the earth. Moon’s gravity is one-sixth of the gravity of the earth. It reduced his weight to one-sixth of his weight on the earth.
He had to learn walking all over again. Soon he was able to develop a rhythmic, bounding motion for walking on the moon. It was more like leaping than walking.
It was easy to walk on the moon though his feet sank into the soft dust at every step. But starting and stopping required some effort. He learned to start moving by pushing his body forward as one does walking against the strong wind. To stop, he dug his heels and leaned backward. He slipped many a lime but found this experience quite enjoyable. One does not fall suddenly on the moon but in slow motion and hits the surface lightly. There is no risk of injury. However, it takes some effort to get up.
Q. How did Scott and Irwin spend their time on the moon?
Ans. David R. Scott and James B. Irwin were sent to the moon to explore the mountain slopes of the moon, collect samples of rock and soil, and set up eight scientific experiments.
They stayed on the moon for sixty-seven hours, out of which eighteen hours and thirty-seven minutes were spent outside the Lunar Module. They made exploratory tours of the area of the moon around the place of their landing.
Each tour was planned to last approximately seven hours. During this time, they would dig and drill into the moon’s surface, and gather rocks and soil. They also took innumerable photographs.
At the end of each tour, they came back into the Lunar Module. They removed their spacesuits, did the house-keeping chores, ate, and went to sleep in the hammocks.
On their third tour, they felt fully at home. They drove in the Rover beyond the horizon which lies about a mile and a half from the viewer.
Before leaving, they placed a figure of an astronaut in the moon dust with a metal plaque near it. On the plaque were the names of 14 astronauts who had lost their lives in accidents related to space programs. They also left behind a falcon feather, a cloverleaf, a picture of the earth on an aluminum plate, some of their equipment, and a copy of the Bible.
