Walking on the Moon

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David R. Scott.

Walking on the Moon

                                          QUESTION # 1

            Describe their landing on the surface of the moon?

            In 1971, America planned a manned expedition to the moon to expand their knowledge and to affirm their primacy in space technology and travel.  David R. Scot was one of the three astronauts who piloted “The CSM Endeavour”, in the Apollo-15 mission to the moon.

            After twelve revolutions in the lunar orbit they reached sixty feet above the moon surface.  Their spaceship churned up a lot of gray dust from the surface of the moon that completely covered every thing.  It was very difficult for them to see due to the dust. So they had to land on speculations.  Their LM struck the surface abruptly and shuddered to rest.  It was the time of night and the planet earth could be seen shining on the sky.  The light of the earth was many times greater than the glow of the moon on our earth.  The hills and craters rims were clearly visible in this light.  Then the sun rose and filled the moonscape with colours and features.  Every thing had the colour of milk chocolate.  The dust settled down after a long time.  They opened the upper door of their spaceship to cast the first look on this place and thus they started the 67 hours of their lunar stay.

                               QUESTION # 2

            Describe the landscape of the moon?

            David R. Scott was one of the first astronauts who went to the moon expeditions.  Such expeditions provided a detailed knowledge about the moon for the first time. The astronauts made observations. They conducted experiments and photographed there to know exactly about the moon and its different facets.

            On July 29, 1971, the lunar module called Falcon landed on the moon surface. James B. Irwin and David R. Scott were in that spaceship. They landed at a place that was surrounded by many mountains.  To their south, stood a high ridge of almost 11,000 feet, on their west side a very deep gorge was present whose depth was more than a thousand feet, a great mountain that was at least three miles in height stood on the northeastern horizon.

            On going further inside the moon, they noticed that high mountains, deep canyons and large plains characterized moon geology. The gorges were created by the fall of meteorites from the sky.

 Every thing was covered with a gray dust.  Almost every thing had the gray colour. Even their space suits gained this colour permanently due to the moon dust. 

            The mountains had a ring of smudges round their basis due to subsiding of the lava. Perhaps that lava used to be there before millions of years.  The sun shone very brightly and the temperature of the moon morning was more than 150 F.

            In the beginning they faced many problems due to the distance perception but later they were able to work it out.  They worked from place to place and gathered the costly treasure of knowledge, many photographs and 78.6 kgs of soil and rock samples.

            They performed a marvellous job for the humanity and exposed the truth about the mysteries of moon and its surface.

                                    QUESTION # 3

            What is the difference between movement on earth and movement on the moon?

            The movement on the moon surface is quite different from the way we move on the earth.  It has its peculiar restrictions.  The gravity on the moon is six times less than that of earth gravity. The weight also decreases by six times.  That's why the astronauts experienced a bounding motion. They moved as if they were walking on a circus trampoline because of less gravity and less weight. They had to exert a lot of force to stop or to start walking.  They fell on the moon surface quite frequently.  Scott said that it was like rediscovering the childhood, as it did not involve any disgrace or injury.  Only the dust was troublesome that clung to their equipments and dresses otherwise falling frequently was accepted by the moon-walkers as part of game.

Q No. 4:          Evaluate the feelings of David. R. Scott?

              David R.Scott has masterfully composed the essay “Walking on the Moon”. He conveys the information as well as his personal feelings.

             After landing there, the writer felt himself as an alien on the moon.  The whole atmosphere was strange and unknown.  But soon they settled in. The walking on the moon made them realize the dignity of man and his access to the highest treasures of knowledge in the world.  It was a place that nobody had ever stepped on.  It was the scene that no naked eye had ever witnessed.  These were living marks of the universal history.  These were the hidden treasures of nature that man managed to discover.  Writer and his co-astronaut thought that they were the most privileged men in the world.  They knew that their experience was one of the most exceptional events in the human history.  Their initial uneasy feelings were now changed into a deep attachment. The silent and serene atmosphere of the moon was a gratifying experience to them.

            The writer has used many comparisons and contrasts to establish the details about the moon in our mind.  He has used a highly imaginative diction to convey his message completely.  He thought that their footprints on the moon dust would remain there eternally because there was no wind or rain to wipe them out.  They left too many things on the moon as relics of the man and his planet, earth.  If astronauts of any another solar system arrived there, they would observe these relics and would come to know about the man and his planet.

            At the end of their stay, the writer experienced a sense of loss.  He did not want to leave that place.  Even now, when he sees towards the moon from the earth, he feels nostalgic and recalls his short stay there, which now simply looks like a dream to him.