World News for Students of English

18-04-2016 07:00

“Capture confirmed…”

“Looks like we’ve caught a dragon.”

Those were the words of British astronaut Tim Peake after he captured this unmanned cargo ship using a robotic arm on board the International Space Station.

“Lift-off of the Falcon 9 rocket was”

The SpaceX craft was launched on Friday on top of a Falcon 9 rocket – a reusable rocket which made history when it became the first to successfully land on a drone ship at sea.

The company was congratulated by President Obama, who said: “It’s because of innovators like you and NASA that America continues to lead in space exploration.”

The Dragon capsule was carrying cabbage seeds, lab mice, and an inflatable fabric room which will be tested by the station’s astronauts.

For only the second time in its history, there are now six crafts in all docked with the ISS. Alongside the Dragon are two Russian Progress cargo ships, an American cargo ship, and two Soyuz capsules which carry astronauts.

The Dragon is expected to return to Earth with science experiments from the ISS in mid-May.

Difficult words: unmanned (no one is driving this vehicle), cargo (a container holding stuff that people need), innovator (a person who designs new things and makes changes), capsule (a special box).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com