Disaster in Space

Look at the illustration and large title on pages 4-5. How do these make readers interested in the story?

• The title, “Disaster in Space,” is also dramatic. It lets you know that something terrible happened but doesn’t reveal what, which also builds interest.

• The captions are filled with boring information

• The title and image tells us nothing.

Study the photo on page 8. What can you infer the people in the image are feeling, based on their expressions and body language?

• The photo shows a large room with engineers surrounded by technical equipment and monitoring screens.

• The photo shows people happy and celebrating, watching the television screen. You can inger that nothing bad is occuring.

• The photo shows people gathered in a room, watching a television screen. Almost all of them, including the children, have serious expressions on their faces. They are gathered closely around the TV, and some of them are leaning forward anxiously. You can infer that the people in the photograph were concerned

The section “New Problems” discusses the many challenges faced by the astronauts. What would be

another good name for this section?

• "Could It Get Any Worse?”

• " New Problems"

• "No Problems"

• "Nothing Happed"

Tarshis write "Disaster in Space" mainly to...

• convince readers that we should stop sending people into space.

• teach readers how to handle an accident aboard a spacecraft.

• inspire and amaze readers with a story about human survival.

• inform readers about the science of space travel. 

On page 8, Tarshis writes, "These men knew Apollo 13's systems better than they knew their own bedrooms." Tarshis is saying that the engineers...

• did not know Apollo 13's systems well.

• knew Apollo 13's systems very well.

• did not know their bedrooms well.

• worked so much that they hardly slept.

On page 8, author Lauren Tarshis writes,“These men knew Apollo 13’s systems better than they knew their own bedrooms.” What point is Tarshis making about the engineers?

• They did not know Apollo 13’s systems well.

• They knew Apollo 13’s systems very well.

• They did not know their bedrooms well.

• They worked so much that they rarely slept.

Tarshis wrote “Disaster in Space” mainly to

• convince readers that we should stop sending people into space.

• teach readers how to handle an accident aboard a spacecraft.

• inspire and amaze readers with a story about human ingenuity and survival

• inform readers about the science of space travel.

Use “Two days into the journey the mission seemed flawless. There was no sign of catastrophe to come.” to answer the following question. In paragraph 13 of the story “Disaster in Space,” what does the word catastrophe mean?

• Final event or conclusion

• a sudden and widespread disaster

• violent disturbance, especially of a part of the surface of the earth

• A mathematical function

Based on the information from the selection “Disaster in Space,” what can the reader conclude about Gene Krantz and his engineers?

• They were extremely knowledgeable about Apollo 13.

• They did not care about the astronauts.

• They were in extreme danger and could possibly die.

• They were worried and panicked, but could not come up with a solution.

Using the section “A Mission to the Moon”, how did the force of Apollo 13 affect the astronauts?

• The astronauts complained the whole time.

• The astronauts hearts were strained, their skin was stretched, and their bones felt it might shatter.

• The astronauts were nervous and scared.

• The astronauts were strapped inside their small aircraft with millions of pounds of explosive fuel.