Lesson 5 Into the Universe
Astronaut Yujin’s Space Log
Day 1 ____ to Space!
After blasting off from Earth, we took about 27 hours to reach the International Space Station, ____ we docked successfully.
This is my ____ journey into space.
After ten years, I’m back on this station, the largest artificial space habitat in ____ 400 kilometers away from Earth!
Day 5 The ____ with No Gravity
Now I’m getting better at remembering where I am when I first wake up, but I’m still often ____ about how my body is positioned.
In the dark and without ____, my inner ear just takes a random guess as to my position, and sometimes I wake up convinced that I’m upside down.
Of ____, it’s actually my brain readjusting to an environment where height and weight lose their meaning.
I can use any wall ____ as if each were a floor.
____ has zero weight.
This enables me not only to fly but also to ____ huge objects with one finger as if I were a superhero.
Unfortunately, ____ gravity also makes astronauts lose muscle and bone density really fast.
That’s why I exercise for ____ minutes a day as my colleagues do.
Day 25 ____ the Day
The station orbits Earth once every 90 minutes, and the ____ rises and sets every 45 minutes.
However, our schedules are set to ____ Mean Time on Earth.
My day starts around 6:00 a.m. in my personal ____, which is about the size of a phone booth.
Still in my sleeping bag, I click ____ new emails and brush my teeth.
I ____ the toothpaste with a sip of water from a bag with a straw.
There’s no good way to ____ in space because everything floats.
Then, I look over the daily schedule sent by the flight control ____ on Earth.
After a ____ with the Earth team at 7:30, I start work.
Every minute of an astronaut’s day is planned by the Earth ____.
My work comprises lots of scientific experiments and ____ of the station.
My ____ experiment is growing basil from seeds as I film its growth every day.
Having green plants in ____ is a delight!
Day 60 Spacewalk!
Today’s ____ required a spacewalk, one of the riskiest tasks on the ISS.
We had to install the bases for some newly ____ solar batteries on the outside of the station.
Scott, my colleague, and I went to an airlock, a room connected to the outside of the station, put on our spacesuits, and floated gently ____ space.
The large blue dome of Earth hovered overhead, looking like it was ready to ____ crashing down upon us.
Forcing myself to focus on the task, I secured the hook of my safety ____ to a ring just outside the airlock.
We ____ along the handrail to the edge of the station.
The dark void in front of us seemed ____.
Despite the safety cable, ____ rose in me.
I thought, “If my hand misses the handrail, I will ____ into the void.”
The ____ seemed to take forever, but I finally managed to install the battery bases.
____ I turned my head, the bright blue Earth was still there.
In the middle of darkness, ____ beauty was beyond description.
Day 99 One Day ____
I’ll return to ____ tomorrow.
If getting up into space is alarming and uncomfortable, coming back down is one of the most ____ and physically harsh things an astronaut ever does.
Back on Earth, I’ll ____ lots of things here.
I’ll ____ the satisfaction of successfully finishing an experiment or a challenging task like a spacewalk.
I’ll especially ____ my basil plants, whose leaves have become a dense forest!
All the same, I’ll never forget how lucky we are to have that wonderful ____ planet as our home.
Day 100 The Descent to Earth
Mother Earth didn’t exactly welcome us ____ with open arms.
Earth’s ____ is resistant to objects entering from space.
Any object will create ____ friction simply to burn up from the heat.
This protects the planet from the orbital debris that would ____ rain down on it.
But it also ____ we had to survive a fall through the atmosphere that created temperatures up to 1650 degrees Celsius.
After pushing our spaceship away from the ____, we eased our way into the upper layers of the atmosphere to start our descent.
We felt gravity ____ to return.
My watch felt a lot ____ on my wrist, and breathing got harder.
The ____ heated up, and orange and purple flaming pieces flew by the window, which was scorched black.
We were ____ faster than the speed of sound.
Once we got inside the atmosphere about eight kilometers above the planet, a parachute caught us with a sudden halt and dragged and swung our ____ wildly through the sky until we hit the ground.
It’s hard to describe how heavy everything felt in those ____ few minutes after landing.
My arms felt terribly ____, and so did my legs.
Getting used to gravity, which I missed in space, will take quite a long ____.
The important thing is I’m ____.
I can smell the grass and feel the wind and the ____!
I’ll remember how magical ____ things are for the rest of my life.