Worksheet 5

Name :
Class : Secondary 1
Day/Date :

Flight of the Silver Queen

In 1920, a British newspaper offered £10,000 to fly from England to South Africa. Five aeroplanes entered the
competition, but four aeroplanes didn't finish the journey. The pilots Pierre Van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand finally
landed in Cape Town and won the race.

It was a long and dangerous journey. Van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand flew in a plane called the Silver Queen. They
travelled from England to Italy. Then, a few days later, they took off again for Egypt. They didn't stop over the
Mediterranean Sea and landed the next day in Cairo.

Through Africa, they had a lot of mechanical problems with the plane and its engine. The worst problem was in
Bulawayo. The Silver Queen couldn't take off so, in the end, they changed their plane for a different one.

Eventually, 44 days later, they landed in Cape Town and won. However, the newspaper didn't give them £10,000, but
only £5,000. This was because they didn't use the same plane for the whole journey. But it was still an incredible
journey.

Answer the following questions. Circle true (T) or false (F) based on the article.

1. The journey was in 1922. T/F

2. All the aeroplaneslanded in Cape Town. T/F
3. The first part of the journey was from England to Italy. T/F
4. Van Ryneveld and Brand stopped between Italy and Cairo. T/F
5. They didn’t have any problems with the Silver Queen. T/F
6. They left Bulawayo in the Silver Queen T/F
7. The journey took 44 days. T/F
8. They received £10.000 from newspaper T/F

The Longest Journey in Space

On 20th August and 5th September in 1977, two spacecraft took off from Florida, USA. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2
started a long and difficult journey to the end of the solar system. They flew past new places in our solar system and
sent photos of planets and moons to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

Voyager 1's journey

Voyager 1 arrived at Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. At a distance of 349,000 kilometres from Earth,
scientists received the best photographs of the planet from Voyager 1 and they discovered a lot about the planet's
weather from them. They studied the clouds, lightning and strong winds of three hundred kilometres per hour. Jupiter
also has a moon with volcanoes. Voyager 1's next stop was Saturn. Saturn is smaller than Jupiter and it's most
famous for its rings. Solar From Voyager l's photographs, scientists discovered the A rings are mostly water and ice.

Voyager 2's journey

Voyager 2 also visited Jupiter and Saturn after Voyager 1 but then it continued to Uranus. Uranus is the coldest
planet in the solar system. There is a lot of ice on the surface. During its journey around Uranus, there were
mechanical problems with Voyager 2's camera. Eventually, scientists fixed it and Voyager 2 travelled to Neptune.
Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun (4.5 billion kilometres) and it was the last planet on Voyager 2's journey.

The journey continues

The two Voyagers finished their official journeys in 1989, but they continued travelling. Now they are at the end of our
solar system and scientists think the two spacecraft can travel until 2025. So Voyager 1 and 2 are on their most
amazing journey: into space outside our solar system.

Read the article. Answer the following questions.

1. How many Voyager spacecraft did NASA send into the solar system?

2. Which planets did Voyager 1 visit?

3. Which planets did Voyager 2 visit?

4. Where are the Voyager spacecraft now?

Read the article again. Replace and match the underlined words in the sentences with the word on the right.

1. NASA sent Voyager 1 and 2 from here. NASA

2. It had a mechanical problem with the camera. Jupiter's
3. This planet is famous for its rings. Neptune
4. Scientists learned a lot about its weather. outside the solar system
5. Voyager 2 went to this planet last. Voyager 2
6. This planet is very cold and has lots of ice. Uranus
7. Voyager 1 and 2 are on a journey there now Saturn
8. The voyagers sent photos of planets and moons here Florida