Lab Activity 37: The Space Order Pattern

Chapter 8: Transitions and Thought Patterns
Lab Activity 37: The Space Order Pattern

Objective
To use the space order pattern and transitions to see the relationship of details to the main idea.

Step 2: Read the passage adapted from the NASA web site http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/f_messgrav.html in your textbook and then answer the questions that follow it.


		The Long and Winding Road "It's pretty easy to fly _____ a planet. Point your spacecraft in the right direction to pass by the planet as it orbits the sun and get whatever information you can during the high-speed rendezvous. That was NASA's strategy during the early days of Solar System exploration, and it provided us with an incredible amount of information into our universe." 6. The best space order transition to fit in the blank is

		"The difficulty gets turned up a notch when talking about 'orbital insertion.' You're not just flying by the planet; you're getting _____ and then slowing down to the point where the world that you want to explore pulls your spacecraft into orbit _____ it. Too slow and your probe will drop _____ the planet's atmosphere and burn up. Too fast and you'll fly off into space, stuck helpless in a solar orbit for billions of years. NASA's MESSENGER will head into space with all the energy and speed it had when it left the Earth, and then have to slow down to meet up with Mercury." 7. The best order for the space order transitions to appear in the blanks is

		"This means MESSENGER has to burn off a lot of energy during its journey. One way is to carry a large amount of fuel _____ its tanks and perform braking maneuvers during the trip. But fuel already accounts for more than half of MESSENGER's total launch weight; adding more would weigh down the spacecraft to the point where it wouldn't be practical to launch at all." 8. The best space order transition to fit in the blank is

		"The other technique, which MESSENGER is going to undertake on its journey, is called 'gravity assist.' Most people think of speeding up a spacecraft when they hear about this concept, but it can actually work to slow one down as well. This is due to 'angular momentum,' the tremendous amount of energy a planet orbiting the Sun has because of its enormous size and speed. When a spacecraft flies past that giant body, it can tap into the planet's gravity to increase its speed." 9. The space order transition in the paragraph is

		"When a spacecraft flies along in front of it, the opposite happens: the vehicle gives up some of its energy to the planet." 10. The space order transition in the sentence is