Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 484
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 484 – PASSAGE – 1
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 484
READING PASSAGE – 1
The ISRO’s- PSLV
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is an expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to allow India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into sun-synchronous orbits, a service that was, until the advent of the PSLV in 1993, commercially available only from Russia. PSLV can also launch small size satellites into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). Some notable payloads launched by PSLV include India’s first lunar probe Chandrayaan-1, India’s first interplanetary mission, Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) and India’s first space observatory, Astrosat.
PSLV has gained credence as a leading provider of rideshare services for small satellites, due its numerous multi-satellite deployment campaigns with auxiliary payloads usually ride sharing along an Indian primary payload. As of February 2021, PSLV has launched 342 foreign satellites from 36 countries.
IELTS General Reading Test
Most notable among these was the launch of PSLV-C37 on 15 February 2017, successfully deploying 104 satellites in sun-synchronous orbit, tripling the previous record held by Russia for the highest number of satellites sent to space on a single launch, until 24 January 2021, when SpaceX launched the Transporter-1 mission on a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 143 satellites into orbit. Payloads can be integrated in tandem configuration employing a Dual Launch Adapter. Smaller payloads are also placed on equipment deck and customized payload adapters.
Studies to develop a vehicle capable of delivering 600 kg payload to 550 km sun-synchronous orbit from SHAR began in 1978. Among 35 proposed configurations, four were picked and by November 1980, a vehicle configuration with two strap-on on a core booster (S80) with 80 tonne solid propellant loading each, a liquid stage with 30 tonne propellant load (L30) and an upper stage called Perigee-Apogee System (PAS) was being considered.
IELTS General Reading Test
The PSLV was first launched on 20 September 1993. The first and second stages performed as expected, but an attitude control problem led to the collision of the second and third stages at separation, and the payload failed to reach orbit. After this initial setback, the PSLV successfully completed its second mission in 1994. The fourth launch of PSLV suffered a partial failure in 1997, leaving its payload in a lower than planned orbit. In November 2014, the PSLV had launched 34 times with no further failures. (Although launch 41: August 2017 PSLV-C39 was unsuccessful.) PSLV continues to support Indian and foreign satellite launches especially for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
It has undergone several improvements with each subsequent version, especially those involving thrust, efficiency as well as weight. In November 2013, it was used to launch the Mars Orbiter Mission, India’s first interplanetary probe. In June 2018, the Union Cabinet approved ₹6,131 crore (US$860 million) for 30 operational flights of the PSLV scheduled to take place between 2019 and 2024. ISRO is scheduling to privatise the operations of PSLV and will work through a joint venture with private industries. The integration and launch will be managed an industrial consortium through Antrix Corporation.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE – If the statement agrees with the information.
FALSE – If the statement contradicts the information.
NOT GIVEN – If there is no information on this.
1. The PSLV rockets launch vehicle is much more powerful than its Russian counterpart.
2. The Mangalyaan was hurled into the trajectory by PSLV.
3. Currently, the PSLV embraces the record for transporting maximum figure of satellites in the orbit.
4. Payloads can be united in corresponding configuration commissioning a Dual Launch Adapter.
5. The foremost launch of the PSLV was a triumph.
6. There have been no enhancements in the successive types of the PSLV.
7. ISRO is looking to collaborate with private firms for the operations of PSLV.
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text below and answer questions 8-13.
The MIR Orbiter
Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. It had a greater mass than any previous spacecraft. At the time it was the largest artificial satellite in orbit, succeeded by the International Space Station (ISS) after Mir’s orbit decayed.
The station served as a microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and spacecraft systems with a goal of developing technologies required for permanent occupation of space. Mir was the first continuously inhabited lasting research station in orbit and held the record for the longest continuous human presence in space at 3,644 days, until it was surpassed by the ISS on 23 October 2010.
It holds the record for the longest single human spaceflight, with Valeri Polyakov spending 437 days and 18 hours on the station between 1994 and 1995. Mir was occupied for a total of twelve and a half years out of its fifteen-year lifespan, having the capacity to support a resident crew of three, or larger crews for brief visits.
IELTS General Reading Test
Following the success of the Salyut programme, Mir represented the next stage in the Soviet Union’s space station programme. The first module of the station, known as the core module or base block, was launched in 1986 and followed by six further modules. Proton rockets were used to launch all of its components except for the docking module, which was installed by US Space Shuttle mission STS-74 in 1995. When complete, the station consisted of seven pressurised modules and several unpressurised components.
Power was provided by several photovoltaic arrays attached directly to the modules. The station was maintained at an orbit between 296 km and 421 km altitude and travelled at an average speed of 27,700 km/h, completing 15.7 orbits per day.
IELTS General Reading Test
The station was launched as part of the Soviet Union’s crewed spaceflight programme effort to maintain a long-term research outpost in space, and following the collapse of the USSR, was operated by the new Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA). As a result, most of the station’s occupants were Soviet; through international collaborations such as the Intercosmos, Euromir and Shuttle-Mir programmes, the station was made accessible to space travellers from several Asian, European, and North American nations. Mir was deorbited in March 2001 after funding was cut off. The cost of the Mir programme was estimated by former RKA General Director Yuri Koptev in 2001 as $4.2 billion over its lifetime (including development, assembly, and orbital operation).
Radio communications provided telemetry and scientific data links between Mir and the RKA Mission Control Centre (TSUP). Radio links were also used during rendezvous and docking procedures and for audio and video communication between crew members, flight controllers and family members. As a result, Mir was equipped with several communication systems used for different purposes. The station communicated directly with the ground via the Lira antenna mounted to the core module.
IELTS General Reading Test
The Lira antenna also had the capability to use the Luch data relay satellite system and the network of Soviet tracking ships deployed in various locations around the world. UHF radio was used by cosmonauts conducting EVAS. UHF was also employed by other spacecraft that docked to or undocked from the station, such as Soyuz, Progress, and the Space Shuttle, in order to receive commands from the TsUP and Mir crew members via the TORU system.
Questions 8-13
Write no more than THREE WORDS and/or numbers for each answer.
8. The ………………….. flourished when Mir’s orbit perished.
9. Mir was the initial uninterruptedly settled longstanding ………………….. in the orbit.
10. The Mir orbiter had a provision of ………………….. members for prolonged stay.
11. There was a total of ………………….. Mir’s modules that were launched.
12. Mir was terminated because ………………….. was clogged.
13. The astronauts in Mir could talk to their family members because of …………………..
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
1. NOT GIVEN
2. TRUE
3. FALSE
4. TRUE
5. FALSE
6. FALSE
7. TRUE
8. INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
9. RESEARCH STATION
10. THREE
11. SEVEN
12. FUNDING
13. RADIO COMMUNICATIONS
IELTS General Reading Test