Level: M

DRA: 28
Genre:
Informational
Strategy:
Analyze/Evaluate
Skill:
Text and Graphic Featuress
Word Count: 725

2.6.28

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books

by Gloria Jasperse

1032325
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
 by Gloria Jasperse

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © NASA David Scott. 1 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. 2 © Tiziou Jacques/CORBIS
SYGMA. 33 (l) NASA, (r) NASA. 4 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. 5 NASA - Apollo/digital version by Science Faction.
6 © NASA/Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS. 7 Science Faction/Getty Images. 8 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
9 © CORBIS. 10 © Bettmann/CORBIS. 11 NASA David Scott. 12-13 NASA. 14 NASA
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Requests
for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers,
Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.
Printed in China
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02414-1
ISBN-10: 0-547-02414-2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11

If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers
retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited.

Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into
electronic format.
 For many years, people knew very little about
the moon and outer space. Some people studied
astronomy to learn about the moon and the stars.
They learned about the orbit of the moon and the
planets. Then, in 1969, astronauts explored the
moon for the first time.
In 1970, a group of astronauts prepared to
explore the moon again.

Fred Haise
John Swigert
James Lovell

2
 Their mission was called Apollo 13, and the
astronauts were well prepared. James Lovell was
the mission commander. He was in charge of the
entire mission. Fred Haise was the lunar module
pilot. John Swigert was the command module
pilot.
All three astronauts planned to fly to the moon
in the command module. Then, the command
module would orbit while two astronauts flew
down to the moon to the lunar module.

Lunar module
Command module

3
 Apollo 13 launched into space on April 11,
1970. As the rocket sped away from Earth,
everything went well. Each of the astronauts had a
job to do. After they entered space, they talked to
mission control to report on their progress. They
worked on experiments and reported to the crew
back on Earth.

4
 The crew of Apollo 13 wanted to share their
trip with people on Earth. So they filmed a TV
program inside Apollo 13. They talked about
living inside the space capsule and being weightless
in space. At the end, Commander Lovell wished
everyone a good night. Then they sent their
program back to Earth. They hoped it would be
shown on TV.

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.5 5 1/23/08 10:27:21 AM

 But the TV stations decided not to show the
TV program that the astronauts had made. They
thought people would be bored by the Apollo 13
mission. Many people had already seen pictures of
objects floating without gravity. They didn’t think
the Apollo 13 mission would be anything new or
exciting.
But traveling in space was still exciting, and it
was also very dangerous.

Floating in space
6
 Nine minutes after they finished making their
TV program, the crew of Apollo 13 heard a loud
noise. They didn’t know what the noise was, but
no one was worried. Fred Haise often played jokes
by making loud noises, and the other astronauts
thought it was another one of his jokes.

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.7 7 1/23/08 10:28:21 AM

 But it was not a joke. It was the explosion of an
oxygen tank. This caused other things to break.
The spacecraft could no longer produce electricity
or water or supply more oxygen. The crew needed
oxygen to breathe, water to drink and to operate
the craft, and electricity to travel back to Earth.
The Apollo 13 crew was in serious trouble. They
would have to stop their mission and find a way to
return to Earth right away.

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.8 8 1/23/08 10:29:01 AM

 The astronauts knew there was a backup
battery. The backup battery could provide energy
for 10 hours. But they would need to use that
energy to enter Earth’s atmosphere, and they were
87 hours away from Earth! They needed to find a
way to generate energy, oxygen, water, and return
to Earth.

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.9 9 1/23/08 10:29:29 AM

 “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” Commander
Lovell said. These were words that Mission
Control did not want to hear. It meant that the
crew of Apollo 13 was in trouble. Their distance
from Earth would make it even more difficult to
fix the problem.

Mission Control

10
 The Apollo 13 crew would have to work
quickly to repair the damage. They could not
stay in the command module because energy was
running low. They moved out of the capsule and
into the lunar module because this would save
energy. They would need all of their energy to
return to Earth.

11
 However, the lunar module was built to hold
two people. Now all three astronauts would need
to live in this small space.
The lunar module also had no heat, so it was
very cold. The water supply was almost gone, and
there was not much oxygen. The astronauts began
to worry about the future of Apollo 13. They
worked with Mission Control to fix the problems
and get back to Earth.

12
 The astronauts forced the module in the right
direction. They did not drink a lot of water, and
they used tape to stop things from floating around.
They still had a long way to go, but it looked like
they were on their way home.
Now the TV stations were showing programs
about Apollo 13. The entire county wanted to
know what was going to happen to the astronauts
on that mission.

13
 On April 17 at 1:07 p.m., the crew of Apollo
13 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. They
were safe. The astronauts and Mission Control
had worked hard to get Apollo 13 back home.
Everyone cheered when they landed!

14

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.14 14 1/23/08 10:31:06 AM

 Responding
Text and Graphic
TARGET SKILL

Features What do the photos in this book

show you about Apollo 13? Copy the chart.
First list a photo from the book. Then list
the page where the photo appears. Then
list what the photo shows you about
Apollo 13.
Photo Page Purpose
Rocket lift-off Page 4 Travelled to
outer space
? ? ?

Write About It
Text to Self Use a few sentences to write
a response paragraph telling why you
would or would not like to travel in space.
Include details about how it might feel,
look, and sound in space.

15

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.15 15 1/23/08 10:31:23 AM

 TARGET VOCABULARY

astronomy future
explored orbit
float repair
force space

Text and Graphic

TARGET SKILL

Features Tell how words go with photos.

Analyze/Evaluate
TARGET STRATEGY

Tell how you feel about the text, and why.

GENRE Informational text gives facts

about a topic.

16

2_024141_LR6_3OL_TroubleInSpace.16 16 1/23/08 10:31:37 AM

Level: M
DRA: 28
Genre:
Informational
Strategy:
Analyze/Evaluate
Skill:
Text and Graphic Featuress
Word Count: 725

2.6.28

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books

by Gloria Jasperse

1032325
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN