6-WALKING ON THE MOON
1. Scott’s Experience at the Moon
Q. No. 1: Give an account of being on the moon when Scot was really there? OR What sights, not previously experienced by human beings does he describe, and how? OR What were Scott’s feelings on the surface of moon? Discuss.
Answer: The essay “Walking on the Moon”gives a detailed description of Scott’s experience on the moon. He was one of the three astronauts. The three astronauts felt some sense of freedom there. They did not find water, wind or any tree there. They observed decrease in their weight. There was perfect silence. They felt themselves standing on an alien land. The rocks were of grey, black, white and green colours. The temperature was 150 degrees that was enough to cause one’s death.
Scotts says that their memory and love for their own planet earth had made them dejected. But with the passage of time, they became familiar with desolation of moon. They felt nostalgic feelings for moon after their return. He had never believed that he ever had visited the moon. However, they were proud of their conquest over moon. They took it as a conquest of whole humanity. Such sights on the moon were not previously experienced on the earth by them as well as by any man. (Words: 169)
2. Scott’s Experience of Weightlessness at the Moon
Q. No. 2: To what does Scott implicitly, compare the weightlessness experienced on the lunar surface? What does he describe through comparisons? OR “To fall on the moon and I did several times is to rediscover childhood. You go down in slow motion, the impact is slight, the risk of injury being nil.” Discuss. OR Discuss Scott’s experience of weightlessness on the “Lunar Surface.”
Answer: The writer and his fellow astronauts descended on the surface of the moon with the help of the ladder. Their duration of stay there was sixty seven hours. They made many scientific experiments there. First experience made by them is the weightlessness and lightlessness which an astronaut has to face on the moon. He implicitly compares this weightlessness with the lightness and ease which an acrobat faces while jumping or walking on a trampoline. Falling on the surface of the moon is a child-like activity. There is no risk of injury. Another comparison made by the writer is that the smell of the moon dust is like that of the gun-powder of the earth. Another comparison the writer makes is of the mountains situated on the moon and snow-covered mountains on the earth. The writer finds a striking similarity between them. He further experiences that the moon is a dry and barren wasteland. Wind and greenery do not exist on the moon. That’s why, the writer believes that unlike the life on the moon, the life on the earth is full of greenery and vegetation. (Words: 185)