In attaining our ideals,our means should be as pure as the end! Dr Rajendra Prasad 02 BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Zoologists and lion researchers say that ‘The Lion King’ gets real-life lion family dynamics wrong. For instance, it’s always a matriarch which actually leads a lion pride... W atching Simba and his pals try to regain their rightful place in the king- dom may have you think- ing that Disney’s “The Lion King” is a pretty accurate depiction of what happens in the African savanna. But it’s no nature documentary. Real lions don’t rule over other creatures. And they certainly don’t try to return home once they’ve left the lion pride. Disney took a lot of creative licence when it comes to lion behaviour and family dynamics, zoologists and lion researchers say. If the movie were true to big-cat life, the rivalry between Simba’s father Mu- fasa and his uncle Scar would not have existed, and the lion cub would not have been forced to flee so young. In fact, Mufasa would not have ruled the pride at all.“It’s always a matriarch who actually leads a lion pride,” said Craig Saffoe, curator of great cats at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washing- ton, the US Simba’s mother Sarabi would have been the more likely leader of the group. And the movie would have been more accurate if it were called “The Lion Queen”. In a typical African pride, there are three to six adult females. Most daugh- ters are recruited to stay with their moth- er’s pride until they die, so there are of- ten several generations of related females, making the lion society quite matriar- chal. Two or three adult males also live with the females. They are usually broth- ers or pride mates who have formed a coalition to help protect the females. But they spend only a few years with the pride — long enough to produce more offspring — before they go out and seek a new one. So if Disney had followed typical big cat behaviour, Scar and Mufasa would have happily co-existed in their pride. “It’s possible that Mufasa would have been the more dominant one in the coalition, but one of the females would have been dominant over both of them,” said Saffoe. MISSES Real lions don’t rule over other crea- tures. And they certainly don’t try to re- turn home once they’ve left the lion pride. Although male lions appear much big- ger and more aggressive, females are more dominant. They do the important decision-making. They are in charge of the majority of hunting and cub-raising. HITS One aspect of lion family life that Dis- ney did get right, however, is the affec- tion Mufasa shows to his son. When adult males return from patrolling the pride territory, they seem to enjoy getting to know their cubs, with lots of licking, head rubbing and purring involved. Buzz Aldrin wearing the Moonwalk Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon – July 20, 1969. Yuri Gagarin’s SK-1 Suit On April 12, 1961, Soviet cos- monaut Yuri Gagarin ushered in the era of manned space- flight aboard Vostok 1. During the flight, he wore an SK-1 pressure suit with an auxil- iary life support system. Russia’s Sokol Spacesuits During launch and landing, Russian cosmonauts wear Sokol spacesuits. The suits date back to early times in Russia’s space programme. The full-pressure space suit, equipped with an auxil- iary life support system and survival features, pro- vided for cosmonaut safety under all expected envi- ronmental conditions of flight. Ejection Escape Suit When the first shuttle flight, STS-1, lifted off on April 12, 1981, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen wore the ejection escape suit. Both the ejection suits and ejection seats were attached to the specially designed suits with life support system. Chinese spacesuits for launch China has also developed two spacesuit types, one for launches and landings aboard the country’s Shenzhou space capsules, and another suit, the Feitian, for spacewalks. HERE: The crew of China’s fourth human spaceflight Shenzhou 9, which includes China’s first woman astronaut liu Yang (left), veteran Jing Haipeng, and first-time flyer Liu Wang. Gordon Cooper in Project Mercury Suit - 1959 The Mercury space suit (or Navy Mark IV) was a full- body, high-altitude pressure suit originally developed by the BF Goodrich Company and the US Navy for pilots of high-altitude fighter aircraft. It’s best known for its role as the spacesuit worn for all manned Project Mercury spaceflights. HERE: Gordon Cooper in 1959 Mercury flight suit. The complete Suit Astronaut John Young wore the complete ejection escape suit mod- eled here. The suits weren’t designed for EVAs in space, but just in case Nasa had to abort a mission on the way to space, and astro- nauts needed to survive an ejection from a supersonic craft. Glenn in Mercury Suit Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth in 1962 in his Mercury suit. The spacesuit was developed by the BF Goodrich Company. This Navy MK-IV full pressure suit came with 100% life support systems. Project Apollo Spacesuit Engineer Bill Peterson fits test pilot Bob Smyth in an Apollo space suit with a Lunar Excursion Module restraint har- ness during suit testing in 1968. This suit was designed special- ly for lunar landings. Apollo 14 command- er Alan Shepard Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard during suit checks before his trip to the lunar sur- face in 1971. Project Gemini Mission Spacesuits The suit is worn for launch, in- flight activities and landing. It was designed on the basis of the X-15 high-altitude pressure suit. Project Gemini Spacesuit Moonwalker Neil Armstrong wears his Gemini G-2C training suit. Unlike the “soft” Mercury suit, the whole Gemini suit was made to be flexible when pressurised. This is supposed to be the “best suit that has been made”. Russia’s Orlan Spacesuit Russia’s Orlan spacesuits are bulkier than NASA’s EMU versions, with cosmonauts donning them by climbing through an opening in the back. They are used aboard the International Space Station for Russian spacewalks. China in Space China’s Feitian spacesuit was mod- elled after the Orlan-M spacesuit developed by Russia. The two kinds of suits are similar in shape and volume and are designed for spacewalks of up to seven hours, providing oxygen and allowing for the excretion of bodily waste. MK III Advanced Spacesuit Dr Dean Eppler wears the MK III advanced demonstration space- suit during a 2002 field test of futuristic technology in Arizona. First American Spacewalk The Gemini spacesuit was Ed White’s per- sonal spacecraft when he left the Gemini IV capsule for the first American spacewalk on June 3, 1965. Floating Free Spacesuit In February 1984, shuttle astro- naut Bruce McCandless became the first astronaut to float in space untethered, thanks to a device called Manned Manuevering Unit, or MMU which was a part of his spacesuit. Pumpkin Suit The familiar orange launch-and-entry suit worn by shuttle crews is nicknamed “pumpkin suit” for its colour. 1 Which American President felt the pressure to beat the then Soviet Union in the space race and announced the dramatic goal of putting an American on the Moon? A. Dwight D Eisenhower, B. John F Kennedy, C. Lyndon B Johnson 2 Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee – who are they? A. They could have been the first Americans to get to space, B. They were the first Americans to get to space, C. They were the crew of NASA’s Mercury Missions, the pre- cursor to the Apollo Missions 3 Which of the following Apollo Missions was the first American one to get to space? A. Apollo 1, B. Apollo 7, C. Apollo 3 4 What does the term “Earthrise” refer to? A. Photo of Earth taken by Neil Armstrong from the Moon B. Photo of Earth taken by a crew member of Apollo 8 spacecraft orbiting the Moon C. Photo of Earth taken by the International Space Station 5 We know Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. But who was the third crew member who was aboard the Apollo 11 spacecraft? A. Thomas Stafford, B. Eugene Cernan, C. Michael Collins 6 Which of the following is true about Apollo 10, the predecessor of the Moon craft? A. Its lunar module’s docking was the first colour television trans- mission from space B. It took the first crewed flight around the Moon C. It was the first to carry a lunar module into orbit 7 When did the US end its lunar flights? A. 1972, B. 1975, C. 1980 8 By when does the US want to go back to the Moon, “this time to stay”? A. 2024, B. 2020, C. 2029 9 What is common between the Chandrayaan 2 mission and the NASA’s mission to go back to the Moon? A. The Lunar North Pole B. The Lunar South Pole 10 Which was the last Apollo mission? A. Apollo 17, B. Apollo 12, C. Apollo 13 What is a spacesuit? A spacesuit is much more than a set of clothes astronauts wear on space- walks. A fully equipped spacesuit is really a one-person spacecraft. The formal name for the spacesuit used on the space shuttle and International Space Station is the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU. “Extravehicular” means outside the vehicle or spacecraft. “Mobility” means that the astronaut can move around in the suit. The spacesuit pro- tects the astronaut from the dangers of being outside in space. What are the parts of a spacesuit? The Hard Upper Torso covers the astronaut’s chest. The arm assembly covers the arms and connects to the gloves. The helmet and Extravehicular Visor Assembly are designed to protect the astronaut’s head. The lower torso assembly cov- ers the astronaut’s legs and feet. The flexible parts of the suit are made from several layers of material. SHOULD IT BE THE LION QUEEN ? THE EVOLUTION OF THE SPACESUIT The spacesuit may be the ultimate fashion statement. A suit that is both a personal spaceship and a life support pod, it allows astronauts to work in harsh conditions. These images show how the spacesuit has evolved through the years ANSWERS: 1. B, 2. A, 3. B, 4. B, 5. C, 6. A, 7. A, 8. A, 9. B, 10. A