Textbook Solution: The Quest For Extraterrestrial Life | Class 7 English Alive PDF Download

A. Fill in the blanks with the words from the text.

Q1: Frank Drake conducted the first modern experiment searching for extra-terrestrial intelligence called the ____________________________.

Ans: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI

Q2: The 'Wow! Signal' lasted for ____________________________ seconds.

Ans: 72

Q3: ____________________________ is the nearest star to our solar system.

Ans: Proxima Centauri

Q4: Perseverance is also part of a 10-year plan to retrieve a ____________________________ for analysis on Earth.

Ans: Martian soil sample

Q5: To ensure that the samples picked up from Mars aren't contaminated with microorganisms, the spacecraft and equipment are ____________________________ and are ____________________________.

Ans: cleaned with chemicals and heated

Q6: The Apollo missions to the Moon resulted in serious biological ____________________________ according to current guidelines.

Ans: contamination

Q7: The ____________________________ started a competition in 2015 to devise a digital message representative of humanity and Earth to be transmitted into deep space.

Ans: Breakthrough Project

B. Answer the questions briefly.

Q1: What did the Big Ear radio telescope detect?

Ans: The Big Ear radio telescope detected a strong radio signal from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius in August 1977, known as the 'Wow! Signal'.

Q2:What does the Breakthrough Listen Project plan to do?

Ans: The Breakthrough Listen Project plans to cover ten times more sky area to search for potential alien life, making it one of the most comprehensive searches for alien communication.

Q3: What did NASA land in February 2021 on Mars? What is its main goal?

Ans: NASA landed the rover Perseverance in February 2021 on Mars. Its main goal is to help get a better understanding of how Mars was formed as a planet and search for signs of past life.

Q4: How will the rock samples be collected from planet Mars in 2028?

Ans: In 2028, a European rover will arrive on Mars to collect the samples and load them onto a NASA spacecraft called the Mars Ascent Vehicle, which will carry them into Martian orbit to meet with the European Earth Return Orbiter, which will bring the samples back to Earth.

Q5: What are the two components of Planetary Protection?

Ans: The two components of Planetary Protection are forward contamination, which is the introduction of life from Earth onto other planets, and backward contamination, which is concerned with the possibility of extraterrestrial life brought back to Earth escaping into the environment.

Q6: What happened in Australia, the Americas, and Hawaii?

Ans: In Australia, the Americas, and Hawaii, the introduction of foreign diseases and organisms to colonized lands devastated the indigenous ecosystems.

Q7: Why will all the areas with the potential for water on Mars not be explored?

Ans: All the areas with the potential for water on Mars are off-limits because they are the most likely to support life. Experiments must concentrate on evidence of past life to minimize the risk of contamination.

Q8: What is Earthling Project? What is its purpose?

Ans: The Earthling Project was launched in December 2020 by the SETI Institute. It started with a call to people to upload bits of songs that will be combined into a single global composition to be launched into space in Summer 2021, alongside a copy of Wikipedia and the Rosetta Project. Its purpose is not just to send a message to the universe, but also to show that humans are all the same and to foster global unity.

C. Think and answer.

Q1: Do you think it is a good idea to send messages to extra terrestrial intelligence? Explain.

Ans: Whether it is a good idea to send messages to extraterrestrial intelligence can be debated. On one hand, it could potentially lead to groundbreaking discoveries and open up communication with other intelligent life forms. On the other hand, as some critics argue, attracting alien attention could be dangerous, akin to the negative impacts seen in human history when different cultures collided without mutual understanding.

Q2: Do you think human beings should keep looking for and trying to connect with extra terrestrial life? What impact can it have on our environment?

Ans: Continuing the search for and trying to connect with extraterrestrial life can have profound implications. Positively, it could expand our knowledge of the cosmos, lead to technological advancements, and even unite humanity under a common goal. However, it might also lead to environmental impacts, especially concerning contamination as we explore and potentially exploit other celestial bodies. The ethical and ecological considerations of such explorations must be carefully managed.