Today in History

　　The Apollo 10 mission is a dress rehearsal for a July moonlanding1969: Apollo 10 gets birds eye view of Moon

　　England have

　　Two US astronauts aboard Apollo 10 are on their way back tothesafety of their mother ship after their lunar module came towithineight nautical miles (14kms) of the Moons surface.

　　Colonel Thomas Stafford and Commander Eugene Cernan werecarryingout a rehearsal for a planned Moon landing this summer.

　　They were in the lunar module (LM) nicknamed Snoopy and arenowabout to rejoin the command module (aka Charlie Brown) pilotedbyCommander John Young 50 miles (80km) above the Moon.

　　The two spacemen came closer than any human being has come toacelestial body.

　　Snoopy made two passes over the planned landing site forApollo11 before making a successful rendezvous with CharlieBrown.

　　After the first sweep at six times the speed of sound,ColStafford said they had taken so many photographs he fearedthecamera had jammed while trying to change the film.

　　We just saw earthrise - the Earth appearing over the edge ofthelunar horizon - and its got to be magnificent. CommanderEugeneCernan said.

　　If the mission fails to bring back still shots of possiblelandingsites and approaches it will be a serious blow to Apolloplanners.They want to make sure astronauts Neil Armstrong and BuzzAldrinhave a safe landing this July in Apollo 11.

　　But Col Stafford did manage to get a good view of thesurfacewhich he described as very smooth, like wet clay.

　　Commander Cernan then reported to control at Houston: We justsawearthrise - the Earth appearing over the edge of the lunarhorizon -and its got to be magnificent. It would be nice to behere moreoften.

　　Apollo 10 was launched four days ago from Cape Kennedy. It isthefourth manned Apollo launch within seven months.

　　It is hoped that the mission will bring back plenty ofcolourstills and moving images of the Moon and views of theEarth.

　　President Nixon and Mr Brezhnev met on the first day oftheAmerican visit 1972: President Nixon arrives in Moscow

　　Artificially 1969:

　　The Americas President Richard Nixon has arrived in Moscowfortalks with Soviet leaders.

　　He was given a modest welcome as he stepped off the planeatVnukovo airport with his wife earlier today.

　　The welcome party consisted of Soviet president NikolaiPodgorny,Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin and Foreign MinisterAndreiGromyko.

　　A twenty-minute ceremony, during which the presidentbrieflyinspected a guard of honour, was held and broadcast live byMoscowtelevision.

　　International issues

　　The national anthems of both countries were played and acarefullyselected group of Soviet citizens dutifully, butsilently, wavedAmerican and Soviet flags.

　　President Nixon, the first US president to visit Moscow, wassaidto be surprised that Leonid Brezhnev, general secretary oftheCommunist Party, was not at the airport.

　　But Soviet officials said Mr Brezhnevs absence was accordingtoprotocol, as he does not hold a government position.

　　However, following a high-speed motorcade throughMoscow,President Nixon was invited to unscheduled talks with MrBrezhnevat the Kremlin.

　　The meeting lasted 105 minutes and, although US officialswouldnot give details, Ronald Ziegler, the White House presssecretary,said the two men discussed international issues.

　　Many observers were hoping the war in Vietnam and the nucleararmsrace would be high on the agenda.

　　For the first time in history the stars and stripes flagofAmerica flew over the Grand Palace of the Kremlin to markthevisit.

　　This evening President Nixon and his wife attended a banquetatthe Kremlin. The couple walked along a red carpet and up a60-stepstaircase into the Granovit banqueting hall, where thetwopresidents drank toasts to peace.

　　There are known differences between the two men on such issuesasthe war in Vietnam and the Middle East.

　　President Nixon spoke about the need for co-operationandreciprocation between the two countries in their efforts toconquerdisease, improve the environment, and to expand bilateraltrade andeconomic links.

　　He said he was eager to make the summit a memorable one foritssubstance.

　　During his speech he alluded to Vietnam: We should recognisethatit is the responsibility of great powers to influence othernationsin conflict or crisis to moderate their behaviour.

　　He also spoke of a possible arms agreement which, he saidcouldbegin to turn our countries away from a wasteful anddangerous armsrace and towards more production for peace.

　　President Podgorny said the Soviet Union wanted not just goodbutfriendly relations with the US.

　　The US president is due to remain in the Soviet Union until29May.

　　Vocabulary: celestial body: 天体

　　motorcade

　　: 汽车行列

　　（实习编辑：顾萍）