The beginning of this article about GPS guides for parachutes has been cut into 9 sentences. Each sentence contains one mistake. You must find the mistake and type the whole sentence in the space provided once you've corrected it. Make sure your spelling is right and do not forget capital letters!
1. U.S. Marines used GPS-guided parachutes to carry supplies to soldiers in an Iraq combat zone for the first time in August 9, 2004.
2. Programmed with the drop zone's coordinates, the Sherpa Autonomous Parafoil Delivery System units pilot itself from nearly two miles high to within less than 200 meters of their target.
3. A week prior to the Sherpa's debut, a KC-130 has dropped a load of rations for Marines at Korean Village. (1)
4. Even at the aircraft's altitude of 800 feet, the cargo landed 300 meters from its target, according to Army Captain Pack.
5. The owners of the new Sherpa is the 1st Air Delivery Platoon which delivers supplies to Marine units throughout the vast western portion of Iraq's Al Anbar Province.
6. Although years away, the U.S. military is currently developing the Joint Precision Air Drop System (JPADS), a family of computer-guided cargo parachutes expect one day to support 21-ton loads.
7. Military leaders want JPADS to provide an alternative, less risk and more precise methods of delivering supplies in combat zones.
8. Currently, cargo is dropped via "stupid" parachutes, which have varying accuracy depend on the altitude of the aircraft and wind conditions during the drop, says Pack.
9. Low-altitude drops ( anything under 2,000 feet) are fairly accurate, but puts the plane and its crew in range of enemy fire.
10. In the last passage of the article, you must choose the right answer for each numbered gap from the multiple choice questionnaire below.
In Afghanistan, where air delivery is used heavily (1) ……………………. forces in remote locations, loads have landed more than a kilometer from troops on the ground, forcing them to hike and hunt (2) ……………………. the goods.
With the Sherpa, however, pilots (3) ……………………. to see the ground and can make accurate drops day or night from as high as 25,000 feet and as far as nine miles from the drop zone, says Pack.
(4) ……………………. in flight, the Sherpa constantly checks its position using a GPS receiver, and (5) ……………………. flight adjustments as necessary, pulling on two steering lines to turn the parachute. Before any mission, the aircraft's altitude and speed, the cargo's weight, the drop zone location, and wind speeds for various heights must be programmed into the Sherpa's control unit (6) ……………………. that it can calculate a flight plan. It can even be programmed to manoeuvre round/around obstacles or locations where enemy forces are located.
"The GPS-guided chute gives us more flexibility dropping the load," says Capt. Robert D. Hornick, "We just get close to the DZ and drop it, and it does the rest."
Air delivery helps reduce the number of Marines and vehicles (7) ……………………. to drive on the dangerous Iraqi highways.
This article is based largely on a manuscript prepared by USMC Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon.