Intermediate
US Moon Lander Falls on Side Near Moon's South Pole
February 23rd, 2024
A spacecraft from the United States has landed on the moon near the south pole. The company that made it, called Intuitive Machines, had a little problem when the spacecraft landed. It fell over on its side, which makes it hard to talk to it. Even though it's on its side, they say it can still do some work.
This landing is special because it's the first time a private company has landed on the moon. Before, only some countries had done this. NASA, the space agency in America, paid money to help with the mission. They want to learn about the moon to prepare for future astronaut trips.
The spacecraft, named Odysseus, had to take an extra trip around the moon before landing. It used a special laser system from NASA to land because its own navigation system had a problem. A camera was supposed to take a picture of the landing, but it couldn't because of the navigation issue. The team hopes to take a picture later.
The spacecraft won't be on the moon very long, just a week, because it runs on solar power and the moon's night is coming. Another company tried to go to the moon last month but had to stop because of a fuel problem.
This landing is a big deal for America because it hasn't landed anything on the moon since 1972. NASA wants to send astronauts to the moon again soon, and they are planning for it to happen in a few years. The Artemis program is the name of this new moon plan.
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💭 Discussion Questions
1
. Where has the spacecraft from the United States landed?2
. What is the name of the company that made the spacecraft?3
. What is special about this moon landing?📖 Vocabulary
🌐 Cultural context
The article is from the United States, where NASA is the national space agency responsible for the nation's civilian space program and aeronautics research. The cultural context includes the significance of space exploration and the historical background of the U.S. Apollo missions, which landed astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.
🧠 Further reading
Commercial Lunar Payload Services
NASA wants to send robots to the Moon to help with future astronaut missions. They started a program called CLPS to pay companies to do this. These robots will go to the Moon's south pole to look for water and other useful things, do science, and test new ideas for using what we find on the Moon.
NASA will pay a set price for everything needed to send their science things to the Moon and back. This includes the rockets, the landers to go to the Moon, and the vehicles to come back to Earth. So far, NASA has planned eight trips with companies. But, two of these trips had problems because one company lost its contract and another went out of business.
A long time ago, NASA started thinking about how to use things from the Moon for their missions. They decided to send small science tools to the Moon to learn more. In 2018, NASA stopped a project about a Moon rover, but then they said they would still explore the Moon with the help of companies. That's when they first talked about the CLPS program. They then asked companies who were interested to send their ideas, and later that year, they asked formally for companies to send their plans to go to the Moon.
Space exploration
People have been looking at the stars for a very long time. Space exploration is when we use special technology to study and travel to places outside Earth. Scientists called astronomers use big tools like telescopes to see stars and planets. Sometimes robots go into space to explore, and sometimes people do.
A long time ago, people made better rockets that could go really high up into space. Countries started to send things into space to learn more and to show that they were powerful. Two countries, the Soviet Union and the United States, were competing in what was called the "Space Race." They wanted to be the best at exploring space.
The first thing humans sent into space to go around Earth was called Sputnik 1, and it was made by the Soviet Union. It was sent up in 1957. The United States sent people to the Moon for the first time in 1969 with a mission called Apollo 11. The Soviet Union had many firsts in space. They sent the first living thing into space, had the first person fly in space, the first spacewalk, and even made the first space station. All of this happened between 1957 and 1971. People were very excited to learn about space and to explore new places.
Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships
NASA has a special program called NextSTEP. It helps make new space travel ideas with the help of companies. These ideas help people travel farther in space, to places like the area around the moon and beyond.
NextSTEP started in 2014 when NASA asked American companies to share their plans. Again in 2016, NASA looked for more ideas. The goal is to help companies grow while also helping NASA explore space more. One day, the things made from NextSTEP could be used in big space projects, like building a space station near the moon or a spaceship for long trips.
In 2015, NASA chose some partners from the NextSTEP program. These partners worked on special space engines and living spaces for astronauts in space. They also worked on tiny space satellites. NASA gave money to these projects, up to a few million dollars each year. This is helping to make new technology for exploring deep space.