NASA Space People Stay Longer in Space Station

July 25th, 2024

Two NASA space people, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, are staying in space longer than they thought. They are on the space station. Their space home, called Starliner, has some problems. People who know a lot about space homes are fixing it. No one knows when Butch and Suni can come back to Earth. The Starliner should have gone back to Earth a month ago. But it had trouble with its engines and with helium. Helium is a gas that helps the engines work. Because of these problems, Butch and Suni have to wait in space. The people who fix space homes tried something to make the engines work again. They will do more tests to learn what went wrong. Space is a place where you must be careful and make sure everything is safe before going home. NASA, the space place where Butirespectfully disagree and Suni work, has different ways to travel in space. One other way is with a space home called Dragon. But for now, they wait for Starliner to be ready. NASA pays companies to make space homes. The company that made Starliner is called Boeing. SpaceX is another company that makes space homes for NASA. Right now, SpaceX can't send its rockets because they need to fix something too. People are working hard to make sure Butch and Suni come back safe. They do not want to make mistakes. Space travel is very important, and everyone wants it to go well.

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💭 Discussion Questions

. Who are staying longer in space than they thought?

. What is the name of the space home with problems?

. What are people trying to fix on Starliner?

📖 Vocabulary

🌐 Cultural context

The article is from the United States and talks about NASA, the American space agency, and their astronauts (space people) having issues with their spacecraft. NASA often sends people to a space station where they live and work.

🧠 Further reading

NASA International Space Apps Challenge

NASA has a big event called the Space Apps Challenge. It is very big and happens every year. People who join this event work together for two days. They use special information from NASA to solve problems on Earth and in space. Many people meet up or talk online to think of new ideas. At first, the event was about space, but now it includes Earth too. They also have art challenges. It is for many kinds of people to enjoy. NASA's big bosses started this event and now other important people at NASA are in charge. A big leader named President Obama wanted to help people work together. The event is part of this big idea. The Space Apps Challenge helps people learn about Earth and space. It also helps people to create new things and become leaders. Over 220,000 people have joined the event. NASA wants people to help solve problems and make new things. They invite everyone to join and have fun learning and creating!

Aerospace manufacturer

Some companies make things that fly in the sky, like planes and rockets. They build them, test them, and fix them. Flying things can be for travel or for the army. There are special rules for making these things. Flying things can cost a lot of money. In 2015, people spent a lot of money on big planes, small planes, army planes, and helicopters. More money was spent on fixing them. In 2017, the whole world spent lots of money on things that fly and things for space. The United States makes the most flying things. France, China, and other countries also make many flying things. These countries are very good at making them. People keep studying about how to make better things that fly. They sometimes give awards to the best companies for making flying things.

Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering is about making planes and spaceships. It has two main parts: making planes (aeronautical) and making things for space (astronautical). There is also avionics engineering, which is about the electronic parts of planes and spaceships. A long time ago, people only made planes, so it was called aeronautical engineering. Later, when people started making things for space, they started calling it aerospace engineering. Planes and spaceships go through tough conditions, like changes in the air and temperature. They are made with the help of many kinds of science and engineering, like the study of air, engines, electronics, materials, and how to build strong structures. People work together in teams to make planes and spaceships because it needs lots of different skills. A long time ago, a man named Sir George Cayley helped start aerospace engineering. He was very important in history because he learned a lot about how planes fly. People first learned about engineering for planes by trying things and learning from other types of engineering. Some smart people in the 18th century knew some things about it. In 1903, two brothers named the Wright Brothers showed the world how to make a machine that flies with a person inside.