NASA Space People Stay Longer in Space Station

July 25th, 2024

Two NASA astronauts are staying in space longer than planned. They are living on the International Space Station right now. Their spacecraft, called Starliner, made by Boeing, has some problems. It has issues with its engines and leaks. The people who build Starliner are trying to fix these problems. The astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, were supposed to be in space for about one week. They should have come back to Earth in the middle of June. But because of the Starliner's troubles, they have to wait. NASA and Boeing have not decided when they will return. Steve Stich from NASA said they will come back when everything is ready. They might use a different spacecraft from SpaceX if they need to, but they hope to use the Starliner. Boeing's spacecraft had a test before, in 2019, without astronauts, but it did not work well. Boeing tried it again in 2022. SpaceX, another company, has been taking astronauts to the space station since 2020. The people who make Starliner are looking closely at the spacecraft to learn what went wrong. They will do some tests while the Starliner is still attached to the space station. They have found some problems with small parts of the engines. But they need to know more. NASA wants to be safe, so they are not rushing to bring the astronauts back until the Starliner is fixed. They want to make sure everything is okay for the trip home.

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💭 Discussion Questions

. How long were the astronauts supposed to stay in space originally?

. What is the name of the spacecraft the two NASA astronauts are using?

. What will NASA do to make sure it is safe for the astronauts to come back to Earth?

📖 Vocabulary

🌐 Cultural context

NASA is the space agency of the United States. They work with companies like Boeing and SpaceX to send astronauts to the International Space Station, a place where astronauts from around the world live and work in space.

🧠 Further reading

Centennial Challenges

NASA has a special program called the Centennial Challenges. It's a space competition where people from the United States can show their technology skills. Teams that are not from the government can join. If they do a good job with a technology task, they can win some prize money. These challenges are named after the Wright brothers who flew their plane 100 years ago. Their work is like the heart of these challenges. A long time ago, there were other big prizes for people who made new things. The Centennial Challenges are like those. They're good because people only get money if they finish their task. Some smart people said NASA should do more of these competitions. So, NASA started the Centennial Challenges with help from the X PRIZE people. NASA has a lot of money to spend, just like the Department of Energy and the Defense Department. The Department of Energy is also thinking about giving money for new work on hydrogen fuel, which is a kind of energy. This means more people who make new technology might get the chance to show their work and get money for it, even if they're not usually working with the government.

International Space Station

The International Space Station, or ISS, is a big space station that floats in space close to Earth. It is like a science lab in space. People from five space agencies, including NASA (from the USA), Roscosmos (from Russia), JAXA (from Japan), ESA (from Europe), and CSA (from Canada), all work together on it. It is the biggest space station ever made. The ISS has two main parts. One part is built by Russia, and the other part is built by America, Japan, Europe, and Canada. It has big solar panels for power and special rooms for science, places to live, and places to put things. Spacecraft can come and connect to the ISS at special spots. The ISS goes around the Earth very fast, and it is about 400 kilometers above the ground. People first went to live on the ISS on November 2, 2000, and since then, some people have always been there. As of March 2024, people from 22 different countries have been to the ISS. The ISS was made from two older ideas for space stations from the United States and the Soviet Union. The first part of the ISS was sent into space in 1998. The spaceships called Proton, Soyuz, and the Space Shuttle helped to build it. The ISS has been in space for a long time, and 279 people have visited it. New parts will be added, and it will be used until the end of 2030. After that, they plan to take it down from space using a special NASA spacecraft.

Project Mercury

A long time ago, the United States wanted to send a man into space. They started a space program called Project Mercury from 1958 to 1963. The plan was to beat the Soviet Union by putting a man in space first. There were 20 space trips without people, and some had animals. Then, six brave astronauts flew into space. They were known as the "Mercury Seven." Each astronaut named his spacecraft with a "7". The competition in space began when the Soviet Union sent a satellite named Sputnik into space in 1957. This made the American people surprised and a little worried. That's why NASA was made. After the United States sent a satellite called Explorer 1 into space in 1958, they wanted to send people next. The Soviet Union was first to send a man into space in 1961. His name was Yuri Gagarin. Soon after, the United States sent their first astronaut, Alan Shepard. Later, John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth three times. The space capsule for Project Mercury was made by a company named McDonnell Aircraft. It had water, food, and air for the astronaut for one day. It was also safe. If something went wrong, a special rocket could take the capsule away from danger. The launches happened in Florida. By the end of the project, the United States and the Soviet Union had sent six people into space, but the Soviets spent more time there.