Science, Technology, and the Environment Shoot to the Moon It’s the brightest and largest into fragments ranging from Soviets by landing the fi rst object in the night sky. It bathes huge boulders to powdery dust. human on the Moon. us in moonlight. Over 27 Th e Moon's temperature ranges He succeeded. On July 20, days, we watch it waxing and from minus 248 degrees Celsius 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil waning. We feel its gravitational to plus 123 degrees Celsius. It has Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” pull in the rise and fall of the about one percent of the mass Aldrin took "a giant leap for Earth’s tides. of the Earth. Its gravity is 0.166 mankind" onto the dusty Th e Moon is the Earth’s only of Earth’s. So if you weigh 45 lunar surface. natural satellite. About 384,000 kilograms on Earth you’d weigh Over the next three years, fi ve kilometres away, it circles the 7.5 kilograms on the Moon. other Apollo missions delivered planet in an elliptical orbit. One Ours is not the only moon in U.S. astronauts to the Moon. trip around Earth takes 27.32 space. Th ere are more than 150 Th ey brought back 382 kilograms Earth days. Th e Moon spins on moons orbiting the planets in of rock and soil to study. its axis at the same speed that our solar system alone. But our it goes around the Earth. Th at's Th e last human landing was Moon is closest to us. And it’s why we always see the same face in 1972. However, unmanned the only place in space where of the Moon. lunar expeditions resumed in humans have set foot. the 1990s. Th e U.S. National Our moon was likely formed Exploring the Moon Aeronautics and Space when a Mars-sized body collided Administration (NASA) sent with Earth some 4.5 billion Th e Soviet Union landed the robots to probe the Moon. So years ago. Since then asteroids, fi rst unmanned spaceship on did the European Space Agency, meteoroids, and comets have the Moon in 1959. Th at event Japan, China, and India. cratered and pitted the Moon's spurred the United States into surface. Th ey have ground it up action. U.S. President John F. Th en in 2019, NASA announced Kennedy wanted to beat the the Artemis Project. It's an Definitions elliptical: shaped like an ellipse (a shape similar to a circle Soviet union: offi cially the Union of Soviet Socialist but longer than it is wide) Republics (USSR). It was made up of 15 Soviet Socialist Satellite: an object that travels in a path around another in Republics including Russia before it broke apart in 1991. space Wan: to become smaller and less bright wax: to become larger and brighter 2020/2021: Issue 4 What in the world? Level 1 Page 35 Science, Technology, and the Environment Shoot to the Moon ambitious new program to send humans back to the Moon. Who Owns the Moon? Who governs the moon? Who decides who can land on it, live on it, The Artemis project and mine its resources? For years, nations have debated these questions. NASA is leading the Artemis In 1959, the United Nations set up the Committee on the Peaceful Project, but it will work with Uses of Outer Space to govern the exploration and use of space for other nations and companies. the benefi t of all humanity. It negotiated international treaties and Astronauts will travel aboard an principles that are the framework for current international space law. ultramodern spacecraft called Th e 1967 Outer Space Treaty notes that human space exploration Orion. A powerful new rocket should benefi t all mankind, not just one country. However, only a will lift Orion into lunar orbit. few countries ratifi ed the 1979 Moon Agreement, designed to prevent Th e astronauts will dock Orion commercial exploitation of space resources. Th ey didn’t include the at the Gateway, a spaceport U.S., China, and Russia. orbiting the Moon. Now the U.S. has unilaterally drawn up the Artemis Accords. Th is is Canada is one partner helping a set of guidelines for countries participating in its Artemis Project. to build the Gateway. We Canada is one of eight countries that have signed these accords. But a number of countries have refused to sign. Why? Th ey believe the U.S. is will contribute Canadarm3. imposing rules to keep its leadership position on the Moon. Th ey want Canadarm3 is an improved a United Nations treaty instead. version of the robotic arms we once built for Space Shuttles and to two months. Th e base camp Not made of cheese the International Space Station. will likely be on the Moon’s Our past visits to the Moon have At the Gateway, crews will stay South Pole. It will have a cabin, a helped us to understand more in HALO, short for Habitation rover, and a mobile home. about our orbiting neighbour. and Logistics Outpost. HALO A Moon base sounds like science However, there's more to learn. will provide their life support fi ction, but NASA is making it a And if we hope to travel to needs. From the Gateway, the reality. Deliveries to the Moon distant planets one day, it's best astronauts will transfer to a of science instruments and to start in our own backyard. landing system to travel to the technology begin in 2021. And “We understand the Moon better Moon’s surface. in the next few years, NASA will than many other places, yet we Th e landing system will double test rockets and spaceships. still have important unanswered as lodging for short stays on the Th e plan is fi rst to land two questions,” says planetary Moon’s surface. But eventually, astronauts. Aft er that, NASA geologist Brett Denevi. J NASA plans to build Artemis will send crews to the Moon Base Camp. Four people about once a year. Th e long-term could then live and conduct goal is to fl y astronauts to Mars. experiments on the Moon for up Definitions exploitation: the act of making some area of land or water unilaterally: (something) done by one country without more profi table or productive or useful considering what other countries think or want ratify: to make an agreement offi cial by signing it or formally accepting it 2020/2021: Issue 4 What in the world? Level 1 Page 36 Science, Technology, and the Environment Shoot to the Moon COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS 1. How far away is the Moon? How long does it take to circle the Earth? 2. List at least three other interesting facts about the Moon. 3. Which country landed the fi rst unmanned spaceship on the Moon? When did this happen? 4. Which country landed the fi rst crewed spaceship on the Moon? When did this occur? 5. What is the Artemis Project and what is its aim? 6. Which agency is leading this project? 7. Explain what the Gateway is. What is its purpose? 8. Describe how astronauts will reach the Gateway. 9. Describe the Artemis Base Camp. What is its purpose? 2020/2021: Issue 4 What in the world? Level 1 Page 37 Science, Technology, and the Environment Shoot to the Moon QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 1. Th e article states that when Commander Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, he said, "Th at's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." As you see it, what is the signifi cance of that statement today, more than 50 years aft er it was fi rst said? 2. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, have signed contracts with NASA to fl y astronauts to the moon with their companies' spacecraft s. Mr. Bezos has stated, "We’re not going back to the moon to visit. We’re going back to the moon to stay.” Mr. Musk has stated, "I think we’ve got potential for an incredibly exciting future in space, with a base on the moon and ultimately sending people and having a self-sustaining city on Mars." What are your thoughts about having self-sustaining settlements on the Moon and Mars? Are they realistic? Are they desirable? What might some considerations and challenges be? 3. In Greek mythology, Artemis was the twin sister of the god Apollo. As you see it, what is the signifi cance of the choice of name for NASA's new project to put astronauts on the Moon? 2020/2021: Issue 4 What in the world? Level 1 Page 38 Science, Technology, and the Environment Shoot to the Moon QUESTIONS FOR ONLINE EXPLORATION Note: Th e links below are listed at www.lesplan.com/en/links for easy access. 1. Visit the following link to see a NASA animation of how the Artemis Project will happen: https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=qMMguZLZxhk What additional information about the Artemis Project did you learn from this animation? 2. Visit the following website to learn more about the moon's phases and lunar eclipses, and how they may impact space exploration: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/lunar-phases-and-eclipses/ How might the Artemis Project use this information before, during, and aft er its mission? Explain. 3. Recently NASA has confi rmed that there is water on the sunlit surface of the moon.