2.2.1 Moon Missions

Moon Missions
2.2.1

By Caitlin Ford

Objectives

- list the different types of Moon missions

- identify different space organizations and their landmark Moon missions

- explain how the Moon missions have led to a better understanding of the Moon

How is this

different from these?

Apollo 11

Launch - July 16, 1969

Landing - July 20, 1969 The Eagle has landed!

Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin do the first moon walk

Capsule landed in the ocean on July 24, 1969

Why go to the Moon?

The brightest object in the sky (other than the Sun!) and always attracted interest. Stories and art were created.

It is less expensive to launch missions to the moon than other planets.

Good training for astronauts who want to go on longer missions (like Mars)

Drag and Drop

The​

Placeholder

mission landed the first humans on the moon.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Apollo 11

Apollo 10

Luna 10

Luna 11

The Space Race

1950s-1960s

USA vs The Soviet Union after WWII

Rockets were launched, then rockets with different animals (dogs and monkeys), then rockets with people

The Moon Race

Kinds of spacecraft used for the Moon race:

Impactor - hit the surface of the moon

flyby - passed by the moon and took photographs

lander - landed softly on the moon

orbiter - went around the moon

rover - moves on the surface of the Moon, collecting samples and taking photographs

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Disaster

There were deaths during the Space Race. 

3 astronauts perished during a launch rehearsal of Apollo 1. A fire broke out.

After this, NASA sent several uncrewed missions to space to test all of its launch equipment.

The End of the Space Race

After 1972, NASA stopped sending people to the moon. There was a lack of political backing and it cost too much (25 billion dollars for all Apollo missions)

... until now!

NASA is planning to return to the moon in 2027 with the Artemis III mission.

Lunar Missions of the 21st Century

Landmark Missions

SMART-1 - European Space Agency: impacted the Moon

SELENE - Japan: mapped the lunar surface and the gravitational field of the Moon's far side

Chang'e - China: multiple missions, brought lunar soil back to Earth

Chandrayaan - India: collected a lunar soil sample, found traces of water in the soil

Artemis 1 - USA: 25-day mission to study lunar surface

Multiple Select

Why did the United States stop sending humans to the Moon after Apollo 17? (select two!)

• There was a lack of political backing.

• The expense became too great.

• NASA was not ready to take the risk.

• NASA did not have sufficient resources.

Match

Match each spacecraft to its definition.

• hits the moon

• passes by the moon and takes photos

• touches down softly on the moon

• goes around the moon

• moves on the surface of the moon

impactor

flyby

lander

orbiter

rover

• impactor

• flyby

• lander

• orbiter

• rover

Artemis - NASA

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Great job!

Today, you learned:

- the historical developments that led to Moon missions

- some landmark Moon missions and their discoveries

- the importance of Moon missions