Apollo program

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/apollo-program

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the program dates?Officially initiated in 1961, with the final mission concluding in 1972
2. Why did the United States want to land on the Moon?After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and sent Yuri Gagarin into space, the U.S. felt it needed to show it could do great space work and prove its ideas were good.
3. How did the Apollo spacecraft reach the Moon?The Apollo spacecraft used a huge rocket called the Saturn V, which had three powerful stages that lifted the ship out of Earth’s gravity. Inside the ship were three parts: the Command Module for the crew, the Service Module for power and life support, and the Lunar Module that landed on the Moon.

Translunar Injection (TLI): The maneuver that propels a spacecraft from Earth orbit onto a trajectory towards the Moon.
Rendezvous and Docking: The process of bringing two spacecraft together in space and connecting them.
Lunar Regolith: The layer of loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering the solid rock of the Moon's surface.