Space Shuttle retirement

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

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/space-shuttle-retirement

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. Why was the Space Shuttle retired in 2011?The Shuttle was retired because it was very expensive to launch and fix, its old technology made it hard to keep working, and serious safety problems after the Challenger and Columbia accidents made people rethink its use.
2. What was the biggest thing the Space Shuttle helped build?The Shuttle built the International Space Station by carrying huge parts into space and using its robotic arm to put them together.

Space Transportation System (STS): The official designation for the Space Shuttle program, emphasizing its role as a transport system.
Commercial Crew Program: NASA initiative to develop private spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the ISS.
Microgravity Experiments: Scientific research conducted in an environment with extremely low gravity, often aboard spacecraft.