Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
NASA is a space agency in the United States. NASA gave nearly 600 million dollars to three companies for new Moon trips.
The three companies are Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines. Each company will send a robot lander to the Moon.
In total, there will be four landings. They will happen in late 2028.
Every lander will carry the same three science tools. The tools will study Moon dust, radiation and how to find your way around on the Moon. This is part of a plan to build a base near the Moon's south pole.
- space agency
- a government organization that studies space and sends missions there
- award
- to officially give money or a prize to someone for a project
- lander
- a spacecraft built to land on a surface, like the Moon
- robot
- a machine that can do tasks on its own, often without a person controlling it
- instrument
- a tool used to measure or study something scientifically
- dust
- tiny bits of dry material, like the fine powder on the Moon's surface
- radiation
- energy that travels through space and can be harmful in large amounts
- outpost
- a small base or station set up far from the main area, often for exploring
Level 2 — Elementary
NASA has awarded nearly 600 million dollars to three private companies to deliver four science missions to the Moon in late 2028.
The companies are Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines. Astrobotic received about 298 million dollars for two deliveries, while Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines each won a single delivery, worth about 144 million and 148 million dollars.
The missions are part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which pays private companies to carry NASA science equipment to the Moon instead of building and launching everything itself.
Each of the four landers will carry an identical set of three NASA instruments. These tools will study dangerous dust kicked up during landing, help improve navigation on the Moon, and map the Moon's radiation environment, all part of a larger effort to build a lasting outpost near the lunar south pole.
- private company
- a business owned by individuals or investors, not run by the government
- deliver
- to carry and successfully bring something to its destination
- commercial
- related to buying, selling, or business activity
- payload
- the cargo or equipment a vehicle, like a spacecraft, carries to its destination
- identical
- exactly the same as something else in every way
- navigation
- the process of finding a way from one place to another
- environment
- the surrounding conditions in a particular place
- lunar
- relating to the Moon
Level 3 — Intermediate
NASA has awarded nearly 600 million dollars to three commercial companies, Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines, to deliver four robotic science missions to the lunar surface in late 2028, extending its strategy of contracting private industry to reach the Moon.
Astrobotic secured roughly 298 million dollars for two deliveries, while Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines each won a single delivery contract, valued at approximately 144 million and 148 million dollars respectively, under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program.
The CLPS model allows NASA to purchase transportation for its science instruments the way a customer might purchase shipping, rather than designing, building and launching an entire spacecraft itself, a shift intended to lower costs and increase the pace of lunar exploration.
Each of the four landers will carry an identical trio of NASA instruments designed to improve lunar navigation, characterize the hazardous dust plumes kicked up during descent and landing, and map the Moon's radiation environment, data that will directly inform NASA's broader effort to establish a durable, science capable outpost near the lunar south pole.
- commercial company
- a for-profit business, as opposed to a government agency
- contract
- a formal, binding agreement to provide a service for payment
- secure
- to successfully obtain or win something, such as funding or a contract
- transportation
- the act or means of carrying something from one place to another
- characterize
- to describe or measure the distinctive features of something
- plume
- a cloud of material, such as dust or gas, that spreads out from a source
- descent
- the act of moving downward, such as a spacecraft approaching a landing site
- durable
- able to withstand wear and continue functioning over a long period
Level 4 — Advanced
NASA has awarded nearly 600 million dollars to three commercial companies, Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines, to deliver four robotic science missions to the lunar surface in late 2028, further entrenching its strategy of contracting private industry to reach the Moon rather than developing landers entirely in-house.
Astrobotic secured roughly 298 million dollars for two deliveries, while Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines each won a single delivery contract, valued at approximately 144 million and 148 million dollars respectively, under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative.
The CLPS model allows NASA to procure transportation for its science instruments much as a shipper contracts a courier, rather than designing, fabricating and launching an entire spacecraft independently, a structural shift intended to compress costs and accelerate the cadence of lunar exploration relative to traditional, agency-led missions.
Each of the four landers will carry an identical trio of NASA instruments engineered to refine lunar navigation, characterize the hazardous dust plumes ejected during descent and touchdown, and map the Moon's radiation environment, data streams that will directly inform NASA's broader ambition of establishing a durable, scientifically capable outpost near the lunar south pole ahead of eventual crewed habitation.
- entrench
- to firmly establish something so it becomes difficult to change
- procure
- to obtain something, especially through a formal process such as a contract
- fabricate
- to construct or manufacture something, often industrially
- compress
- to reduce or squeeze something into a smaller amount or scope
- cadence
- the rhythm or pace at which a series of events occurs
- eject
- to forcefully throw or push something out
- habitation
- the state of living in or occupying a place
- structural
- relating to the fundamental design or arrangement of a system
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