January 8-14, 2015 Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event: Module on International Space Station Evacuated
The U.S. module of the International Space Station (ISS) was recently evacuated after NASA identified a possible ammonia leak. An alarm was sounded, and the crew put on face masks, hurried to the Russian segment of the craft, and closed the hatch behind them. NASA says it may have been a false alarm. All six astronauts onboard are safe. The ISS also had some good news as a supply ship delivered a 2.5-ton (2.25 metric ton) shipment of supplies—including groceries, spare parts, children’s science experiments, and Christmas presents—to the station. The space station had been getting low on supplies, as a delivery ship scheduled to arrive in October 2014 exploded during its launch. A Russian ship delivered some supplies to the ISS later in October, but the launch date of the supply ship, originally meant for December, had been pushed back three times before its mid-January launch.
Objective:
The International Space Station is a large, inhabited Earth satellite that more than 15 nations are operating in space. It orbits Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers). The station includes several large cylindrical sections called modules. Each module was launched from Earth separately, and astronauts and cosmonauts connected the sections in space. The first part of the station was launched in 1998, and the first full-time crew—one American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts—occupied the station in 2000. The space station was completed in 2011. More than 80 flights of U.S. space shuttles and Russian rockets were necessary to complete the International Space Station. The United States and Russia provided most of the modules and other equipment. Canada built a mobile robot arm, which was installed in 2001. Other participants include Japan and the member nations of the European Space Agency (ESA). Brazil signed a separate agreement with the United States to provide equipment. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore the International Space Station and space exploration.
Words to know:
- Ammonia
- Astronaut
- European Space Agency (ESA)
- International Space Station
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Space exploration
- Space shuttle
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to name some famous astronauts and cosmonauts. (Students might say Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin, John Glenn, Mae Jemison, Jim Lovell, Christa McAuliffe, Sally Ride, Alan Shepard.)
2. Ask your students to debate, “The costs and dangers of manned space exploration are too great for it to continue.”
3. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to view or add to the Advances in Space Exploration timeline. (Students may wish to use World Book’s “Space exploration” article for help.)