Text title: Rocket Lab to launch New Zealand's first lunar mission
Text type: Article
Text creator: RNZ (Radio New Zealand)
Text purpose: To inform viewers about Rocket Lab launching New Zealand's first moon mission.
Critical Literacy Question: What questions about itself does the text not raise?
Date: 15 November 2021
What questions about itself does the text not raise?
I think the article should include about why is Rocket Lab launching the mission for NASA -- because NASA could've built it themselves. However, it is a good opportunity for the nation.
Brief:
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| Credit: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/448687/rocket-lab-to-launch-new-zealand-s-first-lunar-mission |
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| An artist's concept of the future moon landing under the Artemis Program. Credit: https://www.space.com/artemis-program.html & NASA |
Later this year, Rocket Lab is going to launch its first mission to the Moon from the Māhia Peninsula. This will be the space company's first mission beyond the low Earth orbit (LEO) and the first lunar mission to be launched from New Zealand.
This mission by Rocket Lab will be launching for NASA, which is working on plans to send astronauts to the Moon "again".
Dubbing to the Artemis program (an ongoing space mission run by NASA), NASA wants to send the first woman astronaut and next male astronaut on the Moon's South Pole by 2024 -- and establish a long-term presence there.
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| An illustration of the Gateway - built with commercial partners, used for long-term exploration. Credit: https://www.nasa.gov/gateway/overview |
The satellite will test out the orbit and navigating technologies NASA wants to use for its mini-space station, Gateway - an outpost orbiting the moon, providing vital support for a long-term human return to the lunar surface.
Rocket Lab spokesperson Morgan Bailey said, "this is the very first step in NASA's plans to return humans to the surface of the Moon, something that we have not done since the 1970s."
The small launch vehicle has never been used to launch a mission to the Moon. The contract is valued at just under $10 million. Rocket Lab said that it is one of the most affordable lunar launches undertaken.
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