Teaching overview

Learning points

  • Since the start of 2025, three private companies have sent uncrewed spacecraft on missions to the Moon’s surface.
  • Two of them launched in January–Blue Ghost successfully landed in March, while Resilience will attempt its landing in June.
  • The third spacecraft, Athena, landed on its side, and was unable to complete its mission.

Curriculum keywords

  • space
  • moon
  • lunar lander

Spark a discussion

  • What kinds of research did the Blue Ghost spacecraft do on the Moon?
  • What is regolith?
  • Why was Athena unable to complete its mission?

Classroom Resources

Use these resources to get the most out of the episode and engage your class in topical science!

Twig Science: A Complete Pre-K–8 Program for the NGSS

Immersive Investigations with High-Quality Multimedia

  • Investigating, designing, building, and understanding phenomena
  • Hands-on, digital, video, and print investigations
  • Synchronous/asynchronous distance learning