Teaching article
A space fact may describe a plan rather than a completed mission
Compare the claim, source and publication context.
Two pages can use different tenses because they were written at different stages. Read the source dates and status language before treating an earlier proposal as a current result or a later report as a contradiction.
Check whether a page reports a proposal, current status or completed event. The same mission can be described differently at different dates.
Match the claim to its publication context
A mission status described before launch differs from a later mission report.
Identify the claim. Check the original source. Note whether information changed.
Which date matters to the claim? Use prepared extracts.
An old page can describe a once-current plan.
Resources
- Solar System Planet Order — Use the sequence cards and add a note that spacing is not a distance scale.
Further reading
Read next
- Invent a planet without announcing a discovery
- Familiar dinosaurs did not necessarily live at the same time
- Dinosaur diet claims should bring their evidence with them
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