Space Exploration
- Tell the purpose of space exploration including:
- historical reason,
- immediate goals in terms of specific knowledge,
- Benefits related to Earth resources, technology,
and new products.
- Tell about main steps in humanity's movement into space
and tell about the contributions of these individuals:
Jules Verne, K.E. Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, Hermann
Oberth, and Werner von Braun.
- Build, launch, and recover a model rocket.* Make a
second launch to accomplish a specific objective.
(Rocket must be built to meet the safety code of the
National Association of Rocketry.)
Identify and explain the following rocket parts:
- Body tube
- Engine mount
- Fins
- Igniter
- Launch lug
- Nose cone
- Payload
- Recovery system
- Rocket engine
- Discuss and demonstrate each of the following:
- The law of action-reaction.
- How rocket engines work
- How satellites stay in orbit
- How satellite pictures of the Earth and pictures of
other planets are made and transmitted.
- Discuss what has been learned about the Moon and
planets by manned and unmanned spacecraft exploration
and the possible benefits of new knowledge.
Do TWO of the following:
- Construct a data table of recent information about
the planets. For each planet, give important facts,
including distance from the sun, period of
revolution, rotation, number of moons, etc.
- Make a scrapbook of magazine photographs and news
clippings about planetary research.
- Design a spacecraft that will be sent on a mission
to another planet to take samples of its surface
and return them to Earth/ Name the planet your
spacecraft will visit; and, in your design, show
how your spacecraft will work and cope with the
environment of that plant.
- Describe the purpose and operation of the space
shuttle. Discuss the following:
- Main components
- Typical mission profile
- Payloads
- Design an Earth-orbiting space station. Make drawings
or a model of your station. Within your design,
consider and plan the following:
- Source of energy
- How it will be constructed
- Life-support systems
- Purpose and function
- Discuss with your counselor two possible careers in
space exploration.
* If local laws prohibit the launching of model rockets, do
the following activity: Make a model of a NASA rocket.
Explain the functions of the parts. Give the history of the
rocket.