DAWN OF THE SPACE AGE

Web sites

• History of Rockets since 100 BC (NASA)
• NASAQuest Rocket information (NASA)
• Rocket Science 101 (NASA)
• Weightlessness and the Human Body
• Living in Space (ESA Kids)
• NASA Science
• ISS and satellite flyovers
• How do you go to the bathroom in space?

Books

• Rocket Science (Apogee Books Space Series) by Alfred Zaehringer and Steve Whitfield
• Space Exploration (DK Eyewitness Books) by Carole Stott
• The Amazing International Space Station by Editors of YES Mag
• Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years -- The Astronauts' Experiences in Their Own Words by DK Publishing
• Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race by David Scott and Alexei Leonov
• October Skies by Homer Hickam

TN State Science Standards

Conceptual Strands / All grades

• EMBEDDED TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING Conceptual Strand: Society benefits when engineers apply scientific discoveries to design materials and processes that develop into enabling technologies.
• PHYSICS / CONCEPTUAL PHYSICS STANDARD 1 – MECHANICS Conceptual Strand 1: Laws and properties of mechanics are the foundations of physics.
• STANDARD 6 – THE UNIVERSE Conceptual Strand 6: The cosmos is vast and explored well enough to know its basic structure and operational principles.
• STANDARD 11 – MOTION Conceptual Strand 11: Objects move in ways that can be observed, described, predicted, and measured.
• STANDARD 12 – FORCES IN NATURE Conceptual Strand 12: Everything in the universe exerts a gravitational force on everything else; there is interplay between magnetic fields and electrical currents

Grade 4/5:

• GLE 0407.T/E.2 Recognize that new tools, technology, and inventions are always being developed
• GLE 0407.T/E.4 Recognize the connection between scientific advances, new knowledge, and the availability of new tools and technologies.

Grade 5:

• GLE 0507.12.1 Recognize that the earth attracts objects without directly touching them.
• GLE 0507.12.3 Provide examples of how forces can act at a distance.

Grade 6/7/8:

• GLE 0607.T/E.2 Know that the engineering design process involves an ongoing series of events that incorporate design constraints, model building, testing, evaluating, modifying, and retesting.

Grade 7:

• GLE 0707.11.4 Investigate how Newton’s laws of motion explain an object’s movement.

Grade 8:

• GLE 0807.12.5 Recognize that gravity is the force that controls the motion of objects in the solar system.

High School:

Physical Science:

• CLE 3202.4.1 Explore the difference between mass and weight.

Earth Science:

• CLE 3204.1.4 Investigate the history of space exploration.

Physics:

• CLE 3231.1.2 Analyze and apply Newton’s three laws of motion.
• CLE 3231.1.2 Analyze and apply Newton’s three laws of motion.

Objectives

1. Name at least one astronaut and describe what he or she did in space.
2. Name one spacecraft and describe its purpose and where it was used.
3. Describe two challenges of human spaceflight.

Pre-visit Activities

1. The launch of Sputnik is usually seen as the beginning of the “Space Age.” Have students research the rocket science that led to Sputnik: early rocket pioneers, bombs from WWII, even as far back as Chinese fireworks.
2. Investigate how many humans have flown in space - including Russian and Chinese programs. Discover records for longest and shortest stays in space, most flights by one astronaut, most spacecraft flown by a single astronaut, longest astronaut career, most people in space at one time, how many different countries’ citizens have flown, etc.
3. Discover how many people, scientific disciplines, and companies it took to get Apollo 11 to the moon. Compare that to Space Shuttle and ISS support services. Research the companies who are developing new systems for commercial human spaceflight and tourism.

Post-visit Activities

1. Download the monthly star chart from our website at www.SudekumPlanetarium.com. Encourage students to locate the constellations and any planets visible in the evening sky.
2. Visit websites (see list) that allow students to find out when they can see the ISS passing over. Encourage the students to watch.
3. Have students discover how many places on Earth can launch spacecraft. (There is more than just Cape Canaveral!) How many nations can launch humans into space? What are their plans for the future of human spaceflight?
4. How many different places can the Shuttle land? How many different crewed space stations have orbited Earth? Don’t forget about Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, . . .
5. The focus of this program is human spaceflight, but Earth-orbiting satellite technology is critical to our everyday lives. How many GPS satellites are there? How many weather satellites? Others? How often do they need to be replaced?
6. Have students explore the many hazards of spaceflight. Then consider dangerous things they do every day (travel on the interstate). Compare the odds of accidents on Earth to space.
7. Hold a debate on the usefulness of space exploration. How can information about other planets help us on Earth? What are the costs and risks? What benefits has the space program had on our everyday lives? Find out how others feel about this issue. Order the free NASA publication called Space Spinoffs about how space technology is used on Earth.

Exhibit Connections

Start at the Rocket Launch to see how rockets escape Earth’s gravity. Move to Trajectory Trails to practice celestial mechanics. Explore the Drop Tower and Spin Browser to learn how objects behave in microgravity. These three exhibits together provide hands-on experience with Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Students can practice moving outside a spacecraft on the EVA wall, or sit and try to use a tool on the MicroG simulator chairs.

The history of human spaceflight is graphically illustrated on the two-story Test Bed wall mural.

Vocabulary

• Agena
• Alexei Leonov
• Apollo
• atmosphere
• atmospheric pressure
• command module
• Deep Space Network
• elliptical
• freefall
• Galileo
• Gemini
• Gravity
• International Space Station
• hydrogen
• Kazakhstan
• Laika
• lunar module
• maria
• manned space program
• Neil Armstrong
• orbit
• planet
• radiation
• Sergei Korolov
• space race
• Sputnik
• Trans-lunar insertion
• Venera
• Viking 1 & 2
• Vostok
• Wernher von Braun
• Yuri Gagarin