Space Missions

Space Missions

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Apollo 11

• Launched in 1969

• First mission to land on the moon

• Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin took 4.5 days to fly to the moon

• Once there, they explored it for 21 hours, taking rock and soil samples and observing it's surface up close

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2

• Space probes launched by NASA in 1977 to study the Solar System

• Packed with numerous scientific instruments such as cameras, magnetometers, and spectrometers, they flew close to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

• These probes send back detailed observations of these planets

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Multiple Select

What is true about Voyager 1 and 2? (Select all that apply)

• They are the longest running space mission in history

• Voyager 1 and 2 have always been on the same path

• One of the things the space mission was measuring was solar wind

• Even though our cell phone technology is way better than Voyager 1 and 2, it is still reporting measurements that are useful for understanding space

Curiosity

• An unpiloted Rover that landed on Mars in August 2012

• Since then, it has been exploring Mars and transmitting detailed information on Mars' surface, geology, atmosphere, and other properties, such as the presence of water

Multiple Choice

What was the goal of "Curiosity"?

• the video shows water on Mars

• to have fun remote controlling a vehicle from Earth

• to determine if Mars was ever able to support microbial life

• there are no craters on Mars

Rosetta

• unpiloted mission that landed a probe called Philae on a comet 67P.

• It was launched in 2004 but unfortunately Philae landed in a shadow which meant it could not re-charge it's solar power system. It relied on it's limited battery power.

• Scientists were able to briefly waken and communicate with Philae in 2015 when 67P reached it's closest distance to the sun.

Multiple Choice

What is true about Philae?

• it landed on a planet

• Philae was on a space journey for 10 years

• Philae is the size of a coffee cup

Multiple Choice

series of missions designed to send people to the moon and back

• Apollo

• Mercury

• Gemini

• Artemis

Open Ended

Although we have learned much from piloted missions to the Moon, scientists are increasingly using probes and rovers to explore space. What are the advantages of sending rovers and probes to space instead of human missions?

What is the future of Space Exploration?

Private companies are building commercial spacecraft to take tourists into space. There is great interest in sending humans to Mars, possibly to live there, and the first piloted mission to this planet may occur within the next few decades.

Multiple Choice

How long will the journey be to get to Mars? (according to the video)

• 5 months

• 2 years

• 5 weeks

• 18 months

Multiple Select

Many suggest that the base should be: (select all that apply)

• underground

• like the International Space Station

• like a tent

• like they are set up in the movie "The Martian"