December 17, 1903 First Flight 120 feet in 12 seconds.

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Look how far we’ve come!

Orbiter length: 122 feet

8,000 Miles 13,000 Kilometers

A straight line passing through the center of a circle or sphere.

2,100 Miles or 3,500 Kilometers

Our moon is 1/4th the diameter of the Earth.

25,000 Miles 40,000 Kilometers

The size of something as given by the distance around it.

The point in the orbit of a heavenly body at which it is farthest from the earth.

The point in the orbit of a heavenly body at which it is nearest to the earth.

The average value of a set of numbers.

Using two objects to represent the Earth and moon, let’s estimate how far away the moon is from the Earth.

An approximate judgment or calculation.

Using diameter: 240,000 miles/8,000 miles = 30 Earths385,000 km/13,000 km = 29.6

Using circumference:240,000 miles/25,000 miles = 9 ½384,500 km/40,000 km = 9 ½

How long would it take to go to the moon?

Let’s take a car. We’ll even go faster than the speed limit (since there are no signs in space). Let’s say, 100 mph.

That means it will take 2,400 hours = 100 days!

That’s too long! Let’s take a jet instead. A commercial airliner goes about 600 mph.

Now we’ll arrive in 400 hours = 16 ½ days!

The Saturn V rocket took us to the moon. With this rocket the trip took only 3 days!

To date, the Saturn-V is still the largest rocket ever built and flown. It was 363 ft tall.

• Humans took their first trip to the moon in 1968. All we did then is fly around it.

• In July of 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon.

• The last time we went to the moon was in 1972.

1972??? Are you joking?• The median household

income was $9,697.• Cost of a first class stamp

was 8 cents.• The pocket calculator was

invented by Texas Instruments.

• The VW Beetle was the biggest selling car.

• M*A*S*H and the Waltons premiered on TV.

Even the Brady Bunch stayed on the air from 1969 until 1974!

How far away from the Earth are the Space Shuttle and the

International Space Station?

Using two objects to represent the Earth and the shuttle orbiter, let’s estimate how far away the orbiter is from the Earth.

Orbiting Altitude: Average 220 Nautical Miles or 407 km

Approximately how large will the International Space Station be when it’s completed?

1 Field 2 Fields 3 Fields

Approximately how large will the International Space Station grow?

2 Fields!

Where will we go next? This looks like a lovely sunset…but it isn’t from Earth!

What about a trip to the “Grand Canyon” of Mars? Valles Marineris is about 2500 miles long and up to 4 miles deep.

There’s a lot to see on Mars…. Like the “face” or the “Smiley” crater.

But you better plan ahead…there is no McDonalds there yet!

You should plan when to leave for this trip. At its closest, Mars is still tens of millions of miles away from Earth. Still, the decreased distance during "closest approach" allows for fuel-conserving flights to Mars every 26 months and a good view of Mars once or twice every 15 to 17 years for Earth-bound sky watchers.

Distance from Earth: Minimum 35 million miles (56,000,000 km) Maximum 250 million miles (399,000,000 km).

Using two objects to represent the Earth and Mars, let’s estimate how far away Mars is from the Earth.

How long would it take to go to Mars?

Let’s take a car. We’ll even go faster than the speed limit (since there are no signs in space). Let’s say, 100 mph.

That means it will take 560,000 hours = 23,333 days = 64 years!

That’s too long! Let’s take a jet instead. A commercial airliner goes about 600 mph.

Now we’ll arrive in 58,333 hours = 2,430 days = over 6 years!

Perhaps the new Crew Exploration Vehicle currently being developed will take us to Mars. With current technology, it will take an average of 7 months to travel one way to Mars.

So WHY are we spending all this $$$ in space?

The same year, American’s spent more on junk food! Way more!

How much return do we get on our dollars from this?

Joysticks

Protective Helmets

Windsurfer Fin

These are just a few of the ways we benefit from the space program:

Insulin Delivery System

Air Traffic Control Equipment

Physical Therapy Machines

Spinoff Applications… the list goes on and on!

• Medical Imaging • Programmable Pace

Maker• Lightning Warning

System• Cordless Hand Tools• Ear Thermometer• Smoke Detector• Fire Fighter Equipment

• Invisible Braces• Satellite Dish• Composite Materials• Advanced Plastics• Laser Angioplasty• Scratch Resistant

Lenses• Water Purification

Systems• Air Quality Monitor

Shuttle Statisticshttp://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/index.html Two Inch Universehttp://cfa-www.harvard.edu/seuforum/einstein/resources_ed.htm Earth, Moon, Mars: Gravity Jugshttp://www.nsschapters.org/hub/gravityjugs.htm Mars Activity Book from JPLhttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/pdfs/MSIP-MarsActivities.pdf Mars 101 – PowerPointhttp://imaginemars.jpl.nasa.gov/info/multimedia.html Mars Infohttp://www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm Animation for Earth and Mars Orbitshttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mars/mars_orbit.html

Planet scalehttp://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/K12/planetsize/planetsize.htmlhttp://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/AtHomeAstronomy/activity_10.htmlhttp://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html Solar System Explorationhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/index.cfm Exploring the Moon – NASA Educator Guidehttp://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/Education/Activities/ExpMoon/DistanceMoon.pdf Spinoffshttp://www.thespaceplace.com/nasa/spinoffs.html American Perception of Space Exploration- Presentation 21 April 2004, Washington, DChttp://www.culturalanalysis.com/Default.htm NASA spending priorityhttp://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_opinion_positionpage/2007/02/should_nasa_be_.html

Leesa HubbardEducator/Aerospace

Enthusiast

Wilson County Schools, Tennessee

AstroPoet@aol.com

December 17, 1903 First Flight 120 feet in 12 seconds.

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