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Crash Landing Activity
First, get into teams of three to five (I will assign) and create a list of items you would need to bring to survive an extended trip on a spaceship into space. Record on a piece of paper for your team.
You are travelling through the solar system and you have to make a crash landing on a planet.
In your team, look at your options and pick a planet. (on provided worksheet)
Be able to justify your answer and record on the back of the sheet why you chose to land on that planet or moon. – you have 10 minutes to discuss and record!
The Solar System: List of
Ingredients
Ingredient
SunJupiterOther planetsEverything else
Percent of total mass
99.8% 0.1%
0.05% 0.05%
The Sun
A middle-aged, average star:
Mostly Hydrogen & Helium 99.8% of the Solar System ~4.6 billion years old
Shines because it is hot:
Surface Temp ~6000 C Mostly Visible, UV & IR
light Kept hot by nuclear
fusion in its core: Builds Helium from
Hydrogen fusion. Will shine for ~12 billion
years
Terrestrial Planets
Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars “Earth-Like” Rocky Planets Largest is Earth Only in the inner solar system (0.4 to
1.5 AU) Rocky Planets:
Solid Surfaces Mostly Silicates and Iron High Density: (rock & metal) Earth, Venus, & Mars have atmospheres
Inner Planets
The inner four rocky planets at the center of the solar system are:
Mercury Venus Earth Mars
Mercury
Planet nearest the sun Second smallest planet Covered with craters Has no moons or rings About size of Earth’s moon
Venus
Sister planet to Earth Has no moons or rings Hot, thick atmosphere Brightest object in sky besides
sun and moon (looks like bright star)
Covered with craters, volcanoes, and mountains
Earth
Third planet from sun Only planet known to have life
and liquid water Atmosphere composed of
composed of Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%).
Mars
Fourth planet from sun Appears as bright reddish
color in the night sky Surface features volcanoes
and huge dust storms Has 2 moons: Phobos and
Deimos
The Jovian Planets
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus & Neptune Largest Planets: at least 15 times mass
of Earth. Only in the outer solar system (5 to 30
AU) No solid surfaces (mostly atmosphere) Low density
Gas Giants: (Jupiter & Saturn) Thick H/He atmosphere, liquid hydrogen
mantle, ice core Ice Giants: (Uranus & Neptune)
Ice/rock core & mantle, thin H/He atmosphere
Jupiter Largest planet in solar
system Brightest planet in sky 60+ moons, 5 visible from
Earth Strong magnetic field Giant red spot Rings have 3 parts: Halo
Ring, Main Ring, Gossamer Ring
Saturn 6th planet from sun Beautiful set of rings 31 moons Largest moon, Titan, Easily visible in the
night sky Voyager explored
Saturn and its rings.
Uranus 7th planet from sun Has a faint ring
system 27 known moons Covered with clouds Uranus sits on its side
with the north and south poles sticking out the sides.
Neptune
8th planet from sun Discovered through
math 7 known moons Triton largest moon Great Dark Spot
thought to be a hole, similar to the hole in the ozone layer on Earth
Pluto
9th planet from sun (usually)
Never visited by spacecraft
Orbits very slowly Moon, Charon, is
very close to Pluto and about the same size
IAU Definition of a Planet
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a planet: orbits the Sun has sufficient mass for its self-
gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),
has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
is not a satellite
IAU Definition of a Dwarf Planet
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) came up with the following definition of a dwarf planet: orbits the Sun has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to
overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape (i.e., it is spherical),
has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit,
is not a satellite
Life on other planets??
Why Mars Died, and Earth Lived (9.4 min)
Or- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
v3Kcw0UrIFI (21 min)
Water on the moon
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/video-view.cfm?Vid_ID=3263
Earth 100 Million Years From Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4xVD4
Asteroids
Small bodies Believed to be left
over from the beginning of the solar system billions of years ago
100,000 asteroids lie in belt between Mars and Jupiter
Largest asteroids have been given names
Comets
Small icy bodies Travel past the Sun Give off gas and
dust as they pass by