Spaceship Earth

What does it take to get stuff to the Moon? Design teams create subsystems for a space transportation system to go to the Moon. The teams study Earth transportation components along with historical space transportation systems to guide...

Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design lesson. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and an assortment of...

What will it take to explore space? Teams of pupils determine the needs of a lunar outpost and research the required systems. The pupils then learn about the past space exploration vehicles. The third and final lesson challenges project...

Modern animation presents an overview of the history of space exploration. Beginning with Sputnik in 1957, the international space race was on. Eventually, space exploration became, not a competition, but rather a collaboration. Also,...

Help your class understand the design challenges when trying to land a remote spacecraft on a planet. Class members examine the provided information to understand how each component of a spacecraft is designed in order to safely land a...

Learners simulate life in space aboard the space shuttle. In this space exploration lesson, students work in small groups to model life aboard the space shuttle. Each student is given a job, conducts Internet research on space, and...

Help your class understand the magnitude of the distance between Earth and Mars with an activity that asks small groups to use balloons to create scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Class members figure out the distances between...

How does the absence of gravity affect the human body? The skeletal system, circulatory system, and the sense of balance are all impacted. With a very casual tone, an astronaut explains the changes to these body systems and also an...

The 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster is covered in this BBC production which uses real footage from inside the ship and inside the control room. The silence in mission control is telling and devastating as everyone realizes the...

Say goodbye to giant rocket ships and hello to micro-spacecraft. Taking a look at the future of space exploration, this video explores the development of tiny, expendable space probes that can investigate the far reaches of space and...