Tag: NES Lesson-Design a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon

Space Laser To Prove Increased Broadband Possible

When NASA’s Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration, or LLCD, begins operation aboard the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, mission, it will attempt to show two-way laser communication beyond Earth is possible, expanding the possibility of transmitting huge amounts of data. This new ability could one day allow for 3-D High Definition video transmissions in deep space to become routine.

To read more about this laser communication in space, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/content/space-laser-to-prove-increased-broadband-possible/index.html#.Uh9zmIWC4vQ

These missions to the moon are NASA’s most recent studies of the moon. Get your students to utilize engineering to help NASA plan a mission to the moon by implementing the NASA Explorer Schools featured lesson, Engineering Design Process: On the Moon. To access this lesson, visit the NES Virtual Campus at: http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.

Fourth Grade Students Request and Receive GRAIL Moon Image

One of two NASA spacecraft orbiting the moon has beamed back the first student-requested pictures of the lunar surface from its onboard camera. Fourth grade students from the Emily Dickinson Elementary School in Bozeman, Mont., received the honor of making the first image selections by winning a nationwide competition to rename the two spacecraft.


To read more about this student opportunity and see the image, visit the NASA feature story page. This story details an opportunity NASA opened to students to rename two spacecraft and of students getting involved in moon research serves as an excellent extension to the NASA Explorer Schools featured lesson, Engineering Design Process: On the Moon. Be sure to share this with your students who have completed this activity. To access this lesson, visit the NES Virtual Campus.


Spacesuits Protect STS-133 Astronauts

STS-133 astronaut conducting a spacewalk outside the ISSAstronauts aboard STS-133 are wrapping up a series of scheduled spacewalks, or extravehicular activities. When astronauts venture outside of their spacecraft, they need spacesuits to protect them from the solar radiation, the cold temperatures of space and fast-moving particles called micrometeoroids.

Check out a great activity called Potato Astronaut: Spacesuit. Students investigate the effects of high-speed simulated micrometeoroid impacts and penetration depth. They also learn how layered materials protect astronauts. You will find the activity in the Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon Educator Guide on Page 133.

See additional activities in NEON. Register, log in, join the NASA Explorer Schools group, and find Lunar Nautics: Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon. The activity is available in that forum.