Amazing Space!

 We started learning about space by discussing how people can leave the earth to get there. To understand that, we discussed Newton's Laws of Motion as well as the force of gravity. A rocket needs to go fast enough to overcome the force of gravity. We made 2 kinds of rockets of our own. One was made from a straw and was blown to propel it. The other was made from a plastic film canister. We used Alka Seltzer tablets and water to create a gas which launched these rockets. It was fun going outside to see them blast off!

We had a chance to get an idea of what a journey into space would be like as we took a simulated journey in the Space Shuttle. NASA may not be using the Space Shuttle any more, but it is in use at BMS!

Here is our launch team at Mission Control at Kennedy Space Flight Center.

Our astronauts in the Space Shuttle are ready for their mission!

We all worked together as a team as we read from a script which was taken directly from the last flight of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. A video in the front of the classroom showed the launch sequence and blast off, and then displayed pictures of our lovely blue planet once we were in orbit!

While in orbit, we were all transformed into astronauts who were doing experiments for NASA. Here are some pictures of our assignments.

Planting seeds using a glove box

Eating in space

It costs $10,000 to send 1 pound of anything into space.
We weighed liquid and powdered Tang and calculated how
much money could be saved by taking the powder into space.

After we had completed our mission, we had a real treat. Dr. Nicola Fox came to speak with us. She is the Project Scientist for the Parker Solar Probe which will launch this summer to fly through the sun's corona to give us more information on our home star. We were enthralled as she spoke to us about this satellite and all the women who worked to make it possible. She inspired us! Yes, girls can be rocket scientists or anything else!