Bulletin 1 13 October Out of this world Welcome to Telecom Space Explorers. For the next seven weeks we’ll be taking you out of this world on a virtual adventure in space. We’ll be talking to NASA astronauts and other space experts to find out more about our universe and what it’s like to travel in space. Introducing . . . Anne-Marie Robinson This week’s audioconference guest speaker is Anne-Marie Robinson. Anne-Marie has a burning desire to be an astronaut - a dream she’s had since she was a child. She has visited NASA many times and is also the United States Space Camp Ambassador to New Zealand. To help her fulfil her dream of becoming an astronaut Anne-Marie attended a two-week course at the US Space Academy in Alabama in 1991 where she learnt about various aspects of space travel. She met recruitment officials at the Johnson Space Centre (NASA) in Texas and says a highlight of the trip was seeing the space shuttle Atlantis take off from Cape Kennedy. Anne-Marie has her private pilot’s licence and worked as a flight attendant. She is currently studying for a bachelors degree but says having American citizenship would really help her achieve her life-long ambition. Anne-Marie is currently the Marketing Manager at Christchurch’s Air Force World Museum. In her role as Space Camp Ambassador she travels around the country telling people about space and demonstrating some space-related activities and science experiments. For all you budding astronauts who want to find out more about Space Camp, here's Anne-Marie Robinson*s contact details: Anne Marie Robinson United States Space Camp Ambassador to New Zealand c/o Private Bag 4739 Christchurch Fax 0-3-343 9533 Take your pick For the Space Explorers module we’ll be holding ten weekly audioconferences so you can choose to listen to the one that best suits your timetable. You can choose from Wednesday: 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.30pm, 2.30pm Thursday: 10am, 11am, noon, 2pm Friday: noon, 1.30pm Space homepage Check out the Space Explorers homepage for information relating to this adventure, including links to other space related sites. The page will be continually updated throughout the programme. You can have your space art or written work published on the homepage by emailing it to Danielle Greig on [email protected] or faxing the Adventure Line on Wellington 0800 253-020. To get to Telecom’s Space Explorers homepage, first go to the Telecom Education Foundation homepage (address: http://www.telecom.co.nz/tef) click on the Explorers and Adventurers pointer and you’ll see the Space Explorers button. Don’t forget to bookmark the site. On the web For those of you with Internet access, here are a couple of space sites you might want to check out. There are hundreds out there and each week we’ll give you three or four. If you find sites you think are good, how about letting us know so we can share them with everyone taking part? Activities: http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/amazing-space.html http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/ just_for_kids.html Teacher resources: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codef/education/ (Welcome to NASA's Education Program) http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/temp/materials.html (Classroom and Science Project Materials) http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/mw/milkyway.html (Multiwavelength Milky Way) Glossary: http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/terms.htm Planets: http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome.htm http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery.html http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/eng/homepage.htm http://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/ia/nineplanets/intro.html Frequently asked questions about space Each week we’ll give you a couple of the most common questions people ask about space. Question: Why send people into space when robotic spacecraft usually cost less? Answer: Humans and robots each have their own special roles in space. Robots are best for missions that require precise, repetitive measurements or movements, and for missions that last for a long time, such as trips to the outer planets. Humans remain better equipped than robots for tasks that involve decision-making or constant adjustments. By launching humans into space, we also gain understandings into the workings of the human body, many of which are changed by gravity when a person is on the earth. Question: Can the Space Shuttle fly to the moon? Answer: No, the shuttle is designed to travel to low earth orbit (within a few hundred miles of the earth's surface). It does not carry enough fuel to leave earth orbit and travel to the moon. The shuttle also is not designed to land on the moon since it lands like an airplane and the moon has no atmosphere. Space activity - Creative Story Writing Make up a large earth, moon and sun as a wall display and pin a drawing or model of a rocket onto the Earth. Move the rocket progressively each day so that it gradually makes its way to land on the moon. Read stories about space and the moon, and gather together a series of related fiction books on the topic that children are able to access at any time for independent reading. Discuss what it must be like to be able to travel to another planet - talk about all the dangers, thrills and challenges space explorers and adventurers must be able to overcome to be successful in their endeavours. Collect words from the class relating to space travel and adventure on individual cards and place them in a "Space Words Box" or envelope. After a while, pin these to your large Earth - Moon drawing to act as a word bank for the creative writing task. Make up a story starter sheet with a title like "5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2... 1 ... ". This story starter sheet could include a beginning line designed as an idea starter for a creative story about taking a trip to the moon. Read the stories out when completed. Planet Profile All about . . . Mercury Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. Its average distance from the sun is approximately 58 million km. It has a diameter of 4875 km. Mercury’s volume and mass are about that of the earth and its average density is approximately equal to that of the earth. Mercury revolves about the sun in a period of 88 days. Its surface consists of rough, porous, dark-coloured rock and this means it is a poor reflector of sunlight. Its atmosphere contains sodium and potassium. The Mariner 10 spacecraft passed Mercury twice in 1974 and once in 1975 and sent back pictures of a moonlike, crater-pocked surface and reported temperatures to be about 430° C on the sunlit side and about -180° C on the dark side. In 1991 powerful radio telescopes on earth revealed unmistakable signals of vast sheets of ice in Mercury's polar regions, areas that had not been covered by Mariner 10. On the Mir beat U.S. Astronaut Michael Foale arrived back on earth last week after spending four and a half months on the Russian space station MIR Foale’s 145 days in weightlessness made his muscles and bones weaker; it will be a while before he feels normal moving around under full gravity. After such a long time in space, subsisting on U.S. and Russian rations that included jellied fish, irradiated steak and re-hydratable chicken consommŽ, Foale requested beer, pizza and a lot of chocolate. Foale was on the 11-year-old space station when it suffered its worst accident ever. During a test of a manual docking system on June 25, a re-supply craft went out of control and collided with Mir, smashing a solar panel and putting as many as seven holes into the Spektr science module. To stop the Spektr from leaking air into space, the crew sealed off the module, but in the process disconnected more than a dozen vital power cables. Have a look at these on the web: http://www.maximov.com/mir/mir2.html http://space.magnificent.com/ Did you see . . . Did you see the item on the television news last week about two little British boys who were allergic to sunlight? The two brothers break out in severe blisters after only minutes in the sun. NASA has provided the pair with small versions of their space suits which means they can play outside and take part in activities most children enjoy. Explorers mystery quiz - Bulletin 1 Answer the Explorers Mystery Quiz questions below correctly and be in to win a Panasonic cassette recorder for your class. You will find the answer to this week’s first question on your Explorers and Adventurers Mystery Trail poster. You might need to do a bit more research to answer question two. Fax your answers to the Telecom Adventure Line: 0800 253-020. Entries close at 5pm on Friday 17 October. The classes whose students correctly answer the most Explorers Mystery Quizzes during the Explorers and Adventurers programme will go into the draw for a grand prize in December. So good luck everyone. Question one: Name the nine planets in earth’s solar system. Question two: Approximately how many stars are visible to the naked eye from earth? We’ll announce this week’s quiz winner along with the answers in next week’s bulletin. Keep in touch If you’ve got an inquiry or want more information about the Space Explorers programme, the best way to get in touch with Danielle is through the Adventure Line fax (0800 253-020) or email her on: [email protected]