The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to the planet Mars. This lesson will begin by discussing the location and size of Mars relative to Earth, as well as introduce many interesting facts about this red planet. Next, the history of Martian exploration is reviewed and students discover why scientists are so interested in studying this mysterious planet. The lesson concludes with students learning about future plans to visit Mars.

In this lesson, students learn that navigational techniques change when people travel to different places land, sea, air and in space. For example, an explorer traveling by land uses different methods of navigation than a sailor or an astronaut.

The Earth's radiation belts (violet & white) change considerably due to a number of influences, ranging from a changing solar wind to the lightning on the Earth. Here we see a range of variation in the electron flux in early December 2003. White indicates higher electron flux than violet. The gray curves represent the lines of the Earth's magnetic field. These radiation belts are constructed on a per-orbit basis with data from SAMPEX.

The purpose of this lesson is to teach the students about how a spacecraft gets from the surface of the Earth to Mars. The lesson first investigates rockets and how they are able to get us into space. Finally, the nature of an orbit is discussed as well as how orbits enable us to get from planet to planet specifically from Earth to Mars.

Students use water balloons and a length of string to understand how gravity and the velocity of a spacecraft balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold onto an object, the object escapes the gravity of the sun or planet that it orbits.

How do we communicate with each other? How do we communicate with people who are close by? How do we communicate with people who are far away? In this lesson, students will explore the role of communications and how satellites help people communicate with others far away and in remote areas with nothing around (i.e., no obvious telecommunications equipment). Students will learn about how engineers design satellites to benefit life on Earth. This lesson also introduces the theme of the rockets curricular unit.

In this lesson, students learn about the physical properties of the Moon. They compare these to the properties of the Earth to determine how life would be different for astronauts living on the Moon. Using their understanding of these differences, they are asked to think about what types of products engineers would need to design for us to live comfortably on the Moon.

The Mission to Mars curricular unit introduces students to Mars the Red Planet. Students discover why scientists are so interested in studying this mysterious planet. Many interesting facts about Mars are revealed, and the history of Martian exploration is reviewed. Students will learn about the development of robotics and how robots are beneficial to science, society and the exploration of space. Details on engineers' involvement in space exploration are presented. Furthermore, students will learn how orbits allow astronauts to move from planet to planet and what type of equipment is used by scientists and engineers to safely explore space. Lastly, the specific details on and human risks for a possible future manned mission to Mars (and back to Earth again!) are discussed.

Students learn about the Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon. They discuss the Moon's surface features and human exploration. They also learn about how engineers develop technologies to study and explore the Moon, which also helps us learn more about the Earth.

Learn more about how many satellites NASA uses to study Earth and demonstrate how satellites stay in orbit around Earth.

For thousands of years, navigators have looked to the sky for direction. Today, celestial navigation has simply switched from using natural objects to human-created satellites. A constellation of satellites, called the Global Positioning System, and hand-held receivers allow for very accurate navigation. In this lesson, students investigate the fundamental concepts of GPS technology trilateration and using the speed of light to calculate distances.

This unit teaches students how and why engineers design satellites to benefit life on Earth as well as allows students an opportunity to explore motion, rockets and rocket motion. Students discover that the motion of all objects including the flight of a rocket and even the movement of a canoe is governed by Newton's three laws of motion. Space exploration is a huge consideration for aerospace engineers, and this unit introduces students to the challenges of getting into space for the purpose of exploration. The ideas of thrust, weight and control are covered, allowing students to fully understand how and why rockets are designed with these concepts in mind. Also, students learn about the engineering design process and re-engineering as they design and build their own rockets after learning how and why the experts make specific engineering choices. Lastly, students explore the concept of triangulation that is used in navigation satellites and global positioning systems designed by engineers. And, by investigating these technologies, they learn how people can determine their position or the location of someone else.

In this unit, students first are introduced to the historical motivation for space exploration. They learn about the International Space Station and are introduced to new and futuristic ideas that space engineers are currently working on to propel space research. Next, students learn about the physical properties of the Moon. They are asked to think about what types of products engineers would need to design for us to live comfortably on the Moon. Lastly, students learn some basic facts about asteroids: their size and how that relates to the potential danger of an asteroid colliding with the Earth.