21st-Century Space Exploration
Look closely at the challenges of exploring space as well as the goals the U.S. has for future space travel.
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About
About
Today, space exploration is considered by many to be more important than ever. We’ve successfully figured out how to use satellites to create GPS navigational systems. We regularly send astronauts up to live for months at a time on the International Space Station. Several different rovers have been built to explore the surface of Mars. We’re even developing a way to divert an asteroid that could be headed toward Earth. What's next?
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
What are the accomplishments of NASA in this century?
How are space exploration and space travel changing?
What are the new goals and challenges of space exploration today?
Choose a Focus
Choose a Focus
Use the Suggested Activity to learn about your chosen focus in a fun way. Or visit the Activity Library to pick another interactive activity.
Note: Britannica School, BrainPOP, and Kids Discover are provided by Prenda. Make sure you are logged in via Clever.
Use the Suggested Activity to learn about your chosen focus in a fun way. Or visit the Activity Library to pick another interactive activity.
Note: Britannica School, BrainPOP, and Kids Discover are provided by Prenda. Make sure you are logged in via Clever.
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson ⚒️
Charlie Blackwell-Thompson ⚒️
Blackwell-Thompson first started working at NASA in 2004. In 2016, she became NASA's first female launch director. She oversaw the launch of Artemis I, a mission to return humans to the moon.
Essential questions:
Who is Charlie Blackwell-Johnson?
What position does she have in NASA?
In what ways is she a Changemaker?
Suggested Activity: Act It Out
Mars Rovers 🕰
Mars Rovers 🕰
As of 2022, NASA has sent a total of five rovers to explore the planet Mars. Through them we’ve learned that Mars is a cold planet covered in red dirt. We’ve also learned that the environment there has changed - a discovery that may help us understand the changes happening on Earth.
Essential questions:
What are the names of the five Mars Rovers and what were their purposes?
What have scientists learned from the data collected by these rovers?
How has the knowledge gained from studying Mars changed what we know about our own planet?
Suggested Activity: And the Winner Is…
International Space Station 🕰
International Space Station 🕰
It took the work of scientists and engineers from 16 different countries to build the International Space Station - the largest object ever sent into space. Six astronauts can live there at the same time, conducting research and learning as much about space and planet Earth as possible.
Essential questions:
How was the International Space Station built?
How big is it?
Why is it important?
Suggested Activity: Picture It!
Space Tourism 🚀
Space Tourism 🚀
Would you pay millions of dollars to go into space? Beginning in 2001, space tourism became a new business, allowing wealthy people to train for their opportunity to leave the Earth and experience space as a tourist.
Essential questions:
What is space tourism?
How and why did it start?
In what ways is it have a positive and a negative impact on the world?
Suggested Activity: Act It Out
Thematic Connections 🚀
Thematic Connections 🚀
Select a topic and examine it through the theme lens: Envisioning Change.
Select a topic and examine it through the theme lens: Envisioning Change.
A few bold Space Tourism entrepreneurs see the future as a place where travel is not limited to this planet.
Curricular Connections
Curricular Connections
Continue your learning by choosing one of these related activities.
Continue your learning by choosing one of these related activities.
Related Social Studies topics
Timeline Challenge
Start a class timeline (or add to an existing timeline) showing important events in more recent space exploration.
Debate
Statement: Humanity needs to colonize another planet, and soon.
Create
Design for the ISS (in Prenda World)
(Not sure what to do? Imagine traveling to space as a tourist - write a postcard about your trip!)
STEM
NASA Mars Videos and Animations
Just for Fun
Check out these space-related math problems, and then check your answers here.
Image Attributions
21st-Century Space Exploration banner: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsCharlie Blackwell-Thompson: NASA/Joel Kowsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsMars Rover: NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
International Space Station: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSpace Tourism: NO attribution required
International Space Station: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsSpace Tourism: NO attribution required
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