Exploration Missions

Why and how:

Why: Each of your Teams will explore one aspect of the "new Space Race" underway, and you will make a short report weekly. Each group will also submit a few short analytical responses answering the question "why this is worth our while."

What and how: The response should run no more than 500 words and follow the format notes given on the page for other essays.

The tone is formal but not necessarily academic. You might use "I," employing the "I Say" templates from Part 1 of They Say / I Say. You can include speculations that you may answer later during future explorations, as you learn more. This is the opportunity to explore what you are learning as your read or view new work, always keeping in mind the big question that will be explored in your Research Proposal later in the semester.

Advice from Mission Control: Each exploration must include information about something you have learned, in service of the big question that guides your work all semester. Some options are possible.

Teams & Members

  • NASA Today:

  • Chinese Space Program:

  • Russia, Other Nations:

  • Private Space Travel:


Starman in Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster leaves orbit. Really. He's a dummy, but the car has David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on repeat as well as one turn signal. This is clearly NOT the Apollo Era, any longer.