• Planned to study Comet
Halley in January 1986
• Explosion of this spacecraft
during launch
• 73 seconds into flight due to
a leak in one of the Solid
Rocket Boosters which
ignited the main liquid fuel
tank
• 7 astronauts died
•
•
•
Represented a variety of
race, gender,
background and religion
Included a Navy officer
and a teacher
The crew of the shuttle
mission was:
– Francis Scobee,
Michael Smith,
Judith Resnik,
Ellison Onizuka,
Ronald McNair,
Gregory Jarvis, and
Sharon Christa
McAuliffe
• Originally funded by
the families of the
Challenger Crew
Members
• Visitors role-play a
flight scenario
– You are transformed
into scientists and
engineers who work
in teams to problem
solve dilemmas of
space travel
– You are working like
astronauts do on
REAL MISSIONS
• Continue the mission
of the Challenger Crew
by resuming the study
of Comet Halley
• The year: 2061
– Comet Halley orbits the
sun every 76 years
– As it passes near the
planets Earth and Mars
we will study the comet
from an Earth-orbiting
Space Station
• Learn more about the
beginning or our
universe
• Comet’s orbital
mechanics may help us
learn more about
principles of gravity
• Learn more about the
Sun by studying its
effects on comets
• Trip begins with
transport of astronaut
crew to Space Station
• Power up engines that
send Space Station
into long, elliptical
orbit around Earth
• Half-way between the
orbits of Earth and
Mars we anticipate
locating Comet Halley
• While searching for
Comet Halley, the
crew will construct a
space probe that can
be launched through
the gaseous tails of
the comet
• Be able to take
pictures of the comet
and collect materials
for further analysis
• Half-way through
mission: crew
transfer
– Students in Mission
Control (on left) will
get on board the
Space Station
– Students in the
Space Station will
go into Mission
Control
• Hopefully achieve
closest encounter with
Comet Halley
• Send probe through
the tails of the comet
• Goal:
– To rendezvous with the
comet
– Launch the probe into
its tail
– Collect new data from
the probe’s instruments