Space Tourism
An Extended Vacation
This project is a diary describing the sights, sounds, and feelings that you have during the
trip through space. You will travel in a newly-designed space ship that travels at warp
speeds (1,000,000,000 km/day). You will be able to get out and to look at Pluto and its
moons before you start your return trip. During the vacation, you will visit all of the
planets and will examine the atmosphere, surface of the planet, record the temperature,
and photograph it.
You will stop at the International Space Station for a few days and will meet the astronauts
on board. Make sure that you take pictures and get the names of each of the astronauts.
You will learn about the Big Bang Theory and will explain it to us in your diary. How does
the Big Bang Theory compare to the Nebula Theory for the formation of the solar system
and discuss the roles of planetismals and protoplanets with respect to the Nebula Theory.
Additionally, you will pass by asteroids, stars, and nebula. Describe what each of these
look like and exactly what it is. Explain the relationship between galaxies, stars, star
clusters, multiple star systems, planetary systems, and galactic groups.
You will leave tomorrow, so pack only the bare essentials and the three things that you
would like to take to remind you of Earth. The items that you take as remembrances must
fit in a 12-inch cube because space is very limited. Have a great trip and be careful!
Use the sites below to determine the minimum number of days that it will take to travel
between planets. For instance, the distance from the Sun to the Earth is 149,600 x 103 km.
The distance from the Sun to Mars is 227,940 x 103 km. To find the distance from the Earth
to Mars, subtract 149,600 x 103 km from 227,940 x 103 km and divide by 1,000,000 x 103
km/day. You should get 0.7834 days.
http://planetscapes.com/solar/eng/data2.htm
http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm
In addition to your journal, you will need to produce the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Draw five stellar constellations and describe the folklore associated with each.
Draw the planetary systems as Ptolemy described them.
How do the color, temperature and shape of stars vary with age?
What is the process “fusion” and how does it relate the source of energy of stars?
What is Hubble’s Law?
Explain Kepler’s Law of Planetary Motion.
Copernicus opposed the universal belief of his day when he drew maps describing
the movement of planets. What did his plan look like and how did it differ for the
accepted beliefs of his day?
K. Hedges