How can you make your mission a full-day experience?
Add a science center activity lab to your schedule. For an additional fee, you can extend your mission experience to a full day by selecting and adding an activity lab to your reservation. Choose from one of the following options:
Exploring the Surface of Mars
 Spirit and Opportunity, the two rovers that landed on the red planet in 2004, have found evidence for water on Mars! Can you? Although Mars is cold, it is a hot spot for scientific investigation. A student in your classroom today could be the first to put her footprints on the red soil of Mars! In this unit, students will do several activities that simulate the various stages of an exploration mission to the red planet. Students will set mission science goals, consider engineering constraints and finally plan a mission while staying within a given budget. |
Living in Space
 Astronauts on the Space Shuttle or the International Space Station must eat, sleep, exercise and bathe just like we do on Earth. There is at least one major difference: gravity-- or the lack of it. This unit will focus on the ways astronauts do ordinary, every day things in the extraordinary environment of microgravity. The session will begin with a definition and demonstration of microgravity. Students will then work as Food System Engineers to learn about the importance of mission meal planning and the challenges involved in sending food into space. This activity will give the students an opportunity to inspect authentic NASA food items and to sample astronaut-like treats. A short video clip of life aboard the International Space Station will be included. |
Rocketry
 Bang zoom! How did those astronauts get to the moon? In this unit, students will study the science of motion and forces, which make rocketry possible. The session will begin with a quick video introducing Newton's laws of motion. In teams, students will then see these laws at work as they design balloon rockets to understand the relationship between force, mass and acceleration. Students will also learn about rocket staging and delve into space history as they watch a launch of the biggest most powerful rocket ever built, the Saturn V. This unit will end with a bang when students make and launch pop rockets. |
Solar System
 In this session students become scientists and astronomers as they journey through the solar system, our neighborhood in space. We will start by using a model of the solar system to see the value and also the limitations of using models in science. Via the Internet, our student astronomers will track sunspots and predict solar storms. This unit will also touch on current solar system exploration missions such as the Messenger mission to Mercury and the Cassini mission to Saturn. Students will gain an understanding of how scientists study distant planets by simulating a remote sensing mission of the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan. |
