Educator's Guide Grades 6-12 - Space Center Houston
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Educator’s Guide
Grades 6-12
INTRODUCTION EXHIBIT GUIDE
In 1969, Americans landed two men on the Moon on the Apollo 11 mission. Development of space programs in the United States and the Soviet Union
This epic achievement was the result of decades of scientific advancement began at the end of World War II, when each began building programs from
and hundreds of thousands of individuals’ efforts. It was also the culmination the remains of the German V-2 program. Both countries scrambled to secure
of more than twenty years of Cold War hostilities between America and military and technological advantage over the other, fueling a Cold War
the Soviet Union and a beacon of hope during a contentious decade in between the two nations. The Space Race began in earnest with the launch
American history. of the Soviet’s Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite, in 1957.
The lessons learned from the early space program and the conflicts, at THE BEEP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD
home and abroad, led to cooperation both on and off Earth. International Amid national shock and fear over the Soviet satellite, the United States
partnerships in space grew from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, an American- rushed to catch up. America launched their own artificial Earth satellite,
Russian collaboration, to the International Space Station, a group effort from Explorer-I, January 31, 1958. Both countries applied their best minds and
15 countries that includes astronauts and experiments from many more. resources to developing the technology necessary to send humans to space,
with the ultimate goal of landing humans on the Moon.
Now America is on the cusp of another epic journey, this time to Moon
and beyond to Mars. The Artemis program will land the first woman and
next man on the Moon by 2024 and will build on that achievement to allow
humans to explore further in space than ever before. The American space
program today stands on the shoulders of all those who worked to make
those first footprints on the Moon.
This is a 1:1 model of Sputnik. Its beep could Diameter 22.8 inches
be heard by tuning into the right radio wave Antenna length 9.5 feet
frequency as it passed overhead in orbit.
Weight 184 pounds
2 3
THE POINT OF CONTENTION A STRENGTHENED RESOLVE
In October 1962, military tensions escalated between the Soviet Union and In 1962, President Kennedy told the country that America would land
the United States. In response to American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy humans on the Moon by the end of the decade. His assassination in 1963
and Turkey capable of reaching the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union installed spurred the nation on to fulfill his legacy.
nuclear missiles in Cuba capable of reaching the United States. The Cuban
Missile Crisis, a 13-day confrontation over the placement of these weapons,
was the closest the United States and the Soviet Union came to nuclear war.
This nose cone is an unused flight-like Length/Height 95.5 inches
test article of a U.S. Jupiter Missile. Width 65 inches
Weight 900 pounds
Materials Ceramic ablative coating
and stainless steel
These letters of achievement, grief, and hope between Wernher von Braun and Jacqueline
Kennedy were exchanged only three months after President Kennedy’s assassination.
4 5
TRANSCRIPTS Mrs. John F. Kennedy
February 11, 1964
Wernher von Braun Dear Dr von Braun
February 1, 1964
I do thank you for your letter - about the Saturn – and about my husband.
Mrs. John F. Kennedy What a wonderful world it was for a few years – with men like you to help
Washington, D.C. realize his dreams for this country – And you with a President who admired
and understood you - so that together you changed the way the world
Dear Mrs. Kennedy: looked at America – and made us proud again-
In our elation over the successful launch of the SA-5 last Wednesday—the Please do me one favor – sometimes when you are making an
fifth in a successful string of launchings of the Saturn I rockets, but the first announcement about some spectacular new success – say something about
capable of going into orbit—I must tell you how happy and grateful we are President Kennedy and how helped to turn the tide – so people won’t
that this test came off so well. All of us connected with this undertaking forget.
know only too well how eagerly the late President had been looking forward
to this launching, which would at last establish the log awaited American I hope Iam not the only one to feel this way – It is my only consolation - that
lead in the capability of orbiting heavy payloads. at least he was given time to do some great work on this earth, which now
seems such a miserable and lonely place without him.
The trust he had placed in us, and his confidence that we could succeed, How much more he could have done – but I must not think about that.
offered great encouragement but placed on us an even greater sense of I do thank you for your letter
obligation. I am enclosing a picture taken in front of the towering SA-5
rocket at Cape Kennedy on November 16th. The model at the left depicts Sincerely,
the upper part of the rocket which is now orbiting the earth once every 94
minutes. The unit in orbit has a length of 83 feet and a weight of 37,800 lbs. Jacqueline Kennedy
You have been overwhelmed with condolences from all over the world at After successfully launching satellites, both space programs began working
the tragic death of your beloved husband. Like for so many, the sad news in earnest to send humans to explore the new frontier of space. The Soviet
from Dallas was a personal blow to me. We do not know a better way of Union and the United States developed programs to put small single-person
mourning the late President than to do our very best to make his dream and spacecraft into orbit around the Earth. Again, the rockets for the job were
determination come true that “America must learn to sail on this new ocean evolved versions of military weapons. The next phase of the Space Race
of space and be in a position second to none.” was to leap the technical hurdles required to take humans to the Moon.
The United States and the Soviet Union had similar agendas: multi-person
With deepest sympathy—Wernher von Braun flights with spacewalks, long duration flights, and spacecraft tests. The
Soviet space program beat Americans to major milestones including the
first person in space, the first spacewalk, and the first two- and three-person
crewed space flights.
6 7
THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
While NASA worked to pull ahead in the Space Race, the United States
struggled with political and social turmoil. The Civil Rights movement,
begun in the 1940s, was at its peak through the 1960s. People seeking
equality under the law and equality in society conducted sit-ins, marches,
boycotts, and other means of protesting discrimination, spurring political
reform. US involvement in the Vietnam War escalated through the 1960s. Kennedy/King
Many joined the war effort to support the spread of American democratic
values to a country at risk of falling to communism. Some men were forced This pin-back button is in response to the assassinations of Robert F.
to join the war through conscription into the army. Anti-war sentiment Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
and protests against American involvement in Vietnam gained momentum
through the late 1960s. In 1973, the United States withdrew from Vietnam.
Freedom Now CORE
Stop Lynching, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in 1942 by a group of 50
Founded February 12, 1909, the National Association for the Advancement activists, one third were black while the rest were white, to protest racial
of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s foremost, largest, and most segregation in the United States. Their primary tactics were to employ
widely recognized civil rights organization. non-violent civil disobedience as a means of protesting segregation.
CORE was instrumental in organizing the freedom rides in the American
NAACP works to secure the political, educational, social, and economic South to protest segregated public transportation and assisted in many
equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure demonstrations throughout the 1960s.
the health and well-being of all persons. Among the Association’s top
priorities was eradicating lynching of African- Americans.
8 9
The Apollo program began in 1961. A cabin fire during a prelaunch test A MONUMENTAL TEAM
that killed the 3-person Apollo 1 crew brought home the dangers of space Over 400,000 individuals contributed to the success of the American
exploration to the American public. A renewed focus on the importance space program. The best and brightest scientists, mathematicians, artists,
of safety and precision in the American space program contrasted with the custodians, engineers, writers, coders, doctors, and hundreds of other jobs
headlong rush to victory of the Soviets. Despite that, the Apollo program worked for over a decade to send humans to the Moon and bring them
quickly outstripped the Soviet program. safely home again.
STEADY AND READY TO GO
The badges and hard hat belonged to employees of the Space Division of North American
Rockwell Corporation and represent the thousands who worked behind the scenes on the
Apollo team. North American Rockwell was primarily involved with the Apollo Command
Module (capsule) and Service Module. The stickers on the hardhat are from the missions and
spacecraft the owner worked. The badge provided access to Launch Control for Apollo 11.
This explosive device was part of Length/Height 4.5 inches
the system that held the Apollo 11 Diameter 2.75 inches
Saturn V in place on the launch pad. Material Inconel 718 and Inconel X-750
This igniter set off a charge that
opened the clamping mechanism,
(nickel-chromium alloy)
releasing the rocket during lift-off.
10 11
SOFTENING THE LANDING WORKING ON THE MOON
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first and Apollo 11’s successful mission paved the way for the expansion of space
second people to set foot on the Moon. Their achievement marked the end exploration. Apollo missions 12 through 17 allowed for longer and more
of the Space Race but not the end of space exploration. in-depth scientific exploration of the Moon with new technologies, like the
lunar rover.
These Apollo A7L Extravehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuit gloves were used in training
for the lunar missions. These Lunar Overshoes were early prototypes of boots for the
Apollo lunar missions. Both the gloves and boots had to have more protections from
being punctured or torn than earlier space suits because the Apollo astronauts would be
exploring the lunar surface.
This Lunar Module (LM) landing gear strut and footpad were part of the same type of
assembly that allowed the Apollo 11 crew to land safely on the Moon. The main strut of
the leg contained a crushable aluminum honeycomb cartridge that absorbed the impact
of landing, and the mylar foil cover protected the materials beneath from the extreme
temperatures of space, the lunar surface and the exhaust plume of the LM Descent Engine.
The LM footpads were designed to be wide enough to support the module on the dusty,
lunar surface.
12 13
COLLABORATION IN SPACE A NEW ROCKET
The Skylab program was the United States’ first functional space station, Now, NASA plans to return Americans to the Moon by 2024, using the new
where astronauts lived and performed experiments in space for weeks Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. The Artemis
to months at a time. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975 was the first program, named for Apollo’s twin sister and goddess of the Moon, plans
international collaboration for living in space, followed by the Shuttle-Mir to use these new technologies to return to the Moon to create a sustained
program in 1993 to 1998 between the United States and Russia. Shuttle- human presence and to prepare to go beyond to Mars. NASA is working
Mir enabled the construction of the International Space Station, which with international and commercial partners on the innovative technologies
is an international collaboration between 15 international partners, that that will be needed to achieve this goal, including reusable launch vehicles
astronauts are still using to live and work in space today. and a new lunar lander.
This is a 1:50 scale model of Shuttle-Mir. Mir was the first modular space station, and The Space Launch System (SLS) is a heavy-lift vehicle and will be NASA’s first lunar-capable
first continuously inhabited research station in space. The Shuttle-Mir program enabled rocket designed to carry humans since the Saturn V. More powerful than the Saturn V, SLS
American astronauts on the Shuttle to dock with the Mir Space Station and work alongside will launch farther and faster than ever before. Multiple configurations of the SLS will meet a
Russian cosmonauts. The Shuttle-Mir project tested methods of building a larger space variety of mission requirements, including sending humans, habitats and support systems to
station and proved that long-term international collaboration in space was possible, paving deep space destinations.
the way for the International Space Station.
14 15
Lesson Plans
WHAT WILL BE NEXT?
The face of space exploration is changing and will continue to change as
space technology and missions include a growing list of nations, as well
as private companies, engaged in exploration and commerce. With all the
innovations and possibilities for exploring the Moon, and beyond, what do
you think this generation’s journey back to the Moon will look like? What
next giant leap will future explorers take?
Concept of Artemis astronaut on the Moon. Credit: NASA
16 17
OFF THE EARTH, FOR THE EARTH DESIGNING THE ARTEMIS GENERATION
GRADES 6-8 GRADES 6-8
In 1970, Sister Mary Jucunda wrote Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, a NASA scientist, NASA wants to return to the Moon in 2024 with the Artemis program. You
asking why spend resources to explore space, when they could be directed are a committee of engineers deciding what tools and science experiments
to address suffering on Earth. Dr. Stuhlinger responded with a letter titled the astronauts should take to the lunar surface. Research what experiments
“Why Explore Space?” were performed on the lunar surface during the Apollo missions and design
a new experiment that the Artemis astronauts could perform on the first
https://lettersofnote.com/2012/08/06/why-explore-space/ mission back to the Moon.
Directions What would the experiment seek to do or to discover? What kind of
• Read his letter and write a summary. What do you think is Dr. Stuhlinger’s equipment would be needed to do that?
most compelling reason to have a space program? Do you think there is Using the items in the box, design and create the experiment and tools
anything Dr. Stuhlinger did not include? Do you agree with him or disagree? astronauts would need.
• Imagine that someone has written to you asking for justification of a space
program. Do you think it is beneficial to have a space program? Using at https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/science/
least two sources, research the topic and write a letter explaining your scientific-experiments.cfm
position, listing at least three reasons to support your decision.
Materials (per student or team)
Construction Tools
• Scissors
• Tape
Design Materials
• Graph paper
During its flight, NASA’s Galileo • Pencils
spacecraft returned images of the • Sharpies/Colored Markers
Earth and Moon. Separate images
of the Earth and Moon were Building Materials (per student or team)
combined to generate this view • 1 small cardboard box • 4 Paper brads
Credit: NASA • Carboard box pieces • 2 Bendable straws
• 4 Wooden craft sticks • 2 Plastic clear portion cups
Common Core Literacy Standards • 4 Paper portion cups • 1 Small cardboard tube
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.1 • 4 Thumb tacks
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2 • 2 Wooden dowels
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.1 • 4 Paper plates
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.2 • 2 Pieces of card stock
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2
18 19Directions CURATING THE FUTURE
•Draw and design the experiment and tools: Each student receives a
piece of graph paper and pencil to draw and design their ideas. Allow 10 GRADES 9-12
minutes of draw and design.
•After the design time has ended, discuss the designs among classmates. The Apollo 11 Moon landing was a momentous achievement for the United
From the discussions, develop a final design for the experiment and tools. States. However, the success of the mission was only one of several historic
•Using ALL the building materials (except the scissors and pencils), each moments happening in the country. The cultural and political context of
student should build the experiment and the tools astronauts would need the Apollo program included the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, the
to complete the experiment. Vietnam War, and the Anti-War movement. The country that celebrated
the success of the Apollo 11 mission was also struggling with conflict and
change. This exhibit, Apollo: When We Went to the Moon addresses the
Space Race as well as its broader historical context.
51 years after Apollo 11, the United States celebrate another historic
launch. On May 30, 2020, the SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 (DM-2) mission
launched two astronauts from American soil to the International Space
Station for the first time in 9 years, the first commercial launch to the ISS,
and was a historic moment, much like Apollo 11.
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dm2/
Directions
Imagine you are a curator in the year 2070 creating an exhibit about the
DM-2 mission. Select three events/movements from 2020 to put the DM-2
mission in a broader historical context. How did those events impact the
DM-2 mission? How do they help historians better understand how people
might have felt about the space program and that mission specifically? Are
there any parallels to events that happened during the Apollo 11?
Apollo 11 experiments: To the right of the astronaut- Passive Seismic Experiment Package;
beyond it is the Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector (LR-3)
Credit: NASA
Caption: SpaceX Crew Dragon
Demo-2 launch on May 30, 2020
Next Generation Science Standards Credit: NASA
• MS-ETS1-4
Common Core Literacy Standards
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.1
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.1
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.11-12.4
20 21ENGINEERING THE LUNAR ROVER • Make the rear- Tape the straw under the back end of the rover. Slip a
candy onto each end. Bend and tape the axle to stop the candies from
GRADES 9-12 coming off.
• Attach the rubber band- Loop one end around the pencil. Cut small slits
After extensive testing and redesigns, the NASA Lunar Rover was ready to into the back end of the body. Slide the free end of the rubber bands into
go to the Moon. Its lightweight materials and precision construction had to the slits.
withstand the violent shaking of launch, in addition to the rough terrain and • Test the rover and problem-solve any issues with rover performance.
extreme conditions on the Moon.
In this challenge, students build a rubber-band-powered rover that can
scramble across the room. Students will design and build a rover out of
cardboard, figure out how to use rubber bands to spin the wheels, and
improve their design based on testing results.
Materials (per rover)
• Corrugated cardboard body- 6-inch square
• 2 corrugated cardboard wheels- 5-inch square
• 1 sharpened round pencil
• 2 rubber bands
• 2 round, hard candies with a hole in the middle
• 1 plastic drinking straw
Construction Materials
• Ruler
• Tape
• Scissors
Directions Credit: U.S. Space & Rocket Center
• Make the rover body- Fold the cardboard into thirds. Each part will be
about two inches across. Fold along (not across) the corrugation (the tubes
inside the piece of cardboard).
• Make the front wheels- On the two 5-inch cardboard squares, draw
diagonal lines from corner to corner. Poke a small hole in the center (that’s
where the lines cross). On the body, poke one hole close to the end of
each side for the axle. Make sure the holes are directly across from each
other and are big enough for the pencil to spin freely. Next Generation Science Standards
• Attach the front wheels- Slide the straw through the body’s axle holes. • HS-ETS1-2
Push a wheel into each end. Secure with tape.
Lesson Plan Credit: Roving on the Moon, JPL/NASA
22 23rocketcenter.com • RocketCenterUSA
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