Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to describe the types of activities and experiments that take place on board the space shuttle.

Students will explore virtual-reality models, 3-D models, videos, online tutorials, and other multimedia links about the space shuttle's on-orbit operations to accomplish this.

Specifically, students will upon completing this unit of instruction be able to:

• Describe the basic effects of microgravity on objects and living things.
  
  
• List a variety of activities and experiments that have been done on the space shuttle (satellite deploys and rescues, Hubble, Galileo, SpaceLab, SpaceHab).
  
  
• Compose a detailed description of one of the types of science done on board the shuttle in one of the following fields: Biotechnology, Biomedicine, Fluid Physics, Combustion Science, Materials Science, Space Science, and Fundamental Physics.
  
  
• Describe a typical extravehicular activity (spacewalk) and the various components (suits, tools, rescue devices) used.
  
  
• List several significant impacts and spinoffs from Space Shuttle Program research.
  
  
• Describe the sequence of astronaut training and list some of the methods used to prepare the crews.
  
  
• Solve an equation calculating the length of a deorbit burn of the shuttle orbital maneuvering system (OMS) engines.
  
  
• Consider various career opportunities in the Space Shuttle Program.
  
  

Successful knowledge acquisition will be determined by students submitting a one-paragraph summary of a career in the Space Shuttle Program that interests them, composing a one-page detailed description of an on-board experiment, solving the Shuttle math question correctly and by scoring at least 75% on the quiz.

Students will write a one-paragraph summary of what degree you would need, what school you would attend, and what your duties might be once hired by the Space Shuttle Program for a specific job. In addition, students will describe, in one page, one of the experiments done on board the space shuttle in the last 3 years from one of the following fields: Biotechnology, Biomedicine, Fluid Physics, Combustion Science, Materials Science, Space Science, and Fundamental Physics.

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