Investigation 7, Part 1 The Kennedy Challenge

Warm up: What are the four theories of how the Moon formed? The Sisters Theory The Earth and Moon formed the same time that the whole Solar System formed over 4.5 billion years ago. The masses of gas and dust formed two spinning bodies that became the Earth and Moon. Daughter Theory Dust and gas formed the Earth. During this process it began to spin very fast. Earth spun so fast that a blob was flung off into Earth’s orbit and formed the Moon. Big Impact Theory Earth collided with a large object, possibly the size of Mars, early in it’s history. The impact ejected a large quantity of matter into space. It began to orbit Earth and over time, these fragmented pieces of matter formed the Moon. Capture Theory Early in the formation of the Solar System, a small planetesimal passed by Earth so close that that gravity pulled the small, fully formed planet into orbit. The Moon was “captured.”

Modern Space Exploration Started after WWII with the development of rockets that had the potential to launch heavy loads into space. U.S.A. and Soviet Union were the first to start developing space technology. Late 1950’s-Soviets began to take the lead. October 4, 1957-Sputnik. The world’s first artificial satellite. May 25th 1961-John F. Kennedy announced that the US would land humans on the Moon and return them safely to Earth before the decade was out. Bold statement considering the US had no even put an astronaut in orbit, much less in space.

Reconnaissance We have already completed a Moon survey. This answers some basic questions. What major features are there? What does the land look like? It can also raise more questions. Second level of investigation is reconnaissance. Is there danger/disease? Can I find food? What is the weather like?

Brainstorm You are in charge of a trip to the Moon. You must make sure everything goes safely and smoothly. Example of some things to consider: What will the astronauts eat and drink? Your job is to come up with several other critically important questions that will need to be answered before the mission leaves Earth.

Procedure Get into lab groups. Select a recorder. Brainstorm your list of critically important questions before the mission leaves Earth. The recorder needs to write these questions down. Here is some help: Journey from Earth to the Moon. Landing on the Moon. Lunar environment, atmosphere, gravity. Rockets work on Moon? Supplies needed to get home.

Wrap Up: Discuss the questions your group came up with. What are the major things you need to think about? Watch the first 20 minutes of “For All Mankind” and take notes about any of the questions that you generated and the movie answers in your journal.