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EXPEDITION SPACE LAB MISSION:

Orbital Mechanics in Space

2 Activities: Select one or more of the activities below to complete this mission!

Activity 1

Space Station Explorers Partner Program:

ISS-Above

The ISS-Above device connects students with the ISS by instantly providing current information, location alerts, and live HD video streaming from space!
The ISS-Above makes it easy to check in with the ISS every day in your classroom. Through deployment in hundreds of classrooms, ISS-Above has been proven to stimulate insightful questions and analytical thinking from students.

Lesson

Understanding Orbits- Let's go to Mars from Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Launching spacecraft is no easy task! In this activity from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, students learn about Hohmann Transfers and how to calculate launch windows to reach a specific target in space.

Additional Resources

Orbits- Nat Geo

How do Satellites Orbit the Earth?

Activity 2

Space Station Explorers Partner Program:

Zero Robotics

Program robots to perform tasks in the microgravity environment of the ISS.
Students learn coding and computer science in this exciting competition from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Lesson

Docking with the ISS from NASA Next Gen STEM
Understanding physics is key to spaceflight, but how can we practice maneuvering spacecraft in microgravity here on Earth? In this simulation from SpaceX, students can practice docking a spacecraft with the ISS and examine how forces, even small ones, can greatly change a spacecraft’s trajectory.