Space Exploration Science Projects (40 results)
Space exploration is an exciting and wide-ranging area. Getting into space (and back down) is hard, involving rockets and launch vehicles, satellites, spacecraft, re-entry systems, landers and rovers, robots, and orbital mechanics, not to mention hypothetical technologies like space elevators and artificial gravity. To survive and thrive in space, we must understand many additional issues such as human performance in space, the space economy, and the science of astronomical bodies.
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Rocket design and operation is a fascinating field and analyzing the flight path provides insight into the rocket's performance. In this project, you will take measurements of the flight path to evaluate how a change in the rocket design or launch procedure impacts the rocket's performance.
Initially, while the bottle rocket expels water (or the rocket expels exhaust), the rocket gets a boost. This push is referred to as thrust and projects the rocket forward. Earth's gravity pulls the…
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Scientists have known for hundreds of years that sunspot activity waxes and wanes over a cycle that lasts approximately 11 years. In the 1970's, scientists discovered that the sun periodically blasts electrified gases into space, in huge outbursts called 'coronal mass ejections,' or CMEs. This project asks the question: do CMEs follow the solar sunspot cycle?
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If you know or calculate the field of view for your camera, you can use it to measure distances and the height of almost anything. It's all a matter of basic trigonometry.
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For a colony of humans to survive and thrive on Mars, they will need to make the most of what is available on Mars. We know from prior space missions what the Martian ground cover looks like. In this project, you will see if this ground cover can be transformed into strong construction material.
The first requirement for construction material is that it is strong so it does not collapse under its own weight. Because the mass of Mars is about 10 times less than the mass of Earth, its…
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Have you ever wanted to analyze data from a NASA spacecraft? In this science project you will use data from NASA's MESSENGER mission to measure the diameter and calculate the depth of impact craters on Mercury. You will then analyze that data for relationships between a crater's depth and diameter. This is your chance to
perform a science project as a NASA researcher would!
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Have you ever wondered what life is like for different animals, and where it is that they roam? For example, how large is the area they live in, and why do they go to different locations? While we can set up cameras to watch animals that live on land, it can more challenging to see the lives of animals that live underwater, especially in the vast oceans. In this ocean science project, you will use satellite tracking data to learn about the activity patterns of harbor porpoises. How far do they…
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The sun sometimes releases huge bursts of electrified gases into space. These bursts are called coronal mass ejections (or CMEs). When CMEs are directed towards Earth they can generate auroras, the spectacular atmospheric displays also known as "northern lights" (photo by Chris VenHaus, 2001). In this project you'll use images from the SOHO satellite to measure how fast CMEs move.
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A mass driver is a proposed device that could launch payloads into space using a long tube lined with electromagnets (Figure 1). Some scientists argue that such a launch system would offer long-term cost savings over the use of chemical rockets.
Scientists have proposed theoretical electromagnetic launcher designs as far back as the 1970s (O'Neill 1979). More recently, some have proposed the use of railguns originally developed for the U.S. Navy (McNab and McGlasson 2022). Other types of…
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The Sun is the ultimate source of the energy that powers weather systems on Earth. Geomagnetic storms are sun-powered storms in the upper atmosphere, arising from energized particles that are periodically ejected by the Sun. Among other effects, geomagnetic storms can wreak havoc with earth-orbiting satellites, and disrupt satellite communications. The global positioning system (GPS) is a network of 24 earth-orbiting satellites that constantly sends radio signals through the earth's…
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Here's a cool project that shows you how to use images from an orbiting observatory to measure how fast the Sun rotates.
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