Explore the surface of the Moon by making a lunar lander that will allow an astronaut to survive a touchdown on this harsh landscape. Even though the Moon is the closest object to Earth, its surface is vastly different with no water or wind on the hard and rocky surface.
What you need:
Paper cup
Paper (newspaper, construction paper, and/or tissue paper)
Plastic bag
Popsicle sticks
Tape
Scissors
Astronaut (made with ping pong ball, pom pom, marshmallow, or small toy)
Background:
The surface of the Moon is rough, barren, and covered in fine dust. There are no soil bacteria to break down organic material, no wind to erode rocks, and no tectonic activity to make changes to the surface of the Moon.
Imagine a group of astronauts in orbit around the Moon. They are trying to land their lunar lander on the surface of the Moon. However, something went wrong with their landing gear. They ask the ground crew back on Earth what to do. You are part of the team on Earth, with only basic supplies, you need to find a way to fix the lunar lander and help the astronauts land on the surface of the Moon.
What you do:
Build a model of a lunar lander that can softly land on the Moon making sure to keep the astronauts safe in the cabin. You only have a limited amount of supplies since the astronauts in this scenario would only have limited supplies.
The astronauts can be either a ping pong ball, pom pom, marshmallow, or other small toy. Use the paper cup for the cabin where the astronauts will sit.
How will the astronauts stay in the cup? What can you create to protect it from the fall? Remember the astronauts will need to get out of the cabin so you can’t tape it inside.
How will the lunar lander absorb the impact? What shock absorption could you create? Try folding paper in an accordion to create a spring that absorbs the shock.
Is there a way to slow the descent of the lunar lander? Keep in mind, there is no wind on the Moon.
The surface of the Moon is soft, covered by dust that doesn’t move around. How might this be an advantage or a disadvantage? If the dust layer is soft, it would help cushion a landing. However, if it is too soft, the lander could sink into it and get stuck.
Use as few supplies as possible. Challenge yourself to use the least amount of supplies. Can you build a Lunar Lander with only three of the supplies?
Test out your lunar lander. Place your astronaut into the cabin and drop it to the ground. Did the astronaut stay in the cup? How high did it drop from? Test again from a higher place.
Test the lunar lander on different surfaces. The surface of the Moon is uneven and covered by a soft layer of dust. See if your model will land in a location that has uneven ground such as grass, carpet, sand, or rocks.
Imagine the scenario the astronauts are faced with. How would they build the model you are suggesting? What equipment or supplies would be needed to do so?
Explanation:
Because Moon has a very thin atmosphere and lacks wind, the surface of the Moon rarely changes. We can see a history of millions of years of meteors bombarding the surface. Landing on the Moon can be tricky. Spacecrafts need to slow down in order to land gently and keep those on board safe.
On the Apollo missions, the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was used. This electric vehicle was designed to operate in the low-gravity vacuum of the Moon and was capable of moving across the lunar surface. The Apollo astronauts did a range of explorations on the lunar surface. Three LRVs were driven on the Moon, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. The furthest distance travelled by an LRV was by Apollo 17, which travelled 35.9 km in 4 hours 26 minutes. The Lunar Roving Vehicle that weighed about 210 kg could hold an extra 490 kg on the lunar surface. This extra capacity was designed to hold the weight of the astronauts, their equipment and the rock samples they collected.
Take it further:
After you have done this activity, try out one from the Canada Space Agency Junior Astronaut program. In Survivor Moon you will need to pick which supplies are the most important for your team to take on a trek across the Moon.
Tips and Tricks:
Encourage questions, imagination, and exploration. If an idea seems impossible, let your children explore the idea safely and let them explore solutions even if they do not work. To prevent frustration and encourage overcoming challenges, ask prompting questions such as ‘how can this be changed to have a different outcome?’.
Find footage from the first space walk and show it to your children. Or, reach out to older members of your family and ask, “where were you when the first astronaut walked on the Moon?”
Make it more of a challenge by making all the supplies a mystery. Place three of the building supplies into a paper bag and only allow for the materials in the bag to be used. This is a way to encourage critical thinking and innovation.
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