Visit the Pi in the Sky 8 lesson page to explore classroom resources and downloads for the 2021 NASA Pi Day Challenge. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Captured on Oct. 20, 2020, during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imager’s field of view as the NASA spacecraft approached and touched asteroid Bennu’s surface. Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona | › Full image and caption

In this illustration, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter stands on the Red Planet's surface as NASA's Perseverance rover (partially visible on the left) rolls away. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Full image and caption

This artist's concept shows what Deep Space Station-23, a new antenna dish capable of supporting both radio wave and laser communications, will look like when completed at the Deep Space Network's Goldstone, California, complex. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA shared photos and time-lapse video of a glowing green aurora seen from his vantage point 250 miles up, aboard the International Space Station. This aurora photo was taken on June 26, 2017. Image credit: NASA | › Full image and caption

In the News

As March 14 approaches, it’s time to get ready to celebrate Pi Day! It’s the annual holiday that pays tribute to the mathematical constant pi – the number that results from dividing any circle's circumference by its diameter.

Pi Day comes around only once a year, giving us a reason to chow down on our favorite sweet and savory pies while we appreciate the mathematical marvel that helps NASA explore Earth, the solar system, and beyond. There’s no better way to observe this day than by getting students exploring space right along with NASA by doing the math in our Pi Day Challenge. Keep reading to find out how students – and you – can put their math mettle to the test and solve real problems faced by NASA scientists and engineers as they explore the cosmos!

How It Works

Dividing any circle’s circumference by its diameter gives us pi, which is often rounded to 3.14. However, pi is an irrational number, meaning its decimal representation goes on forever and never repeats. Pi has been calculated to 50 trillion digits, but NASA uses far fewer for space exploration.

Some people may think that a circle has no points. In fact, a circle does have points, and knowing what pi is and how to use it is far from pointless. Pi is used for calculating the area and circumference of circular objects and the volume of shapes like spheres and cylinders. So it's useful for everyone from farmers storing crops in silos to manufacturers of water storage tanks to people who want to find the best value when ordering a pizza. At NASA, we use pi to find the best place to touch down on Mars, study the health of Earth's coral reefs, measure the size of a ring of planetary debris light years away, and lots more.

In the United States, one format to write March 14 is 3.14, which is why we celebrate on that date. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution officially designating March 14 as Pi Day and encouraging teachers and students to celebrate the day with activities that teach students about pi. And you're in luck, because that's precisely what the NASA Pi Day Challenge is all about.

The Science Behind the 2021 NASA Pi Day Challenge

This year, the NASA Pi Day Challenge offers up four brain-ticklers that will require students to use pi to collect samples from an asteroid, fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time, find efficient ways to talk with distant spacecraft, and study the forces behind Earth's beautiful auroras. Learn more about the science and engineering behind the problems below or click the link below to jump right into the challenge. Be sure to check back on March 15 for the answers to this year’s challenge.

› Take the NASA Pi Day Challenge

› Educators, get the lesson here!

Sample Science

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has flown to an asteroid and collected a sample of surface material to bring back to Earth. (It will arrive back at Earth in 2023.) The mission is designed to help scientists understand how planets form and add to what we know about near-Earth asteroids, like the one visited by OSIRIS-REx, asteroid Bennu. Launched in 2016, OSIRIS-REx began orbiting Bennu in 2018 and successfully performed its maneuver to retrieve a sample on October 20, 2020. In the Sample Science problem, students use pi to determine how much of the spacecraft's sample-collection device needs to make contact with the surface of Bennu to meet mission requirements for success.

Whirling Wonder

Joining the Perseverance rover on Mars is the first helicopter designed to fly on another planet. Named Ingenuity, the helicopter is a technology demonstration, meaning it's a test to see if a similar device could be used for a future Mars mission. To achieve the first powered flight on another planet, Ingenuity must spin its blades at a rapid rate to generate lift in Mars’ thin atmosphere. In Twirly Whirly, students use pi to compare the spin rate of Ingenuity’s blades to those of a typical helicopter on Earth.

Signal Solution

NASA uses radio signals to communicate with spacecraft across the solar system and in interstellar space. As more and more data flows between Earth and these distant spacecraft, NASA needs new technologies to improve how quickly data can be received. One such technology in development is Deep Space Optical Communications, which will use near-infrared light instead of radio waves to transmit data. Near-infrared light, with its higher frequency than radio waves, allows for more data to be transmitted per second. In Signal Solution, students can compare the efficiency of optical communication with radio communication, using pi to crunch the numbers.

Force Field

Earth’s magnetic field extends from within the planet to space, and it serves as a protective shield, blocking charged particles from the Sun. Known as the solar wind, these charged particles of helium and hydrogen race from the Sun at hundreds of miles per second. When they reach Earth, they would bombard our planet and orbiting satellites were it not for the magnetic field. Instead, they are deflected, though some particles become trapped by the field and are directed toward the poles, where they interact with the atmosphere, creating auroras. Knowing how Earth’s magnetic field shifts and how particles interact with the field can help keep satellites in safe orbits. In Force Field, students use pi to calculate how much force a hydrogen atom would experience at different points along Earth’s magnetic field.

Teach It

Pi Day is a fun and engaging way to get students thinking like NASA scientists and engineers. By solving the NASA Pi Day Challenge problems below, reading about other ways NASA uses pi, and doing the related activities, students can see first hand how math is an important part of STEM.

Pi Day Resources

• 
  Pi in the Sky Lessons

  Here's everything you need to bring the NASA Pi Day Challenge into the classroom.

  Grades 4-12

  Time Varies

• 
  NASA Pi Day Challenge

  The entire NASA Pi Day Challenge collection can be found in one, handy slideshow for students.

  Grades 4-12

  Time Varies

• 
  How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Really Need?

  While you may have memorized more than 70,000 digits of pi, world record holders, a JPL engineer explains why you really only need a tiny fraction of that for most calculations.

• 
  18 Ways NASA Uses Pi

  Whether it's sending spacecraft to other planets, driving rovers on Mars, finding out what planets are made of or how deep alien oceans are, pi takes us far at NASA. Find out how pi helps us explore space.

• 
  10 Ways to Celebrate Pi Day With NASA on March 14

  Find out what makes pi so special, how it’s used to explore space, and how you can join the celebration with resources from NASA.

• 
  Infographic: Planet Pi

  This poster shows some of the ways NASA scientists and engineers use the mathematical constant pi (3.14) and includes common pi formulas.

• 

  Mobile & Web Backgrounds

  Can't get enough pi? Download this year's NASA Pi Day Challenge graphics as mobile phone and web meeting backgrounds:

  • OSIRIS-REx: Mobile | Web
  • Mars Helicopter: Mobile | Web
  • Deep Space Network: Mobile | Web
  • Aurora: Mobile | Web
  • Solar Wind (not pictured): Mobile | Web

• 
  Pi Day: What's Going 'Round

  Tell us what you're up to this Pi Day and share your stories and photos on our showcase page.

Plus, join the conversation using the hashtag #NASAPiDayChallenge on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Related Lessons for Educators

• 
  Robotic Arm Challenge

  In this challenge, students will use a model robotic arm to move items from one location to another. They will engage in the engineering design process to design, build and operate the arm.

  Grades K-8

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

• 
  Whip Up a Moon-Like Crater

  Whip up a moon-like crater with baking ingredients as a demonstration for students.

  Grades 1-6

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

• 
  Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

  In this lesson, students build a paper helicopter, then improve the design and compare and measure performance.

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

• 
  Speaking in Phases

  Students learn how waves are used in communication between far-away spacecraft and the Deep Space Network on Earth.

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

• 
  Catching a Whisper from Space

  Students kinesthetically model the mathematics of how NASA communicates with spacecraft.

  Grades 4-12

  Time 1-2 hours

• 
  Collecting Light: Inverse Square Law Demo

  In this activity, students learn how light and energy are spread throughout space. The rate of change can be expressed mathematically, demonstrating why spacecraft like NASA’s Juno need so many solar panels.

  Grades 6-8

  Time under 30 min

• 
  Build a Relay Inspired by Space Communications

  In this intermediate-level programming challenge, students use microdevices along with light and mirrors to build a relay that can send information to a distant detector.

  Grades 8-12

  Time 1-2 hours

• 
  Math Rocks: A Lesson in Asteroid Dynamics

  Students use math to investigate a real-life asteroid impact.

  Grades 8-12

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

Related Activities for Students

• 
  Code a Mars Helicopter Video Game

  Create a video game that lets players explore the Red Planet with a helicopter like the one going to Mars with NASA's Perseverance rover!

  Type Project

  Subject Technology

• 
  Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

  Build a paper helicopter, then see if you can improve the design like NASA engineers did when making the first helicopter for Mars.

  Type Project

  Subject Engineering

• 
  How Does NASA Spot a Near-Earth Asteroid?

  Watch this one-minute video to find out how NASA spots and tracks asteroids that fly close to Earth.

  Type Video

  Subject Science

• 
  What's That Space Rock?

  Find out how to tell the difference between asteroids, comets, meteors, meteorites and other bodies in our solar system.

  Type Slideshow

  Subject Science

Explore More

Infographic

• Solar Wind

Facts and Figures

• Mars
• Asteroid Bennu

Missions and Instruments

• OSIRIS-REx
• Deep Space Optical Communications
• Mars Perseverance Rover
• Ingenuity Helicopter

Websites

• NASA Solar System Exploration
• NASA Mars Exploration

TAGS: Pi, Pi Day, NASA Pi Day Challenge, Math, Mars, Perseverance, Ingenuity, Mars Helicopter, OSIRIS-REx, Bennu, Asteroid, Auroras, Earth, Magnetic Field, DSOC, Light Waves, DSN, Deep Space Network, Space Communications

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

In the News

A new spacecraft that will collect vital sea-surface measurements for better understanding climate change and improving weather predictions is joining the fleet of Earth science satellites monitoring our changing planet from space. A U.S.-European partnership, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite continues a long tradition of collecting scientific data from Earth orbit. It’s named in honor of NASA’s former Earth Science Division director and a leading advocate for ocean measurements from space.

Read on to find out how the mission will measure sea-surface height for the next 10 years and provide atmospheric data to help better predict weather. Plus, find out how to watch the launch online and explore related teaching resources to bring NASA Earth science into the classroom and incorporate sea level data into your instruction.

How It Works

The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is designed to measure sea-surface height and improve weather predictions. Once in orbit, it will be able to measure sea-surface height – with accuracy down to the centimeter – over 90% of the world’s oceans every 10 days. It will do this using a suite of onboard science tools, or instruments.

To measure sea-surface height, a radar altimeter will send a pulse of microwave energy to the ocean’s surface and record how long it takes for the energy to return. The time it takes for the signal to return varies depending on the height of the ocean – a higher ocean surface results in a shorter return time, while a lower ocean surface results in a longer return time. A microwave radiometer will measure delays that take place as the signal travels through the atmosphere to correct for this effect and provide an even more precise measurement of sea-surface height.

This animation shows the radar pulse from the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite's altimeter bouncing off the sea surface in order to measure the height of the ocean. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

To measure atmospheric data, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is equipped with the Global Navigation Satellite System - Radio Occultation, or GNSS-RO, instrument, which will measure signals from GPS satellites – the same ones you use to navigate on Earth. As these satellites move below or rise above the horizon from Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich's perspective, their signals slow down, change frequency and bend as a result of the phenomenon known as refraction. Scientists can use these changes in the GPS signal to measure small shifts in temperature, moisture content, and density in the atmosphere. These measurements can help meteorologists improve weather forecasts.

Why It's Important

Scientists from around the world have been collecting sea level measurements for more than a century. The data – gathered from tide gauges, sediment cores, and space satellites – paint a clear picture: sea level is rising. Looking at the average height of the sea across the planet, we see that in the last 25 years global sea level has been rising an average of 0.13 inches (3.3 mm) per year. This average is increasing each year (in the 2000s, it was 0.12 inches, or 3.0 mm, per year) as is the rate at which it’s increasing. That means that sea level is rising, and it’s rising faster and faster. Since 1880, global sea level has risen more than eight inches (20 cm). By 2100, it is projected to rise another one to four feet (30 to 122 cm).

Measuring sea level from space provides scientists with global measurements of Earth’s oceans in a matter of days, including areas far from shore where measurements aren’t practical or possible. Starting in 1992 with the launch of the TOPEX/Poseidon mission, the record of sea level measurements from space has continued uninterrupted, providing an increasingly detailed picture of Earth’s rising seas. The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite – and its twin, which will launch in 2025 – will extend those measurements to 2030, allowing scientists to continue collecting vital information about Earth’s changing oceans and climate.

Unlike previous satellites that measured sea level, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich has the capability to measure sea level variations more accurately near coastlines, giving scientists insight into changes that can have direct impacts on communities and livelihoods, such as commercial fishing and ship navigation.

With rising seas already impacting people and communities, it's important to understand not just how much seas are rising, but also where and how quickly they are rising. Data from instruments on Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich can be combined with data from other satellites to get a clearer picture of what's contributing to sea level rise and where. For example, by looking at the satellite's radar altimeter measurements along with gravity measurements from the GRACE-FO mission, scientists can better determine how melting ice and thermal expansion are contributing to sea level rise. And by tracking the movement of warm water (which stands taller than cold water), scientists can better predict the rapid expansion of hurricanes.

Watch the Launch

Scheduled to launch at 9:17 a.m. PST (12:17 p.m. EST) on November 21, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Watch a live broadcast of the launch from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on NASA TV and the agency’s website. Visit the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich website to explore more news about the mission. Follow launch updates on NASA's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Teach It

Make classroom connections to NASA Earth science with lessons about rising seas, thermal expansion and ice melt, data collection and graphing, and engineering. Plus explore independent activities and experiments students can do at home, video playlists, and more:

• 
  Lesson Collection for Educators

  Explore these standards-aligned STEM lessons about launches, Earth satellites, and sea level rise to make classroom connections to the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Learn With NASA – YouTube Playlist

  This YouTube playlist for students and teachers features explainers about the causes and effects of sea level rise and how NASA is studying our changing planet – plus related STEM activities and experiments for students.

• 
  Teaching Space With NASA

  Watch education webinars featuring NASA experts and education specialists talking about Earth science and more, explore related resources, and register to participate in an upcoming live Q&A.

• 
  Teachable Moments: The Science of Earth's Rising Seas

  How do we know sea-level rise is happening and what’s causing it? Learn about the NASA satellites studying the problem and get students exploring the data through math.

• 
  Teachable Moments: NASA's Eyes on Extreme Weather

  Learn about the causes and effects of extreme weather including hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires, plus how NASA studies them.

• 
  Activities for Students

  Get students engaged in science and engineering related to the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission with these videos and independent activities.

  Type Varies

  Subject Varies

• 
  Learning Space With NASA at Home

  Explore Earth and space science activities students can do with NASA at home, watch live stream events and video tutorials, plus explore tips for home-based learning!

Explore More

• Press Kit: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich
• Website: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich
• Article: Meet the People Behind the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Spacecraft
• Article: 5 Things to Know About Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich
• Website: NASA Climate Change
• Website: Sea Level Science
• Website: NASA Climate Kids
• Article for Kids: How Do We Measure Sea Level?
• Interactive: Explore Earth Now
• Facts & Figures: Climate Change - Evidence
• Gallery: Images of Change
• Podcast: On a Mission
• Multimedia: NASA climate images, videos, and graphics
• Social Media: List of NASA social media channels
• Events: NASA Live

Recursos en Español

• Sitio Web: NASA Cambio Climático en Español
• Twitter: NASA en Español

TAGS: Teachable Moments, Educators, Teachers, Parents, K-12 Education, Launch, Mission, Earth, Satellite, Earth Science, Climate Change, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, Sea Level, Sea Level Rise,

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

Resources for Teachers

On July 30, NASA launched the Perseverance Mars rover and its companion Ingenuity – the first helicopter designed to fly on the Red Planet. With the two officially on their journey to Mars for a scheduled landing in February 2021, now is a great time to catch up with our new education webinar series, Teaching Space With NASA. In our first three webinars, NASA experts and education specialists introduced Perseverance, offered a look at the engineering behind the rover, and shared some of the exciting science goals for the mission. Visit the Teaching Space With NASA page to watch recordings of the webinars, download a certificate of participation, and explore a cache of resources you can use in your instruction.

• 
  Teaching Space With NASA

  Join NASA experts and education specialists for education webinars. Ask questions, get teaching resources and share the excitement of space exploration with students.

During the 2020-21 school year, we’ll be continuing the series, offering monthly live-stream presentations from NASA scientists and engineers, hosted by JPL education specialists. Teaching Space With NASA live streams are open to all audiences, including informal educators and students. Join us for our next live stream on August 19 all about what's next for NASA Mars exploration. Register to join the Q&A at the link below. (Note: You do not need to register to watch – only to ask questions.)

• 
  Webinar: Teaching Space With NASA – What's Next for Mars Exploration

  Join NASA experts and education specialists for a one-hour education webinar about how and why we explore Mars and the science we hope to accomplish when the newly launched Perseverance rover lands on Mars in February 2021.

Educators will also have a chance to take a deeper dive into the topic and associated educational resources with our interactive, virtual workshops. Attendance at virtual workshops is limited, so be sure to keep an eye out for new events announced to our email subscribers. Subscribe for "JPL Education Updates" here and check the Events page for the latest workshops.

• 
  Events Collection

  Explore our collection of educational events, including webinars and virtual education workshops from NASA-JPL, astronomy events, and more.

Also, be sure to keep an eye out for new additions to our searchable catalog of nearly 200 standards-aligned STEM activities in the Teach section of this website. In addition to new lessons, some of your favorite existing lessons will now include tips for virtual instruction, as well as links to projects that students can do independently or with the help of family members.

• 
  Teach Collection

  Explore our collection of standards-aligned STEM lessons and activities featuring NASA missions and science.

Resources for Students

Learning Space with NASA at Home features standards-based activities students can do at home with inexpensive materials they may already have on hand. The page also features video tutorials (available with subtitles en Español) and an FAQ for families working with students at home. Check back as new activities featuring the latest NASA missions and science are added throughout the school year.

• 
  Learning Space With NASA at Home

  Explore space and science activities you can do with NASA at home. Watch video tutorials for making rockets, Mars rovers, Moon landers and more. Plus, find tips for learning at home!

Explore More

• 
  Share

  NASA Answers 'When Are We Ever Going to Use This?'

  Scientists and engineers at NASA share how they use the STEM concepts they learned in grade-school to explore Earth and space.

• 
  News

  Meet JPL Interns

  Hear stories from interns pushing the boundaries of space exploration and science at the leading center for robotic exploration of the solar system.

TAGS: Educators, Teachers, K-12 Education, STEM, Educator Resources, Lessons, Student Activities, Parents, Webinars, Workshops

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

Why It's Important

Perseverance may look similar to Curiosity – the NASA rover that's been exploring Mars since 2012 – but the latest rover's new science instruments, upgraded cameras, improved onboard computers and new landing technologies make it uniquely capable of accomplishing the science goals planned for the mission.

Diagram of the Perseverance Mars rover's science instruments. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Looking for signs of habitability

The first of the rover's four science goals deals with studying the habitability of Mars. The mission is designed to look for environments that could have supported life in the past.

Perseverance will land in Jezero Crater, a 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer-wide) crater that scientists believe was once filled with water. Data from orbiters at the Red Planet suggest that water once flowed into the crater, carrying clay minerals from the surrounding area, depositing them in the crater and forming a delta. We find similar conditions on Earth, where the right combination of water and minerals can support life. By comparing these to the conditions we find on Mars, we can better understand the Red Planet's ability to support life. The Perseverance rover is specially designed to study the habitability of Mars' Jezero Crater using a suite of scientific instruments, or tools, that can evaluate the environment and the processes that influence it.

Seeking signs of ancient life

The rover's second science goal is closely linked with its first: Perseverance will seek out evidence that microbial life once existed on Mars in the past. In doing so, the mission could make progress in understanding the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe – the scientific field known as astrobiology.

Exploring Mars Lessons

Get students engaged in the excitement of NASA's next mission to Mars with standards-aligned STEM lessons.

It's important to note that the rover won't be looking for present-day life. Instead, its instruments are designed to look for clues left behind by ancient life. We call those clues biosignatures. A biosignature might be a pattern, object or substance that was created by life in the past and can be identified by certain properties, such as chemical composition, mineralogy or structure.

To better understand if a possible biosignature is really a clue left behind by ancient life, we need to look for biosignatures and study the habitability of the environment. Discovering that an environment is habitable does not automatically mean life existed there and some geologic processes can leave behind biosignature-like signs in non-habitable environments.

Collecting samples

Perseverance's third science goal is to gather samples of Martian rocks and soil. The rover will leave the samples on Mars, where future missions could collect them and bring them back to Earth for further study.

Scientists can learn a lot about Mars with a rover like Perseverance that can take in situ (Latin for "on-site") measurements. But examining samples from Mars in full-size laboratories on Earth can provide far more information about whether life ever existed on Mars than studying them on the Martian surface.

Perseverance will take the first step toward making a future sample return possible. The rover is equipped with special coring drill bits that will collect scientifically interesting samples similar in size to a piece of chalk. Each sample will be capped and sealed in individual collection tubes. The tubes will be stored aboard the rover until the mission team determines the best strategic locations on the planet's surface to leave them. The collection tubes will stay on the Martian surface until a potential future campaign collects them for return to Earth. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for the missions that will complete this campaign.

Preparing for future astronauts

This artist's concept depicts astronauts and human habitats on Mars. The Perseverance Mars rover will carry a number of technologies that could pave the way for astronauts to explore Mars. Credit: NASA | + Expand image

Like the robotic spacecraft that landed on the Moon to prepare for the Apollo astronauts, the Perseverance rover's fourth science goal will help pave the way for humans to eventually visit Mars.

Before humans can set foot on the Red Planet, we need to know more about conditions there and demonstrate that technologies needed for returning to Earth, and survival, will work. That’s where MOXIE comes in. Short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, MOXIE is designed to separate oxygen from carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Mars' atmosphere. The atmosphere that surrounds the Red Planet is 96% CO₂. But there's very little oxygen – only 0.13%, compared with the 21% in Earth’s atmosphere.

Oxygen is a crucial ingredient in rocket fuel and is essential for human survival. MOXIE could show how similar systems sent to Mars ahead of astronauts could generate rocket fuel to bring astronauts back to Earth and even create oxygen for breathing.

Flying the first Mars helicopter

Joining the Perseverance rover on Mars is the first helicopter designed to fly on another planet. Dubbed Ingenuity, the Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration that will be the first test of powered flight on another planet.

The lightweight helicopter rides to Mars attached to the belly of the rover. After Perseverance is on Mars, the helicopter will be released from the rover and will attempt up to five test flights in the thin atmosphere of Mars. After a successful first attempt at lifting off, hovering a few feet above the ground for 20 to 30 seconds and landing, the operations team can attempt incrementally higher and longer-distance flights. Ingenuity is designed to fly for up to 90 seconds, reach an altitude of 15 feet and travel a distance of nearly 980 feet. Sending commands to the helicopter and receiving information about the flights relayed through the rover, the helicopter team hopes to collect valuable test data about how the vehicle performs in Mars’ thin atmosphere. The results of the Mars Helicopter's test flights will help inform the development of future vehicles that could one day explore Mars from the air. Once Ingenuity has completed its technology demonstration, Perseverance will continue its mission on the surface of the Red Planet.

How It Works

Before any of that can happen, the Perseverance Mars rover needs to successfully lift off from Earth and begin its journey to the Red Planet. Here's how the launch is designed to ensure that the spacecraft and Mars are at the same place on landing day.

Watch Online

Explore virtual events and programming related to the launch of NASA's next Mars rover, including education workshops and conversations with mission experts.

About every 26 months, Mars and Earth are at points in their orbits around the Sun that allow us to launch spacecraft to Mars most efficiently. This span of time, called a launch period, lasts several weeks. For Perseverance, the launch period is targeted to begin at 4:50 a.m. PDT (7:50 a.m. EDT) on July 30 and end on Aug. 15. Each day, there is a launch window lasting about two hours. If all conditions are good, we have liftoff! If there's a little too much wind or other inclement weather, or perhaps engineers want to take a look at something on the rocket during the window, the countdown can be paused, and teams will try again the next day.

Regardless of when Perseverance launches during this period, the rover will land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, at around 12:30 PST. Engineers can maintain this fixed landing date because when the rover launches, it will go into what's called a parking orbit around Earth. Depending on when the launch happens, the rover will coast in the temporary parking orbit for 24 to 36 minutes. Then, the upper stage of the rocket will ignite for about seven minutes, giving the spacecraft the velocity it needs to reach Mars.

Like the Curiosity rover, Perseverance will launch from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on an Atlas V 541 rocket – one of the most powerful rockets available for interplanetary spacecraft.

Watch a live broadcast of the launch from the Kennedy Space Center on NASA TV and the agency’s website. Visit the Perseverance rover mission website to explore a full listing of related virtual events and programming, including education workshops, news briefings and conversations with mission experts. Follow launch updates on NASA's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Teach It

The launch of NASA's next Mars rover and the first Mars Helicopter is a fantastic opportunity to engage students in real-world problem solving across the STEM fields. Check out some of the resources below to see how you can bring NASA missions and science to students in the classroom and at home.

Virtual Education Workshops

• 
  Teaching Space With NASA - Engineering the Perseverance Mars Rover

  In this one-hour live workshop, NASA experts will provide an in-depth look at the engineering behind the Perseverance Mars rover. Register to join the Q&A with our experts.

• 
  Teaching Space With NASA - Exploring Mars Science With the Perseverance Mars Rover

  In this one-hour live workshop, we’ll get an in-depth look at how Perseverance will explore the science of Mars, building on our understanding of the Red Planet and preparing for future human missions. Register to join the Q&A with our experts.

• 
  Teaching Space With NASA

  Join NASA experts and education specialists for virtual education workshops. Ask questions, get teaching resources and share the excitement of space exploration with students.

Lessons for Educators

• 
  Mission to Mars Unit

  In this standards-aligned unit, students learn about Mars, design a mission to explore the planet, build and test model spacecraft and components, and engage in scientific exploration.

  Grades 3-8

  Time Varies

• 
  Collection: Exploring Mars

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons for educators all about engineering and preparing NASA spacecraft for Mars.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Collection: Preparing for Mars

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons for educators all about engineering and preparing NASA spacecraft for Mars.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Collection: Launching to Mars

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons for educators all about launching NASA spacecraft to Mars.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Collection: Landing on Mars

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons for educators all about landing NASA spacecraft on Mars.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

Activities for Students

• 
  Collection: Exploring Mars

  Make a cardboard rover, design a Mars exploration video game and explore more STEM projects, slideshows and videos for students.

  Subject Varies

  Grades K-12

• 
  Learning Space With NASA at Home

  Explore space and science activities you can do with NASA at home. Watch video tutorials for making rockets, Mars rovers, Moon landers and more. Plus, find tips for learning at home!

  Subject Varies

  Grades K-12

Explore More

• 

  Meet JPL Interns of Mars 2020

  Read stories about interns helping prepare NASA's next Mars rover for its launch this summer.

  Grades

  Time

• 
  NASA #CountdownToMars STEM Toolkit

  Explore links to activities, lessons, interactives, social media and more resources from NASA to participate in the Perseverance Mars rover mission.

• Website: Perseverance Mars Rover
• Website: NASA Mars Exploration
• Website: Space Place - All About Mars
• Watch Online – Virtual Events

TAGS: Mars, Mars 2020, Perseverance, Mars Rover, launch, Teach, teachers, educators, parents, lessons, activities, resources, K-12, STEM, events, students, science, engineering

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

Visit the Pi in the Sky 7 lesson page to explore classroom resources and downloads for the 2019 NASA Pi Day Challenge. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

A new Mars landing technique called Range Trigger is reducing the size of the ellipse where spacecraft touch down. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Full image and caption

Composite image of the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Roman Tkachenko | › Full image and caption

The CORAL mission records the spectra of light reflected from the ocean to study the composition and health of Earth's coral reefs. Image credit: NASA | + Expand image

The star Beta Pictoris and its surrounding debris disk in near-infrared light. Image credit: ESO/A.-M. Lagrange et al. | › Full image and caption

Besides providing an excuse to eat all varieties of pie, Pi Day gives us a chance to appreciate some of the ways NASA uses pi to explore the solar system and beyond. You can do the math for yourself – or get students doing it – by taking part in the NASA Pi Day Challenge. Find out below how to test your pi skills with real-world problems faced by NASA space explorers, plus get lessons and resources for educators.

How It Works

The ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter is equal to pi, which is often rounded to 3.14. But pi is what is known as an irrational number, so its decimal representation never ends, and it never repeats. Though it has been calculated to trillions of digits, we use far fewer at NASA.

Pi is useful for all sorts of things, like calculating the circumference and area of circular objects and the volume of cylinders. That's helpful information for everyone from farmers irrigating crops to tire manufacturers to soup-makers filling their cans. At NASA, we use pi to calculate the densities of planets, point space telescopes at distant stars and galaxies, steer rovers on the Red Planet, put spacecraft into orbit and so much more! With so many practical applications, it's no wonder so many people love pi!

In the U.S., 3.14 is also how we refer to March 14, which is why we celebrate the mathematical marvel that is pi on that date each year. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution officially designating March 14 as Pi Day and encouraging teachers and students to celebrate the day with activities that teach students about pi.

The NASA Pi Day Challenge

This year's NASA Pi Day Challenge poses four puzzlers that require pi to compare the sizes of Mars landing areas, calculate the length of a year for one of the most distant objects in the solar system, measure the depth of the ocean from an airplane, and determine the diameter of a distant debris disk. Learn more about the science and engineering behind the problems below or click the link to jump right into the challenge.

› Take the NASA Pi Day Challenge
› Educators, get the lesson here!

Mars Maneuver

Long before a Mars rover touches down on the Red Planet, scientists and engineers must determine where to land. Rather than choosing a specific landing spot, NASA selects an area known as a landing ellipse. A Mars rover could land anywhere within this ellipse. Choosing where the landing ellipse is located requires compromising between getting as close as possible to interesting science targets and avoiding hazards like steep slopes and large boulders, which could quickly bring a mission to its end. In the Mars Maneuver problem, students use pi to see how new technologies have reduced the size of landing ellipses from one Mars rover mission to the next.

Cold Case

In January 2019, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sped past Arrokoth, a frigid, primitive object that orbits within the Kuiper Belt, a doughnut-shaped ring of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. Arrokoth is the most distant Kuiper Belt object to be visited by a spacecraft and only the second object in the region to have been explored up close. To get New Horizons to Arrokoth, mission navigators needed to know the orbital properties of the object, such as its speed, distance from the Sun, and the tilt and shape of its orbit. This information is also important for scientists studying the object. In the Cold Case problem, students can use pi to determine how long it takes the distant object to make one trip around the Sun.

Coral Calculus

Coral reefs provide food and shelter to many ocean species and protect coastal communities against extreme weather events. Ocean warming, invasive species, pollutants, and acidification caused by climate change can harm the tiny living coral organisms responsible for building coral reefs. To better understand the health of Earth's coral reefs, NASA's COral Reef Airborne Laboratory, or CORAL, mission maps them from the air using spectroscopy, studying how light interacts with the reefs. To make accurate maps, CORAL must be able to differentiate among coral, algae and sand on the ocean floor from an airplane. And to do that, it needs to calculate the depth of the ocean at every point it maps by measuring how much sunlight passes through the ocean and is reflected upward from the ocean floor. In Coral Calculus, students use pi to measure the water depth of an area mapped by the CORAL mission and help scientists better understand the status of Earth's coral reefs.

Planet Pinpointer

Our galaxy contains billions of stars, many of which are likely home to exoplanets – planets outside our solar system. So how do scientists decide where to look for these worlds? Using data gathered by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers found that they're more likely to find giant exoplanets around young stars surrounded by debris disks, which are made up of material similar to what's found in the asteroid belt and Kuiper Belt in our solar system. Sure enough, after discovering a debris disk around the star Beta Pictoris, researchers later confirmed that it is home to at least two giant exoplanets. Learning more about Beta Pictoris' debris disk could give scientists insight into the formation of these giant worlds. In Planet Pinpointer, put yourself in the role of a NASA scientist to learn more about Beta Pictoris' debris disk, using pi to calculate the distance across it.

Participate

• 
  Pi Day Challenge Lessons

  Here's everything you need to bring the NASA Pi Day Challenge into the classroom.

  Grades 4-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Slideshow: NASA Pi Day Challenge

  The entire NASA Pi Day Challenge collection can be found in one, handy slideshow for students.

  Grades 4-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Pi Day: What’s Going ’Round

  Tell us what you’re up to this Pi Day and share your stories and photos with NASA.

Join the conversation and share your Pi Day Challenge answers with @NASAJPL_Edu on social media using the hashtag #NASAPiDayChallenge

Blogs and Features

• 
  How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Really Need?

  While you may have memorized more than 70,000 digits of pi, world record holders, a JPL engineer explains why you really only need a tiny fraction of that for most calculations.

• 
  Slideshow: 18 Ways NASA Uses Pi

  Whether it's sending spacecraft to other planets, driving rovers on Mars, finding out what planets are made of or how deep alien oceans are, pi takes us far at NASA. Find out how pi helps us explore space.

Related Lessons for Educators

• 
  Rover Lessons

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned STEM lessons all about rovers.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Touchdown

  Students design and build a shock-absorbing system that will protect two "astronauts" when they land.

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  On Target

  Students modify a paper cup so it can zip down a line and drop a marble onto a target.

  Grades 6-12

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Solar System Scale Models

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned STEM lessons all about the size and scale of our solar system.

  Grades 1-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Modeling an Asteroid

  Lead a discussion about asteroids and their physical properties, then have students mold their own asteroids out of clay.

  Grades 3-5

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Math Rocks: A Lesson in Asteroid Dynamics

  Students use math to investigate a real-life asteroid impact.

  Grades 8-12

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Asteroid Ace: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  Students use pi to calculate the rotation rate of an asteroid from another solar system in this illustrated math problem.

  Grades 11-12

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Climate Change Lessons

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned STEM lessons all about Earth's changing climate.

  Grades K-12

  Time Varies

• 
  Using Light to Study Planets

  Students build a spectrometer using basic materials as a model for how NASA uses spectroscopy to determine the nature of elements found on Earth and other planets.

  Grades 6-11

  Time < 2 hrs

NOAA Coral Bleaching activity

• 
  Solar Sleuth: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  In this illustrated math problem, students use pi and data from the Kepler space telescope to find the size of a planet outside our solar system.

  Grades 6-9

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Exploring Exoplanets with Kepler

  Students use math concepts related to transits to discover real-world data about Mercury, Venus and planets outside our solar system.

  Grades 6-12

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Habitable Hunt: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  In this illustrated math problem, students use the mathematical constant pi to find the "habitable zone" around a distant star and determine which of its planets are in that zone.

  Grades 11-12

  Time < 30 mins

Related Activities for Students

• 
  Make a Moon or Mars Rover Game

  Create a Moon or Mars exploration game using Scratch, a visual programming language. Think like NASA space-mission planners to design your game!

  Type Project

  Subject Technology

• 
  Make a Cardboard Rover

  Build a rubber-band-powered rover that can scramble across a room.

  Type Project

  Subject Engineering

• 
  Mars in a Minute: How Do You Choose a Landing Site?

  So, you want to study Mars with a lander or rover – but where exactly do you send it? Learn how scientists and engineers tackle the question of where to land on Mars in this 60-second video.

  Type Video

  Subject Engineering

• 
  Mars in a Minute: How Do You Land on Mars?

  Getting a spacecraft to Mars is one thing. Getting it safely to the ground is a whole other challenge! This 60-second video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains three ways to land on the surface of the Red Planet.

  Type Video

  Subject Engineering

• 
  What's That Space Rock?

  Find out how to tell the difference between asteroids, comets, meteors, meteorites and other bodies in our solar system.

  Type Slideshow

  Subject Science

• 
  Mars in a Minute: How Long is a Year on Mars?

  How long is does it take Mars to make one trip around the Sun and why is one Earth year shorter? Find out in one minute!

  Type Video

  Subject Science

• 
  Space Place in a Snap: The Solar System's Formation

  Find out how our solar system formed and how it came to be the busy place it is today.

  Type Video

  Subject Science

• 
  What Is the Kuiper Belt?

  Learn about the Kuiper Belt and some of its famous members, Kuiper Belt Objects.

  Type Article

  Subject Science

• 
  Coral Bleaching Simulator

  Adjust water temperature and pollution levels in this simulator to see what happens to a coral reef depending on the conditions you choose!

  Type Interactive

  Subject Science

• 
  Ocean Worlds

  Where might oceans – and living things – exist beyond Earth? Scientists have their eyes on these places in our own solar system.

  Type Slideshow

  Subject Science

• 
  NASA's Earth Minute: Mission to Earth?

  NASA doesn't just explore outer space! It studies Earth, too, with a fleet of spacecraft and scientists far and wide.

  Type Video

  Subject Science

• 
  NASA's Earth Minute: Earth Has a Fever

  Why is Earth getting hotter and what does that mean for us?

  Type Video

  Subject Science

NOAA Video Series: Coral Comeback

• Article: Giant Exoplanet Hunters: Look for Debris Disks
• Video: The Evolution of a Planet-Forming Disk
• Video: Birth of "Phoenix" Planets?

Multimedia

• 
  Infographic: Planet Pi

  This poster shows some of the ways NASA scientists and engineers use the mathematical constant pi (3.14) and includes common pi formulas.

• Posters: Exoplanet Travel Bureau

Facts and Figures

• Mars
• Arrokoth (2014 MU69)
• Earth
• Beta Pictoris b
• Beta Pictoris c

Missions and Instruments

• Perseverance Mars rover (Mars 2020)
• Curiosity Mars rover
• New Horizons
• CORAL
• Spitzer

Websites

• NASA Mars Exploration
• NASA Solar System Exploration
• NASA Climate Change
• NASA Exoplanets

TAGS: K-12 Education, Math, Pi Day, Pi, NASA Pi Day Challenge, Events, Space, Educators, Teachers, Parents, Students, STEM, Lessons, Problem Set, Mars 2020, Perseverance, Curiosity, Mars rovers, Mars landing, MU69, Arrokoth, New Horizons, Earth science, Climate change, CORAL, NASA Expeditions, coral reefs, oceans, Spitzer, exoplanets, Beta Pictoris, stars, universe, space telescope

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

The length of a year is based on how long it takes a planet to revolve around the Sun. Earth takes about 365.2422 days to make one revolution around the Sun. That's about six hours longer than the 365 days that we typically include in a calendar year. As a result, every four years we have about 24 extra hours that we add to the calendar at the end of February in the form of leap day. Without leap day, the dates of annual events, such as equinoxes and solstices, would slowly shift to later in the year, changing the dates of each season. After only a century without leap day, summer wouldn’t start until mid-July!

But the peculiar adjustments don't end there. If Earth revolved around the Sun in exactly 365 days and six hours, this system of adding a leap day every four years would need no exceptions. However, Earth takes a little less time than that to orbit the Sun. Rounding up and inserting a 24-hour leap day every four years adds about 45 extra minutes to every four-year leap cycle. That adds up to about three days every 400 years. To correct for that, years that are divisible by 100 don't have leap days unless they’re also divisible by 400. If you do the math, you'll see that the year 2000 was a leap year, but 2100, 2200 and 2300 will not be.

After learning more about leap years with this article from NASA's Space Place, students can do the math for themselves with this leap day problem set. Follow that up with writing a letter or poem to be opened on the next leap day. And since we've got an extra 24 hours this year, don't forget to take a little time to relax!

Explore More

• 
  Leap Day Math

  In this problem set, students calculate the difference between the calendar year and Earth's orbital period, determine how much extra time gets added to our calendar and identify which years omit leap years.

  Grades 5-8

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Planetary Poetry

  In this cross-curricular STEM and language arts lesson, students learn about planets, stars and space missions and write STEM-inspired poetry to share their knowledge of or inspiration about these topics.

  Grades 2-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Lesson Collection: Solar System Scale Models

  Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons all about the size and scale of our solar system.

  Grades 1-12

  Time Varies

Check out these related resources for kids from NASA Space Place:

• Article: What is a Leap Year?
• Article: How Long Is a Year on Other Planets?

TAGS: K-12 Education, Math, Leap Day, Leap Year, Events, Space, Educators, Teachers, Parents, Students, STEM, Lessons, Earth Science, Earth

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

Let's start with the basic requirements:

• Master's degree in a STEM field, or
  
• Two years of work toward a Ph.D. program in a related science, technology, engineering or math field;
• A completed doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine degree;
• Completion (by June 2021) of a nationally recognized test pilot school program.
  
• Two years of related professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft.
  
• Pass the NASA long-duration spaceflight physical.
  

Not every STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degree will qualify you to be an astronaut. NASA is looking for people with a degree in engineering, biological science, physical science (like physics, chemistry or geology), computer science or mathematics. If you're in high school, middle school or even elementary school, now is a great time to explore all of these fields of study to help you better understand the ones you like most, the ones for which you might have a natural talent, and even the ones you don't find as interesting.

How do you explore these fields?

If you have the ability to choose your elective classes, take the challenging math, science and computer programming courses. This will help you to learn the fundamentals of science and math. If your school doesn't offer those classes, look online. There are many free online courses covering a wide range of math, science and programming topics.

What else can you do?

• Join a school or community math, science, engineering or robotics club. If there are none in your school or community, start one!
• Participate in science and engineering fairs. (There is a great "how to" video series to help you develop your project here.)
• Attend maker fairs and develop the skills to design solutions to a variety of problems.
• Plan to apply for an internship at JPL or NASA. You can apply for opportunities as early as your freshman year of college when you are working toward a degree in a STEM major.

These are some of the steps you can take to better prepare yourself as you enter college. They just happen to be some of the same types of things many JPL scientists and engineers did before starting their college careers that led them to a job with NASA.

Additional Resources:

• NASA Astronauts Website
• From Interns to Astronauts: Former JPL Interns Join NASA Astronaut Class
  
• How to Apply to be an Astronaut

TAGS: career advice, astronaut, STEM careers

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

1. Earth's Changing Climate

Rising sea levels, shrinking ice caps, higher temperatures and extreme weather continued to impact our lives this past decade, making studying Earth’s changing climate more important than ever. During the 2010s, NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, led the way by adding new Earth-monitoring satellites to their fleets to measure soil moisture and study carbon dioxide levels. Meanwhile, satellites such as Terra and Aqua continued their work monitoring various aspects of the Earth system such as land cover, the atmosphere, wildfires, water, clouds and ice. NASA's airborne missions, such as Operation IceBridge, Airborne Snow Observatory and Oceans Melting Greenland, returned data on water movement, providing decision makers with more accurate data than ever before. But there's still more to be done in the future to understand the complex systems that make up Earth's climate and improve the scientific models that will help the world prepare for a warmer future. Using these missions and the science they're gathering as a jumping-off point, students can learn about the water cycle, build data-based scientific models and develop an understanding of Earth's energy systems.

Explore More

• Climate lessons for educators
• Climate activities for students
• Climate articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA climate missions and science

2. Teachable Moments in the Sky

Astronomical events are a sure-fire way to engage students, and this past decade delivered with exciting solar and lunar eclipses that provided real-world lessons about the Sun, the Moon and lunar exploration. The total solar eclipse that crossed the U.S. in 2017 gave students a chance to learn about the dynamic interactions between the Sun and Moon, while brilliant lunar eclipses year after year provided students with lessons in lunar science. There's more to look forward to in the decade ahead as another solar eclipse comes to the U.S. in 2024 – one of nine total solar eclipses around the world in the 2020s. There will be 10 total lunar eclipses in the 2020s, but observing the Moon at any time provides a great opportunity to study celestial patterns and inspire future explorers. Using the lessons below, students can develop and study models to understand the size and scale of the Earth-Moon system, predict future Moon phases and engage in engineering challenges to solve problems that will be faced by future explorers on the Moon!

Explore More

• Moon lessons for educators
• Moon activities for students
• Moon articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA Moon missions and science

3. Missions to Mars

The past decade showed us the Red Planet in a whole new light. We discovered evidence that suggests Mars could have once supported ancient life, and we developed a better understanding of how the planet lost much of its atmosphere and surface water. The Opportunity rover continued exploring long past its expected lifespan of 90 days as NASA sent a larger, more technologically advanced rover, Curiosity, to take the next steps in understanding the planet's ability to support life. (Opportunity's nearly 15-year mission succumbed to the elements in 2019 after a global dust storm engulfed Mars, blocking the critical sunlight the rover needed to stay powered.) The InSight lander touched down in 2018 to begin exploring interior features of the Red Planet, including marsquakes, while high above, long-lived spacecraft like the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey were joined by NASA's MAVEN Orbiter, and missions from the European Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organization. The next decade on Mars will get a kick-start with the July launch of the souped-up Mars 2020 rover, which will look for signs of ancient life and begin collecting samples designed to one day be returned to Earth. Mars provides students with countless opportunities to do some of the same engineering as the folks at NASA and design ideas for future Mars exploration. They can also use Mars as a basis for coding activities, real-world math, and lessons in biology and geology.

Explore More

• Mars lessons for educators
• Mars activities for students
• Mars articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA Mars missions and science

4. Ocean Worlds and the Search for Life

This decade marked the final half of the Cassini spacecraft's 13-year mission at Saturn, during which it made countless discoveries about the planet, its rings and its fascinating moons. Some of the most exciting findings highlighted new frontiers in our search for life beyond Earth. Cassini spotted geysers erupting from cracks in the icy shell of Saturn's moon Enceladus, suggesting the presence of an ocean below. At the moon Titan, the spacecraft peered through the hazy atmosphere to discover an Earth-like hydrologic cycle in which liquid methane and ethane take the place of water. Meanwhile, evidence for another ocean world came to light when the Hubble Space Telescope spotted what appear to be geysers erupting from the icy shell surrounding Jupiter's moon Europa. NASA is currently developing Europa Clipper, a mission that will explore the icy moon of Jupiter to reveal even more about the fascinating world. For students, these discoveries and the moons themselves provide opportunities to build scientific models and improve them as they learn more information. Students can also use math to calculate physical properties of moons throughout the solar system and identify the characteristics that define life as we know it.

Explore More

• Ocean worlds lessons for educators
• Ocean worlds activities for students
• Ocean worlds articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA Solar System missions and science

5. Asteroids, Comets and Dwarf Planets, Oh My!

The past decade was a big deal for small objects in space. NASA's Dawn mission started 2010 as a new arrival in the main asteroid belt. The next eight years saw Dawn explore the two largest objects in the asteroid belt, the giant asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. On its way to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, ESA's Rosetta mission (with contributions from NASA) flew by the asteroid Luticia in 2010. After more than two years at its destination – during which time it measured comet properties, captured breathtaking photos and deposited a lander on the comet – Rosetta's mission ended in dramatic fashion in 2016 when it touched down on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In 2013, as scientists around the world eagerly anticipated the near-Earth flyby of asteroid Duende, residents of Chelyabinsk, Russia, got a surprising mid-morning wake-up call when a small, previously undetected asteroid entered the atmosphere, burned as a bright fireball and disintegrated. The team from NASA's OSIRIS-Rex mission wrapped up the decade and set the stage for discoveries in 2020 by selecting the site that the spacecraft will visit in the new year to collect a sample of asteroid Bennu for eventual return to Earth. And in 2022, NASA's Psyche mission will launch for a rendezvous with a type of object never before explored up close: a metal asteroid. The small objects in our solar system present students with chances to explore the composition of comets, use math to calculate properties such as volume, density and kinetic energy of asteroids, and use Newton's Laws in real-world applications, such as spacecraft acceleration.

Explore More

• Small objects lessons for educators
• Small objects activities for students
• Learn more about NASA Solar System missions and science

6. Uncovering Pluto's Mysteries

In 2015, after nearly a decade of travel, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft arrived at Pluto for its planned flyby and became the first spacecraft to visit the dwarf planet and its moons. The images and scientific data the spacecraft returned brought into focus a complex and dynamic world, including seas of ice and mountain ranges. And there's still more left to explore. But New Horizons' journey is far from over. After its flyby of Pluto, the spacecraft continued deep into the Kuiper Belt, the band of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. In 2019, the spacecraft flew by a snowman-shaped object later named Arrokoth. In the 2020s, New Horizons will continue studying distant Kuiper Belt objects to better understand their physical properties and the region they call home. The new information gathered from the Pluto and Arrokoth flybys provides students with real-life examples of the ways in which scientific understanding changes as additional data is collected and gives them a chance to engage with the data themselves. At the same time, New Horizons' long-distance voyage through the Solar System serves as a good launchpad for discussions of solar system size and scale.

Explore More

• Pluto lessons for educators
• Pluto activities for students
• Pluto articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA Solar System missions and science

7. The Voyagers' Journey Into Interstellar Space

In 1977, two spacecraft left Earth on a journey to explore the outer planets. In the 2010s, decades after their prime mission ended, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 made history by becoming the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space – the region beyond the influence of solar wind from our Sun. The Voyager spacecraft are expected to continue operating into the 2020s, until their fuel and power run out. In the meantime, they will continue sending data back to Earth, shaping our understanding of the structure of the solar system and interstellar space. The Voyagers can help engage students as they learn about and model the structure of the solar system and use math to understand the challenges of communicating with spacecraft so far away.

Explore More

• Voyager lessons for educators
• Voyager activities for students
• Voyager articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA's Voyager mission

8. The Search for Planets Beyond Our Solar System

It was only a few decades ago that the first planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, were discovered. The 2010s saw the number of known exoplanets skyrocket in large part thanks to the Kepler mission. A space telescope designed to seek out Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zone – the region around a star where liquid water could exist – Kepler was used to discover more than 2,600 exoplanets. Discoveries from other observatories and amateur astronomers added to the count, now at more than 4,100. In one of the most momentous exoplanet findings of the decade, the Spitzer telescope discovered that the TRAPPIST-1 system, first thought to have three exoplanets, actually had seven – three of which were in the star’s habitable zone. With thousands of candidates discovered by Kepler waiting to be confirmed as exoplanets and NASA's latest space telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, surveying the entire sky, the 2020s promise to be a decade filled with exoplanet science. And we may not have to wait long for exciting new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in 2021. Exoplanets are a great way to get students exploring concepts in science and mathematics. In the lessons linked to below, students use math to find the size and orbital period of planets, learn how scientists are using spectrometry to determine what makes up exoplanet atmospheres and more.

Explore More

• Exoplanets lessons for educators
• Exoplanets activities for students
• Exoplanets articles from NASA/JPL Edu
• Learn more about NASA exoplanet missions and science

9. Shining a Light on Black Holes

Even from millions and billions of light-years away, black holes made big news in the 2010s. First, a collision of two black holes 1.3 billion light-years away sent gravitational waves across the universe that finally reached Earth in 2015, where the waves were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. This was the first detection of gravitational waves in history and confirmed a prediction Einstein made 100 years earlier in his Theory of General Relativity. Then, in 2019, a team of researchers working on the Event Horizon Telescope project announced they had taken the first image capturing the silhouette of a black hole. To take the historic image of the supermassive black hole (named M87* after its location at the center of the M87 galaxy), the team had to create a virtual telescope as large as Earth itself. In addition to capturing the world's attention, the image gave scientists new information about scientific concepts and measurements they had only been able to theorize about in the past. The innovations that led to these discoveries are changing the way scientists can study black holes and how they interact with the space around them. More revelations are likely in the years ahead as scientists continue to analyze the data from these projects. For students, black holes and gravitational waves provide a basis for developing and modifying scientific models. Since they are a topic of immense interest to students, they can also be used to encourage independent research.

Explore More

• Black hole lessons for educators
• Black hole activities for students
• Black hole articles from NASA/JPL Edu

TAGS: Teachable Moments, K-12 Education, Educators, Students, STEM, Lessons, Activities, Moon, Mars, Ocean Worlds, Small Objects, Pluto, Voyager, Exoplanets, Black Holes, Earth Science, Earth, Climate Change

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.

Why It's Important

Then and Now

In the early 1600s, Johannes Kepler discovered that both Mercury and Venus would transit the Sun in 1631. It was fortunate timing: The telescope had been invented just 23 years earlier, and the transits of both planets wouldn’t happen in the same year again until 13425. Kepler didn’t survive to see the transits, but French astronomer Pierre Gassendi became the first person to see the transit of Mercury. Poor weather kept other astronomers in Europe from seeing it. (Gassendi attempted to view the transit of Venus the following month, but inaccurate astronomical data led him to mistakenly believe it would be visible from his location.) It was soon understood that transits could be used as an opportunity to measure apparent diameter – how large a planet appears from Earth – with great accuracy.

STEM Lessons for Educators

Bring the wonder of space to your students. Explore our collection of standards-aligned lessons featuring NASA missions and science.

After observing the transit of Mercury in 1677, Edmond Halley predicted that transits could be used to accurately measure the distance between the Sun and Earth, which wasn’t known at the time. This could be done by having observers at distant points on Earth look at the variation in a planet’s apparent position against the disk of the Sun – a phenomenon known as parallax shift. This phenomenon is what makes nearby objects appear to shift more than distant objects when you look out the window of a car, for example.

Today, radar is used to measure the distance between Earth and the Sun with greater precision than transit observations. But the transits of Mercury and Venus still provide scientists with opportunities for scientific investigation in two important areas: exospheres and exoplanets.

Exosphere Science

Some objects, like the Moon and Mercury, were originally thought to have no atmosphere. But scientists have discovered that these bodies are actually surrounded by an ultrathin atmosphere of gases called an exosphere. Scientists want to better understand the composition and density of the gases in Mercury’s exosphere, and transits make that possible.

“When Mercury is in front of the Sun, we can study the exosphere close to the planet,” said NASA scientist Rosemary Killen. “Sodium in the exosphere absorbs and re-emits a yellow-orange color from sunlight, and by measuring that absorption, we can learn about the density of gas there.”

Exoplanet Discoveries

When Mercury transits the Sun, it causes a slight dip in the Sun’s brightness as it blocks a tiny portion of the Sun’s light. Scientists discovered they could use that phenomenon to search for planets orbiting distant stars. These planets, called exoplanets, are otherwise obscured from view by the light of their star. When measuring the brightness of far-off stars, a slight recurring dip in the light curve (a graph of light intensity) could indicate an exoplanet orbiting and transiting its star. NASA’s Kepler space telescope found more than 2,700 exoplanets by looking for this telltale drop in brightness. NASA’s TESS mission is surveying 200,000 of the brightest stars near our solar system and is expected to potentially discover more than 10,000 transiting exoplanets.

This animation shows one method scientists use to hunt for planets outside our solar system. When exoplanets transit their parent star, we can detect the dip in the star’s brightness using space telescopes. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Additionally, scientists have been exploring the atmospheres of exoplanets. Similarly to how we study Mercury’s exosphere, scientists can observe the spectra – a measure of light intensity and wavelength – that passes through an exoplanet’s atmosphere. As a result, they’re beginning to understand the evolution and composition of exoplanet atmospheres, as well as the influence of stellar wind and magnetic fields.

Using the transit method and other techniques, scientists are learning more and more about planets beyond our solar system. These discoveries have even inspired a series of posters created by artists at NASA, who imagine what future explorers might encounter on these faraway worlds. Credit: NASA | › Download posters

Watch It

During the transit of Mercury, the planet will appear as a tiny dot on the Sun’s surface. To see it, you’ll need a telescope or binoculars outfitted with a special solar filter.

WARNING! Looking at the Sun directly or through a telescope without proper protection can lead to serious and permanent vision damage. Do not look directly at the Sun without a certified solar filter.

The transit of Mercury will be partly or fully visible across much of the globe. However, it won’t be visible from Australia or most of Asia and Alaska.

The transit of Mercury on Nov. 11, 2019, begins at 4:35 a.m. PST (7:35 a.m. EST), but it won’t be visible to West Coast viewers until after sunrise. Luckily, viewers will have several more hours to take in the stellar show, which lasts until 10:04 a.m. PST (1:04 p.m. EST). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Mercury’s trek across the Sun begins at 4:35 a.m. PST (7:35 a.m. EST), meaning viewers on the East Coast of the U.S. can experience the entire event, as the Sun will have already risen before the transit begins. By the time the Sun rises on the West Coast, Mercury will have been transiting the Sun for nearly two hours. Fortunately, the planet will take almost 5.5 hours to completely cross the face of the Sun, so there will be plenty of time for West Coast viewers to witness this event. See the transit map below to learn when and where the transit will be visible.

This map shows where and when the transit will be visible on November 11. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image

Don’t have access to a telescope or binoculars with a solar filter? Visit the Night Sky Network website to find events near you where amateur astronomers will have viewing opportunities available.

During the transit, NASA will share near-real-time images of the Sun directly from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Beginning at 4:41 a.m. PST (7:41 a.m. EST) you can see images of Mercury passing in front of the Sun at NASA’s 2019 Mercury Transit page, with updates through the end of the transit at 10:04 a.m. PST (1:04 p.m. EST).

If you’re in the U.S., don’t miss the show, as this is the last time a transit will be visible from the continental United States until 2049!

Teach It

Use these lessons and activities to engage students in the transit of Mercury and the hunt for planets beyond our solar system:

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  Exploring Exoplanets with Kepler

  Students use math concepts related to transits to discover real-world data about Mercury, Venus and planets outside our solar system.

  Grades 6-12

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

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  Sun Screen: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  When Mercury passes in front of the Sun, how much sunlight is lost on Earth? Students use the mathematical constant pi to find the solution in this illustrated math challenge.

  Grades 6-9

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Solar Sleuth: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  In this illustrated math problem, students use pi and data from the Kepler space telescope to find the size of a planet outside our solar system.

  Grades 6-9

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Can You Spot Mercury?

  Play science sleuth and see if you can spot Mercury passing in front of – or transiting – the sun in these images from NASA.

  Type Slideshow

  Subject Science

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  Oh, the Places We Go: 18 Ways NASA Uses Pi

  Whether it's sending spacecraft to other planets, driving rovers on Mars, finding out what planets are made of or how deep alien oceans are, pi takes us far at NASA. Find out how pi helps us explore space.

  Type List

  Subject Math

Explore More

Transit Resources:

• NASA near-real-time transit images
• Video: What’s Up – November 2019
• 2019 Mercury Transit Map
• Night Sky Network Events
• NASA Museum Alliance Resources

Exoplanet Resources:

• Exoplanet Exploration Website
• Interactive: 5 Ways to Find a Planet
• Interactive: Eyes on Exoplanets
• Posters: Exoplanet Travel Bureau
• Video: What’s in an Exoplanet Name?
• Video: The Search for Another Earth
• Kepler Mission Website
• Kepler Education Activities

Check out these related resources for kids from NASA’s Space Place:

• All About Mercury
• Article: What is a transit?
• Article: What is an exoplanet?

TAGS: K-12 Education, Teachers, Students, Educators, Mercury, Transit, Transit of Mercury, What's Up, Astronomy, Resources for Educators, Exoplanets, Kepler, TESS

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Lyle Tavernier is an educational technology specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When he’s not busy working in the areas of distance learning and instructional technology, you might find him running with his dog, cooking or planning his next trip.