Update: March 15, 2022 – The answers are here! Visit the NASA Pi Day Challenge slideshow to view the illustrated answer keys for each of the problems in the 2022 challenge.

In the News

No matter what Punxsutawney Phil saw on Groundhog Day, a sure sign that spring approaches is Pi Day. Celebrated on March 14, 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.

Every year, Pi Day gives us a reason to not only celebrate the mathematical wonder that helps NASA explore the universe, but also to enjoy our favorite sweet and savory pies. Students can join in the fun by using pi to explore Earth and space themselves in our ninth annual NASA Pi Day Challenge.

Read on to learn more about the science behind this year's challenge and find out how students can put their math mettle to the test to solve real problems faced by NASA scientists and engineers as we explore Earth, the Moon, Mars, and beyond!

How It Works

Dividing any circle’s circumference by its diameter gives you an answer of pi, which is usually rounded to 3.14. Because pi is an irrational number, its decimal representation goes on forever and never repeats. In 2021, a supercomputer calculated pi to more than 62 trillion digits. But you might be surprised to learn that for space exploration, NASA uses far fewer digits of pi.

Here at NASA, we use pi to understand how much signal we can receive from a distant spacecraft, to calculate the rotation speed of a Mars helicopter blade, and to collect asteroid samples. But pi isn’t just used for exploring the cosmos. Since pi can be used to find the area or circumference of round objects and the volume or surface area of shapes like cylinders, cones, and spheres, it is useful in all sorts of ways. Architects use pi when designing bridges or buildings with arches; electricians use pi when calculating the conductance of wire; and you might even want to use pi to figure out how much frozen goodness you are getting in your ice cream cone.

In the United States, March 14 can be written as 3.14, which is why that date was chosen for celebrating all things pi. 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 that's precisely what the NASA Pi Day Challenge is all about!

The Science Behind the 2022 NASA Pi Day Challenge

This ninth installment of the NASA Pi Day Challenge includes four brain-busters that get students using pi to measure frost deep within craters on the Moon, estimate the density of Mars’ core, calculate the water output from a dam to assess its potential environmental impact, and find how far a planet-hunting satellite needs to travel to send data back to Earth.

Read on to learn more about the science and engineering behind the problems or click the link below to jump right into the challenge.

› Take the NASA Pi Day Challenge

› Educators, get the lesson here!

Lunar Logic

NASA’s Lunar Flashlight mission is a small satellite that will seek out signs of frost in deep, permanently shadowed craters around the Moon’s south pole. By sending infrared laser pulses to the surface and measuring how much light is reflected back, scientists can determine which areas of the lunar surface contain frost and which are dry. Knowing the locations of water-ice on the Moon could be key for future crewed missions to the Moon, when water will be a precious resource. In Lunar Logic, students use pi to find out how much surface area Lunar Flashlight will measure with a single pulse from its laser.

Core Conundrum

Since 2018, the InSight lander has studied the interior of Mars by measuring vibrations from marsquakes and the “wobble” of the planet as it rotates on its axis. Through careful analysis of the data returned from InSight, scientists were able to measure the size of Mars’ liquid core for the first time and estimate its density. In Core Conundrum, students use pi to do some of the same calculations, determining the volume and density of the Red Planet’s core and comparing it to that of Earth’s core.

Dam Deduction

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography, or SWOT mission will conduct NASA's first global survey of Earth's surface water. SWOT’s state-of-the-art radar will measure the elevation of water in major lakes, rivers, wetlands, and reservoirs while revealing unprecedented detail on the ocean surface. This data will help scientists track how these bodies of water are changing over time and improve weather and climate models. In Dam Deduction, students learn how data from SWOT can be used to assess the environmental impact of dams. Students then use pi to do their own analysis, finding the powered output of a dam based on the water height of its reservoir and inferring potential impacts of this quick-flowing water.

Telescope Tango

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is designed to survey the sky in search of planets orbiting bright, nearby stars. TESS does this while circling Earth in a unique, never-before-used orbit that brings the spacecraft close to Earth about once every two weeks to transmit its data. This special orbit keeps TESS stable while giving it an unobstructed view of space. In its first two years, TESS identified more than 2,600 possible exoplanets in our galaxy with thousands more discovered during its extended mission. In Telescope Tango, students will use pi to calculate the distance traveled by TESS each time it sends data back to Earth.

Teach It

Celebrate Pi Day by getting students thinking like NASA scientists and engineers to solve real-world problems in NASA Pi Day Challenge. Completing the problem set and reading about other ways NASA uses pi is a great way for students to see the importance of the M in 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.

• 

  Downloads

  Can't get enough pi? Download this year's NASA Pi Day Challenge graphics, including mobile phone and desktop backgrounds:

  • Pi in the Sky 9 Poster (PDF, 11.2 MB)
  • Lunar Flashlight Background: Phone | Desktop
  • Mars InSight Lander Background: Phone | Desktop
  • SWOT Mission Background: Phone | Desktop
  • TESS Mission - Downlink Background: Phone | Desktop
  • TESS Mission - Science Background (not pictured): Phone | Desktop
  • Medley Background (not pictured): Phone | Desktop
• 
  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.

Recursos en español

• 
  18 Maneras en Que la NASA Usa Pi

  Pi nos lleva lejos en la NASA. Estas son solo algunas de las formas en que pi nos ayuda a explorar el espacio.

Related Lessons for Educators

• 
  Planetary Egg Wobble and Newton's First Law

  Students try to determine the interior makeup of an egg (hard-boiled or raw) based on their understanding of center of mass and Newton’s first law of motion.

  Grades 3-8

  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

• 
  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 min to 1 hour

• 
  Tracking Water Using NASA Satellite Data

  Using real data from NASA’s GRACE satellites, students will track water mass changes in the U.S.

  Grades 4-8

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

• 
  Modeling the Water Budget

  Students use a spreadsheet model to understand droughts and the movement of water in the water cycle.

  Grades 5-8

  Time 30 min to 1 hour

Related Activities for Students

• 
  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

• 
  Look at the Moon! Journaling Project

  Draw what you see in a Moon Journal and see if you can predict the moon phase that comes next.

  Type Project

  Subject Science

• 
  Mars in a Minute: Are There Quakes on Mars?

  Are there earthquakes on Mars – or rather, "marsquakes"? What could they teach us about the Red Planet?

  Type Video

  Subject Science

Explore More

Infographic

• Mars Quick Facts

Facts and Figures

• Earth's Moon
• Mars
• Earth
• Exoplanet Discoveries Dashboard

Missions and Instruments

• Mars InSight Lander
• TESS Mission
• SWOT Mission
• Lunar Flashlight

Websites

• Exoplanets Exploration
• Mars Exploration
• NASA Climate
• NASA Science: Earth's Moon
• Artemis

TAGS: Pi Day, Pi, Math, NASA Pi Day Challenge, Moon, Lunar Flashlight, Mars, InSight, Earth, Climate, SWOT, Exoplanets, Universe, TESS, Teachers, Educators, Parents, Students, Lessons, Activities, Resources, K-12

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Lyle Tavernier, Educational Technology Specialist, NASA-JPL Education Office

  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.

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Grades K-2

• 
  Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

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

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: 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.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  What Tools Would You Take to Mars?

  Students decide what they want to learn from a robotic mission to Mars and what tools they will put on their robot to accomplish their goals.

  Subject Science

  Grades K-2

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Rockets by Size

  Students cut out, color and sequence paper rockets in a simple mathematics lesson on measurement.

  Subject Math

  Grades K-2

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Rocket Math

  Students use rocket manipulatives to help them develop number sense, counting, addition and subtraction skills.

  Subject Math

  Grades K-1

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Tangram Rocket

  Students use tangrams to create rockets while practicing shape recognition.

  Subject Math

  Grades K-1

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Student Project: Build a Rover and More With Shapes

  Use geometric shapes called tangrams to build a rover and other space-themed designs!

  Subject Math

  Grades K-2

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Student Project: Build a Rocket and More With Shapes

  Use geometric shapes called tangrams to build a rocket and other space-themed designs!

  Subject Math

  Grades K-2

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Students explore the science behind an intriguing planetary feature by creating saline solutions and then observing what happens when the solutions evaporate.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Do a Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Dissolve salts in water, then observe what happens when the water evaporates.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  What Do You Know About Mars?

  Students decide what they want to learn from a robotic mission to Mars.

  Subject Science

  Grades K-2

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Melting Ice Experiment

  Students make predictions and observations about how ice will melt in different conditions then compare their predictions to results as they make connections to melting glaciers.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Parachute Design

  Students design and test parachute landing systems to successfully land a probe on target.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-2

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  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.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Student Project: Write a Poem About Space

  Are you a space poet, and you didn't even know it? Find out how to create your own poems inspired by space!

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Ocean World: Earth Globe Toss Game

  Students use NASA images and a hands-on activity to compare the amounts of land and surface water on our planet.

  Subject Science

  Grades K-6

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Simple Rocket Science Continued

  Students gather data on a balloon rocket launch, then create a simple graph to show the results of the tests.

  Subject Math

  Grades K-2

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Spaghetti Anyone? Building with Pasta

  Students use the engineering design process to build a structure to handle the greatest load and gain first-hand experience with compression and tension forces.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Student Project: Building With Spaghetti

  Use spaghetti to build a tower modeled after the giant structures NASA uses to talk to spacecraft.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Simple Rocket Science

  Students perform a simple science experiment to learn how a rocket works and demonstrate Newton’s third law of motion.

  Subject Science

  Grades K-2

  Time 30-60 mins

Grades 3-5

• 
  Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

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

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: 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.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Soda-Straw Rockets

  Students study rocket stability as they design, construct and launch paper rockets using soda straws.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 4-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Student Project: Make a Straw Rocket

  Create a paper rocket that can be launched from a soda straw – then, modify the design to make the rocket fly farther!

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 4-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Rocket Activity: Heavy Lifting

  Students construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the greatest payload possible to the classroom ceiling.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Design a Robotic Insect

  Students design a robotic insect for an extraterrestrial environment, then compare the process to how NASA engineers design robots for extreme environments like Mars.

  Subject Science

  Grades 3-5

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Design a Robotic Insect

  Design a robotic insect to go to an extreme environment. Then, compare the design process to what NASA engineers do when building robots for Mars!

  Subject Science

  Grades 3-5

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Students explore the science behind an intriguing planetary feature by creating saline solutions and then observing what happens when the solutions evaporate.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Do a Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Dissolve salts in water, then observe what happens when the water evaporates.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  How Far Away Is Space?

  Students use measurement skills to determine the scale distance to space on a map.

  Subject Math

  Grades 3-7

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: How Far Away Is Space?

  Stack coins and use your measurement skills to figure out the scale distance from Earth's surface to space.

  Subject Math

  Grades 3-7

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Melting Ice Experiment

  Students make predictions and observations about how ice will melt in different conditions then compare their predictions to results as they make connections to melting glaciers.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 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.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Student Project: Write a Poem About Space

  Are you a space poet, and you didn't even know it? Find out how to create your own poems inspired by space!

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Planetary Travel Time

  Students will compute the approximate travel time to planets in the solar system using different modes of transportation.

  Subject Math

  Grades 4-6

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  The Ring Wing Glider

  In this simple engineering design lesson, students turn a piece of paper into an aircraft wing and then try to improve upon their design.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Make a Paper Glider

  Turn a piece of paper into a glider inspired by a NASA design.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Ocean World: Earth Globe Toss Game

  Students use NASA images and a hands-on activity to compare the amounts of land and surface water on our planet.

  Subject Science

  Grades K-6

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Spaghetti Anyone? Building with Pasta

  Students use the engineering design process to build a structure to handle the greatest load and gain first-hand experience with compression and tension forces.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Student Project: Building With Spaghetti

  Use spaghetti to build a tower modeled after the giant structures NASA uses to talk to spacecraft.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-8

  Time 30-60 mins

Grades 6-8

• 
  Make a Paper Mars Helicopter

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

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: 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.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Soda-Straw Rockets

  Students study rocket stability as they design, construct and launch paper rockets using soda straws.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 4-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Student Project: Make a Straw Rocket

  Create a paper rocket that can be launched from a soda straw – then, modify the design to make the rocket fly farther!

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 4-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Rocket Activity: Heavy Lifting

  Students construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the greatest payload possible to the classroom ceiling.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Students explore the science behind an intriguing planetary feature by creating saline solutions and then observing what happens when the solutions evaporate.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Do a Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Dissolve salts in water, then observe what happens when the water evaporates.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  How Far Away Is Space?

  Students use measurement skills to determine the scale distance to space on a map.

  Subject Math

  Grades 3-7

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: How Far Away Is Space?

  Stack coins and use your measurement skills to figure out the scale distance from Earth's surface to space.

  Subject Math

  Grades 3-7

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Melting Ice Experiment

  Students make predictions and observations about how ice will melt in different conditions then compare their predictions to results as they make connections to melting glaciers.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 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.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Student Project: Write a Poem About Space

  Are you a space poet, and you didn't even know it? Find out how to create your own poems inspired by space!

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Planetary Travel Time

  Students will compute the approximate travel time to planets in the solar system using different modes of transportation.

  Subject Math

  Grades 4-6

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  The Ring Wing Glider

  In this simple engineering design lesson, students turn a piece of paper into an aircraft wing and then try to improve upon their design.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Make a Paper Glider

  Turn a piece of paper into a glider inspired by a NASA design.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades 3-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Ocean World: Earth Globe Toss Game

  Students use NASA images and a hands-on activity to compare the amounts of land and surface water on our planet.

  Subject Science

  Grades K-6

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Spaghetti Anyone? Building with Pasta

  Students use the engineering design process to build a structure to handle the greatest load and gain first-hand experience with compression and tension forces.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-8

  Time Less than 30 mins

• 
  Student Project: Building With Spaghetti

  Use spaghetti to build a tower modeled after the giant structures NASA uses to talk to spacecraft.

  Subject Engineering

  Grades K-8

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  How Do We See Dark Matter?

  Students will make observations of two containers and identify differences in content, justify their claims and make comparisons to dark matter observations.

  Subject Science

  Grades 6-12

  Time Less than 30 mins

Grades 9-12

• 
  Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Students explore the science behind an intriguing planetary feature by creating saline solutions and then observing what happens when the solutions evaporate.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  Student Project: Do a Mineral Mystery Experiment

  Dissolve salts in water, then observe what happens when the water evaporates.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 2 sessions of 30-60 mins

• 
  Melting Ice Experiment

  Students make predictions and observations about how ice will melt in different conditions then compare their predictions to results as they make connections to melting glaciers.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 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.

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Student Project: Write a Poem About Space

  Are you a space poet, and you didn't even know it? Find out how to create your own poems inspired by space!

  Subject Science

  Grades 2-12

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  Let's Go to Mars! Calculating Launch Windows

  Students use advanced algebra concepts to determine the next opportunity to launch a spacecraft to Mars.

  Subject Math

  Grades 9-12

  Time 30-60 mins

• 
  How Do We See Dark Matter?

  Students will make observations of two containers and identify differences in content, justify their claims and make comparisons to dark matter observations.

  Subject Science

  Grades 6-12

  Time Less than 30 mins

Explore More

Find our full collection of more than 250 STEM educator guides and student activities in Teach and Learn.

For games, articles, and more activities from NASA for kids in upper-elementary grades, visit NASA Space Place and NASA Climate Kids.

Explore more educational resources and opportunities for students and educators from NASA STEM Engagement.

TAGS: Lessons, Teachers, Educators, Parents, Substitutes, Activities, Students, Science, Engineering, Quick and Easy

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kim Orr, Web Producer, NASA-JPL Education Office

  Kim Orr is a web and content producer for the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her pastimes are laughing and going on Indiana Jones style adventures.
  

---

NASA's Mission to Mars Student Challenge

To kick off the year, we invited students, educators, and families from around the world to create their own mission to Mars as we counted down to the Perseverance rover's epic landing on the Red Planet in February. More than one million students participated in the Mission to Mars Student Challenge, which features seven weeks of guided education plans, student projects, and expert talks and interviews highlighting each phase of a real Mars mission.

It's no surprise that this was our most popular product of the year. And good news: It's still available and timely! With Perseverance actively exploring Mars and making new discoveries all the time, the challenge offers ongoing opportunities to get students engaged in real-world STEM.

Need a primer on the Perseverance Mars rover mission, first? This article from our Teachable Moments series has you covered.

---

Solar System Size and Distance

This video offers a short and simple answer to two of students' most enduring questions: How do the sizes of planets compare and how far is it between them? Plus, it gets at why we don't often (or ever) see images that show all the planets' sizes and distances to scale. Spoiler alert: It's pretty much impossible to do.

Get students exploring solar system size and distance in more detail and even making their own scale models with this student project.

---

Code a Mars Helicopter Video Game

As you'll soon see from the rest of this list, coding projects were a big draw this year. This one took off along with Ingenuity, the first helicopter designed to fly on Mars, which made its historic first flight in April. Designed as a test of technology that could be used on future missions, Ingenuity was only slated for a few flights, but it has far exceeded even that lofty goal.

In this project, students use the free visual programming language Scratch to create a game inspired by the helicopter-that-could.

---

Make a Moon Phases Calendar and Calculator

Just updated for 2022, this project is part educational activity and part art for your walls. Students learn about moon phases to complete this interactive calendar, which shows when and where to see moon phases throughout the year, plus lists moon events such as lunar eclipses and supermoons. The art-deco inspired design might just have you wanting to make one for yourself, too.

---

The NASA Pi Day Challenge

This year marked the eighth installment of our annual Pi Day Challenge, a set of illustrated math problems featuring pi (of course) and NASA missions and science. Don't let the name fool you – these problems are fun to solve year round.

Students can choose from 32 different problems that will develop their math skills while they take on some of the same challenges faced by NASA scientists and engineers. New this year are puzzlers featuring the OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission, Mars helicopter, Deep Space Network, and aurora science.

Educator guides for each problem and problem set are also available here. And don't miss the downloadable posters and virtual meeting backgrounds.

---

Code a Mars Sample Collection Video Game

Another coding challenge using the visual programming language Scratch, this project is inspired by the Perseverance Mars rover mission, which is collecting samples that could be brought back to Earth by a potential future mission.

While developing a gamified version of the process, students are introduced to some of the considerations scientists and engineers have to make when collecting samples on Mars.

---

Code a Mars Landing

As if launching a rover to Mars wasn't hard enough, you still have to land when you get there. And that means using a complex series of devices – from parachutes to jet packs to bungee cords – and maneuvers that have to be performed remotely using instructions programmed into the spacecraft's computer.

Students who are ready to take their programming skills to the next level can get an idea of what it takes in this project, which has them use Python and microcontrollers to simulate the process of landing a rover on Mars.

---

How Far Away is Space?

Without giving the answer away: It's not as far as you might think.

In this activity, students stack coins (or other objects) on a map of their local area as a scale model of the distance to space. The stacking continues to the International Space Station, the Moon, and finally to the future orbit of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is slated to launch on Dec. 22.

---

Build a Rover and More With Shapes

You don't have to be a big kid to start learning about space exploration. This activity, which is designed for kids in kindergarten through second grade, has learners use geometric shapes called tangrams to fill in a Mars rover design. It provides an introduction to geometry and thinking spatially.

Once kids become experts at building rovers, have them try building rockets.

---

Space Voyagers: The Game

Technically a classroom activity (it is standards-aligned, after all), this game will appeal to students and strategy card game enthusiasts alike. Download and print out a set for your classroom (or your next game night).

Players work collaboratively to explore destinations including the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Jupiter's Moon Europa with actual NASA spacecraft and science instruments while working to overcome realistic challenges at their destination including dust storms and instrument failures.

TAGS: K-12, Lessons, Activities, Education Resources, Teachers, Students, Families, Kids, Learning, STEM, Science, Engineering, Technology, Math, Coding, Programming, Mars, Solar System, Moon

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kim Orr, Web Producer, NASA-JPL Education Office

  Kim Orr is a web and content producer for the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her pastimes are laughing and going on Indiana Jones style adventures.
  

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.

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.

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

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.

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 Education Office

  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.

How It Worked

Human eyes can see only the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum known as visible light. This is because the human retina can detect only certain wavelengths of light through special photoreceptors called rods and cones. Everything we see with our eyes either emits or reflects visible light. But visible light is just a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. To "see" things that emit or reflect other wavelengths of light, we must rely on technology designed to sense those portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Using this specialized technology allows us to peer into space and observe objects and processes we wouldn’t otherwise be able to see.

Infrared is one of the wavelengths of light that cannot be seen by human eyes. (It can sometimes be felt by our skin as heat if we are close enough to a strong source.) All objects that have temperature emit many wavelengths of light. The warmer they are, the more light they emit. Most things in the universe are warm enough to emit infrared radiation, and that light can be seen by an infrared-detecting telescope. Because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs most infrared radiation, infrared observations of space are best conducted from outside the planet's atmosphere.

So, to get a look at space objects that were otherwise hidden from view, NASA launched the Spitzer Space Telescope in 2003. Cooled by liquid helium and capable of viewing the sky in infrared, Spitzer launched into an Earth-trailing orbit around the Sun, where it became part of the agency's Great Observatory program along with the visible-light and near-infrared-detecting Hubble Space Telescope, Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and Chandra X-ray Observatory. (Keeping the telescope cold reduces the chances of heat, or infrared light, from the spacecraft interfering with its astronomical observations.)

Over its lifetime, Spitzer has been used to detect light from objects and regions in space where the human eye and optical, or visible-light-sensing, telescopes may see nothing.

Why It's Important

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has returned volumes of data, yielding numerous scientific discoveries.

Vast, dense clouds of dust and gas block our view of many regions of the universe. Infrared light can penetrate these clouds, enabling Spitzer to peer into otherwise hidden regions of star formation, newly forming planetary systems and the centers of galaxies.

Infrared astronomy also reveals information about cooler objects in space, such as smaller stars too dim to be detected by their visible light, planets beyond our solar system (called exoplanets) and giant molecular clouds where new stars are born. Additionally, many molecules in space, including organic molecules thought to be key to life's formation, have unique spectral signatures in the infrared. Spitzer has been able to detect those molecules when other instruments have not.

Stars are born from condensing clouds of dust and gas. These newly formed stars are optically visible only once they have blown away the cocoon of dust and gas in which they were born. But Spitzer has been able to see infant stars as they form within their gas and dust clouds, helping us learn more about the life cycles of stars and the formation of solar systems.

Infrared emissions from most galaxies come primarily from stars as well as interstellar gas and dust. With Spitzer, astronomers have been able to see which galaxies are furiously forming stars, locate the regions within them where stars are born and pinpoint the cause of the stellar baby boom. Spitzer has given astronomers valuable insights into the structure of our own Milky Way galaxy by revealing where all the new stars are forming.

Spitzer marked a new age in the study of planets outside our solar system by being the first telescope to directly detect light emitted by these so-called exoplanets. This has made it possible for us to directly study and compare these exoplanets. Using Spitzer, astronomers have been able to measure temperatures, winds and the atmospheric composition of exoplanets – and to better understand their potential habitability. The discoveries have even inspired artists at NASA to envision what it might be like to visit these planets.

Data collected by Spitzer will continue to be analyzed for decades to come and is sure to yield even more scientific findings. It's certainly not the end of NASA's quest to get an infrared window into our stellar surroundings. In the coming years, the agency plans to launch its James Webb Space Telescope, with a mirror more than seven times the diameter of Spitzer's, to see the universe in even more detail. And NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, or WFIRST, will continue infrared observations in space with improved technology. Stay tuned for even more exciting infrared imagery, discoveries and learning!

Teach It

Use these lessons, videos and online interactive features to teach students how we use various wavelengths of light, including infrared, to learn about our universe:

• 
  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

• Lessons: Cool Cosmos Infrared Lessons
• Website: Cool Cosmos Infrared Primer
• Materials: Infrared Posters and Printouts

Explore More

• Article: NASA Celebrates the Legacy of the Spitzer Space Telescope
• Website: Spitzer Space Telescope Mission
• Video: Spitzer Final Voyage VR 360
• Video: Science in a Minute: The Art of Spitzer Space Telescope
• Images: Spitzer Zoomable Images
• Participate: NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program

Also, check out these related resources for kids from NASA’s Space Place:

• Infrared games, articles and activities

TAGS: Teachable Moments, science, astronomy, K-12 education, teachers, educators, parents, STEM, lessons, activities, Spitzer, Space Telescope, Missions, Spacecraft, Stars, Galaxies, Universe, Infrared, Wavelengths, Spectrum, Light

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ota Lutz, K-12 Education Group Manager, NASA-JPL Education Office

  Ota Lutz is the manager of the K-12 Education Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When she’s not writing new lessons or teaching, she’s probably cooking something delicious, volunteering in the community, or dreaming about where she will travel next.

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 Education Office

  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.

Go Places

It’s not just science centers that are celebrating the 50th anniversary of humans landing on the Moon. There are events taking place worldwide at libraries, concert halls, baseball stadiums, National Parks, art museums, and on city streets. Find anniversary events near you with this searchable map and calendar.

Do Things

This collection of hands-on activities for all ages will have you throwing water balloons to learn about craters on the Moon, helping actual NASA scientists by mapping the Moon from your own computer, building a model of the Earth-Moon system and seeing what it takes to investigate strange new planets. You can even make your own lunar spacecraft.

The Forward to the Moon With Artemis activity book is a fun way to learn about the Apollo mission that first put people on the Moon and what’s in store for the future. Also, check out these hands-on activities, building challenges and online games!

Focus On the Moon

Love observing the Moon and the rest of the night sky? The Night Sky Network will help you find local astronomy clubs and events. Save the date for International Observe the Moon Night, October 5. If you’re clouded out, you can always make your own Moon to enjoy!

Watch These

NASA TV has a full lineup of Apollo programming. On July 19 at 3 p.m. (EDT), you can watch STEM Forward to the Moon. The half-hour show will feature students enacting simulations of a return to the Moon with NASA’s Artemis program. The accompanying Educator’s Guide has all you need to try the activities from the show at home or in the classroom.

Also fun to watch are vintage recordings from the Apollo program, as well as archived lectures and the kid-friendly “STEM in 30” video series from the National Air And Space Museum.

Get Social

Join NASA and educational centers nationwide to build a virtual mission to the Moon on July 18. Follow #VirtualMoonshot on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to take part – or follow along with a host center near you.

Finally, if you’ve wondered what it would have been like to have social media 50 years ago, be sure to follow Relive Apollo 11 for tweets that tell the story of the mission in real time, starting with its July 16 launch!

Explore More

• 
  Teachable Moment: Apollo 50th Anniversary

  Explore the incredible history of the Apollo missions and find out what's in store for NASA's next mission to the Moon.

• 
  Make a Straw Rocket

  Create a paper rocket that can be launched from a soda straw – then, modify the design to make the rocket fly farther!

  Type Project

  Subject Engineering

• 
  Make an Astronaut Lander

  Design and build a lander that will protect two "astronauts" when they touch down.

  Type Project

  Subject Engineering

• 
  Make a Cardboard Rover

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

  Type Project

  Subject Engineering

• 
  Make a Moon Phases Calendar and Calculator

  Like a decoder wheel for the Moon, this calendar will show you where and when to see the Moon and every moon phase throughout the year!

  Type Project

  Subject Science

• 
  Observing the Moon

  Students identify the Moon’s location in the sky and record their observations over the course of the moon-phase cycle in a journal.

  Grades K-6

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Moon Phases

  Students learn about the phases of the moon by acting them out.

  Grades 1-6

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  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 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Modeling the Earth-Moon System

  Students learn about scale models and distance by creating a classroom-size Earth-Moon system.

  Grades 6-8

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

TAGS: Apollo 50th, Events, Activities, Education, STEM, Science, Museums,

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Amelia Chapman, STEM Informal Education Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Amelia Chapman has more than 20 years of experience as an informal educator. Working in a range of science, history, art and cultural museums, she has helped audiences of all ages learn from real objects and direct, hands-on experiences. Now at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, she helps run the Museum Alliance community of practice, providing professional development and NASA resources to informal educators who want to use the excitement of space exploration and scientific discovery to inspire new generations.

How They Did It

Launched in 2003 and landed in early 2004, the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, were the second spacecraft of their kind to land on our neighboring planet.

Preceded by the small Sojourner rover in 1997, Spirit and Opportunity were substantially larger, weighing about 400 pounds, or 185 kilograms, on Earth (150 pounds, or 70 kilograms, on Mars) and standing about 5 feet tall. The solar-powered rovers were designed for a mission lasting 90 sols, or Mars days, during which they would look for evidence of water on the seemingly barren planet.

Dust in the Wind

Scientists and engineers always hope a spacecraft will outlive its designed lifetime, and the Mars Exploration Rovers did not disappoint. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, expected the lifetime of these sun-powered robots to be limited by dust accumulating on the rovers’ solar panels. As expected, power input to the rovers slowly decreased as dust settled on the panels and blocked some of the incoming sunlight. However, the panels were “cleaned” accidentally when seasonal winds blew off the dust. Several times during the mission, power levels were restored to pre-dusty conditions. Because of these events, the rovers were able to continue their exploration much longer than expected with enough power to continue running all of their instruments.

Terrestrial Twin

To troubleshoot and overcome challenges during the rovers’ long mission, engineers would perform tests on a duplicate model of the spacecraft, which remained on Earth for just this purpose. One such instance was in 2005, when Opportunity got stuck in the sand. Its right front wheel dug into loose sand, reaching to just below its axle. Engineers and scientists worked for five weeks to free Opportunity, first using images and spectroscopy obtained by the rover’s instruments to recreate the sand trap on Earth and then placing the test rover in the exact same position as Opportunity. The team eventually found a way to get the test rover out of the sand trap. Engineers tested their commands repeatedly with consistent results, giving them confidence in their solution. The same commands were relayed to Opportunity through NASA’s Deep Space Network, and the patient rover turned its stuck wheel just the right amount and backed out of the trap that had ensnared it for over a month, enabling the mission to continue.

A few years later, in 2009, Spirit wasn’t as lucky. Having already sustained some wheel problems, Spirit got stuck on a slope in a position that would not be favorable for the Martian winter. Engineers were not able to free Spirit before winter took hold, denying the rover adequate sunlight for power. Its mission officially ended in 2011. Meanwhile, despite a troubled shoulder joint on its robotic arm that first started showing wear in 2006, Opportunity continued exploring the Red Planet. It wasn’t until a dust storm completely enveloped Mars in the summer of 2018 that Opportunity finally succumbed to the elements.

The Final Act

Dust storm season on Mars can be treacherous for solar-powered rovers because if they are in the path of the dust storm, their access to sunlight can be obstructed for months on end, longer than their batteries can sustain them. Though several dust storms occurred on Mars during the reign of the Mars Exploration Rovers, 2018 brought a large, thick dust storm that covered the entire globe and shrouded Opportunity’s access to sunlight for four months. Only the caldera of Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system, peeked out above the dust.

The transparency or “thickness” of the dust in Mars’ atmosphere is denoted by the Greek letter tau. The higher the tau, the less sunlight is available to charge a surface spacecraft’s batteries. An average tau for Opportunity’s location is 0.5. The tau at the peak of the 2018 dust storm was 10.8. This thick dust was imaged and measured by the Curiosity Mars rover on the opposite side of the planet. (Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator.)

Since the last communication with Opportunity on June 10, 2018, NASA has sent more than 1,000 commands to the rover that have gone unanswered. Each of these commands was an attempt to get Opportunity to send back a signal saying it was alive. A last-ditch effort to reset the rover’s mission clock was met with silence.

Why It’s Important

The Mars Exploration Rovers were designed to give a human-height perspective of Mars, using panoramic cameras approximately 5 feet off the surface, while their science instruments investigated Mars’ surface geology for signs of water. Spirit and Opportunity returned more than 340,000 raw images conveying the beauty of Mars and leading to scientific discoveries. The rovers brought Mars into classrooms and living rooms around the world. From curious geologic formations to dune fields, dust devils and even their own tracks on the surface of the Red Planet, the rovers showed us Mars in a way we had never seen it before.

The rovers discovered that Mars was once a warmer, wetter world than it is today and was potentially able to support microbial life. Opportunity landed in a crater and almost immediately discovered deposits of hematite, which is a mineral known to typically form in the presence of water. During its travels across the Mars surface, Spirit found rocks rich in magnesium and iron carbonates that likely formed when Mars was warm and wet, and sustained a near-neutral pH environment hospitable to life. At one point, while dragging its malfunctioning wheel, Spirit excavated 90 percent pure silica lurking just below the sandy surface. On Earth, this sort of silica usually exists in hot springs or hot steam vents, where life as we know it often finds a happy home. Later in its mission, near the rim of Endeavor crater, Opportunity found bright-colored veins of gypsum in the rocks. These veins likely formed when water flowed through underground fractures in the rocks, leaving calcium behind. All of these discoveries lead scientists to believe that Mars was once more hospitable to life than it is today, and they laid the groundwork for future exploration.

Imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey, both orbiting the Red Planet, has been combined with surface views and data from the Mars Exploration Rovers for an unprecedented understanding of the planet’s geology and environment.

Not only did Spirit and Opportunity add to our understanding of Mars, but also the rovers set the stage for future exploration. Following in their tracks, the Curiosity rover landed in 2012 and is still active, investigating the planet’s surface chemistry and geology, and confirming the presence of past water. Launching in 2020 is the next Mars rover, currently named Mars 2020. Mars 2020 will be able to analyze soil samples for signs of past microbial life. It will carry a drill that can collect samples of interesting rocks and soils, and set them aside in a cache on the surface of Mars. In the future, those samples could be retrieved and returned to Earth by another mission. Mars 2020 will also do preliminary research for future human missions to the Red Planet, including testing a method of producing oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere.

It’s thanks to three generations of surface-exploring rovers coupled with the knowledge obtained by orbiters and stationary landers that we have a deeper understanding of the Red Planet’s geologic history and can continue to explore Mars in new and exciting ways.

Teach It

Use these standards-aligned lessons and related activities to get students doing engineering, troubleshooting and scientific discovery just like NASA scientists and engineers!

• 
  Mars in a Minute

  These 60-second videos answer some of the most frequently asked questions about our planetary neighbor, Mars, and the spacecraft that explore it.

  Grades K-12

  Time 1 min

• 
  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 mins - 1 hr

• 
  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

• 
  Exploring the Colors of Mars

  Students use satellite and rover images to learn about the various features and materials that cause color variation on the surface of Mars, then create their own “Marscape.”

  Grades 2-5

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  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

• 
  Planetary Pasta Rovers

  Using only pasta and glue, students design a rover that will travel down a one-meter ramp and then travel an additional one meter on a smooth, flat surface.

  Grades 3-8

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Explore Mars With Scratch

  Students learn about surface features on Mars, then use a visual programming language to create a Mars exploration game.

  Grades 3-8

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Mars Marathon: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  In this illustrated math problem, students use the mathematical constant pi to calculate how many times the Mars rover Opportunity's wheels rotated to get the rover to a marathon distance.

  Grades 4-6

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Looking for Life

  Using the fundamental criteria for life, students examine simulated extraterrestrial soil samples for signs of life.

  Grades 4-8

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Design a Crew Exploration Vehicle

  Students will design, build and test a crew exploration vehicle, or CEV, to carry astronauts to Mars – meeting size, mass and payload requirements.

  Grades 6-8

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Robotics Lessons

  In these lessons, students program a rover to complete various challenges.

  Grades 6-9

  Time > 2 hrs

• 
  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 6-12

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Where Do Spacecraft Get Their Power?

  This whiteboard video describes how "radioisotope power" allows many spacecraft, such as NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars, to stay powered while traveling through space and exploring other planets.

  Grades 7-12

  Time < 30 mins

Explore More

• NASA Mars Exploration Website: Mars Exploration Rovers
• Mission Highlights and Resources
• Send a Postcard to Opportunity
• Top Science Results
• Infographic: Off-World Driving Distances
• Infographic: Opportunity By the Numbers
• Iconic Images
• Living on Mars Time

Try these related resources for students from NASA’s Space Place

• The Mars Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity
• The Mars Rovers
• All About Mars

TAGS: K-12 Education, Teachers, Educators, Students, Opportunity, Mars rover, Rovers, Mars, Lessons, Activities, Missions

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ota Lutz, K-12 Education Group Manager, NASA-JPL Education Office

  Ota Lutz is the manager of the K-12 Education Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When she’s not writing new lessons or teaching, she’s probably cooking something delicious, volunteering in the community, or dreaming about where she will travel next.

How They Did It

Launched just 16 days apart, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were designed to take advantage of a rare alignment of the outer planets that only occurs once every 176 years. Their trajectory took them by the outer planets, where they captured never-before-seen images. They were also able to steal a little momentum from Jupiter and Saturn that helped send them on a path toward interstellar space. This “gravity assist” gave the spacecraft a velocity boost without expending any fuel. Though both spacecraft were destined for interstellar space, they followed slightly different trajectories.

Voyager 1 followed a path that enabled it to fly by Jupiter in 1979, discovering the gas giant’s rings. It continued on for a 1980 close encounter with Saturn’s moon Titan before a gravity assist from Saturn hurled it above the plane of the solar system and out toward interstellar space. After Voyager 2 visited Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1981, it continued on to encounter Uranus in 1986, where it obtained another assist. Its last planetary visit before heading out of the solar system was Neptune in 1989, where the gas giant’s gravity sent the probe in a southward direction toward interstellar space. Since the end of its prime mission at Neptune, Voyager 2 has been using its onboard instruments to continue sensing the environment around it, communicating data back to scientists on Earth. It was this data that scientists used to determine Voyager 2 had entered interstellar space.

How We Know

Interstellar space, the region between the stars, is beyond the influence of the solar wind, charged particles emanating from the Sun, and before the influence of the stellar wind of another star. One hint that Voyager 2 was nearing interstellar space came in late August when the Cosmic Ray Subsystem, an instrument that measures cosmic rays coming from the Sun and galactic cosmic rays coming from outside our solar system, measured an increase in galactic cosmic rays hitting the spacecraft. Then on November 5, the instrument detected a sharp decrease in high energy particles from the Sun. That downward trend continued over the following weeks.

The data from the cosmic ray instrument provided strong evidence that Voyager 2 had entered interstellar space because its twin had returned similar data when it crossed the boundary of the heliosheath. But the most compelling evidence came from its Plasma Science Experiment – an instrument that had stopped working on Voyager 1 in 1980. Until recently, the space surrounding Voyager 2 was filled mostly with plasma flowing out from our Sun. This outflow, called the solar wind, creates a bubble, the heliosphere, that envelopes all the planets in our solar system. Voyager 2’s Plasma Science Experiment can detect the speed, density, temperature, pressure and flux of that solar wind. On the same day that the spacecraft’s cosmic ray instrument detected a steep decline in the number of solar energetic particles, the plasma science instrument observed a decline in the speed of the solar wind. Since that date, the plasma instrument has observed no solar wind flow in the environment around Voyager 2, which makes mission scientists confident the probe has entered interstellar space.

Though the spacecraft have left the heliosphere, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have not yet left the solar system, and won't be leaving anytime soon. The boundary of the solar system is considered to be beyond the outer edge of the Oort Cloud, a collection of small objects that are still under the influence of the Sun's gravity. The width of the Oort Cloud is not known precisely, but it is estimated to begin at about 1,000 astronomical units from the Sun and extend to about 100,000 AU. (One astronomical unit, or AU, is the distance from the Sun to Earth.) It will take about 300 years for Voyager 2 to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud and possibly 30,000 years to fly beyond it. By that time, both Voyager spacecraft will be completely out of the hydrazine fuel used to point them toward Earth (to send and receive data) and their power sources will have decayed beyond their usable lifetime.

Why It’s Important

Since the Voyager spacecraft launched more than 40 years ago, no other NASA missions have encountered as many planets (some of which had never been visited) and continued making science observations from such great distances. Other spacecraft, such as New Horizons and Pioneer 10 and 11, will eventually make it to interstellar space, but we will have no data from them to confirm their arrival or explore the region because their instruments already have or will have shut off by then.

Watch on YouTube

Interstellar space is a region that’s still mysterious because until 2012, when Voyager 1 arrived there, no spacecraft had visited it. Now, data from Voyager 2 will help add to scientists’ growing understanding of the region. Scientists are hoping to continue using Voyager 2’s plasma science instrument to study the properties of the ionized gases, or plasma, that exist in the interstellar medium by making direct measurements of the plasma density and temperature. This new data may shed more light on the evolution of our solar neighborhood and will most certainly provide a window into the exciting unexplored region of interstellar space, improving our understanding of space and our place in it.

As power wanes on Voyager 2, scientists will have to make tough choices about which instruments to keep turned on. Further complicating the situation is the freezing cold temperature at which the spacecraft is currently operating – perilously close to the freezing point of its hydrazine fuel. But for as long as both Voyager spacecraft are able to maintain power and communication, we will continue to learn about the uncharted territory of interstellar space.

Teach It

Use these standards-aligned lessons and related activities to get students doing math and science with a real-world (and space!) connection.

• 
  Solar System Bead Activity

  Students create a scale model of the solar system using beads and string.

  Grades 1-6

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Catching a Whisper from Space

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

  Grades 4-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Solar System Scroll

  Students predict the scale of our solar system and the distance between planets, then check their answers using fractions.

  Grades 5-8

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  *NEW* Modeling the Structure of the Solar System

  Students will learn about the structure of the solar system and be able to identify analogous regions in a dynamic, 2-D kitchen-sink model.

  Grades 6-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  Hear Here: A 'Pi in the Sky' Math Challenge

  Students use the mathematical constant pi to determine what fraction of a signal from Voyager 1 – the most distant spacecraft – reaches Earth.

  Grades 10-12

  Time < 30 mins

Explore More

• News Release: “NASA’s Voyager 2 Probe Enters Interstellar Space” – Dec. 10, 2018
• News Release: “NASA Spacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey Into Interstellar Space” – September 12, 2013
• Voyager Mission
• Voyager Images
• Voyager 2: Interstellar, by the Numbers
• Commemorative Voyager Posters

TAGS: Teachers, Educators, Science, Engineering, Technology, Solar System, Voyager, Spacecraft, Educator Resources, Lessons, Activities

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ota Lutz, K-12 Education Group Manager, NASA-JPL Education Office

  Ota Lutz is the manager of the K-12 Education Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When she’s not writing new lessons or teaching, she’s probably cooking something delicious, volunteering in the community, or dreaming about where she will travel next.