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.

This diagram shows wavelengths of light on the electromagnetic spectrum and how they're used for various applications. Image credit: NASA | + Expand image

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.

The bow shock, or shock wave, in front of the giant star Zeta Ophiuchi shown in this image from Spitzer is visible only in infrared light. The bow shock is created by winds that flow from the star, making ripples in the surrounding dust. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Full image and caption

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.

Both NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes contributed to this vibrant image of the Orion nebula. Spitzer's infrared view exposed carbon-rich molecules, shown in this image as wisps of red and orange. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Megeath (University of Toledo) & M. Robberto (STScI) | › Full image and caption

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.

Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from Spitzer. The colors in this image reflect the relative temperatures and evolutionary states of the various stars. The youngest stars are shown as red while more evolved stars are shown as blue. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Harvard-Smithsonian CfA | › Full image and caption

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.

This Spitzer image, which covers a horizontal span of 890 light-years, shows hundreds of thousands of stars crowded into the swirling core of our spiral Milky Way galaxy. In visible-light pictures, this region cannot be seen at all because dust lying between Earth and the galactic center blocks our view. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Full image and caption

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.

Thanks to Spitzer, 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 imagined what future explorers might encounter on these faraway worlds. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Download posters

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, STEM Elementary and Secondary Education Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Ota Lutz is a STEM elementary and secondary education specialist 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.

The worlds chosen for this year's contest are some of the most mysterious and distant in our solar system: Uranus' moon Miranda, Neptune's moon Triton and Pluto's moon Charon. Each has been visited by spacecraft during a single, brief flyby. NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Miranda and Triton in the 1980s, and the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Charon in 2015. All three flybys provided the only up-close – and stunning – images we have of these worlds.

To enter the contest, which is hosted in the U.S. and more than a dozen countries, students must submit an essay of up to 500 words explaining why they would want to send a spacecraft to explore the world of their choosing. Essays can also be submitted by teams of up to four students.

Winning essays will be chosen for each topic and grade group (5 to 6, 7 to 8 and 9 to 12) and featured on the NASA Solar System Exploration website. Additionally, U.S. contest winners and their classes will have the chance to participate in a video conference or teleconference with NASA.

Entries for the U.S. contest are due Feb. 20, 2020, on the NASA Scientist for a Day website. (Deadlines for the international contests may vary by host country.) Visit the website for more information, including rules, international contest details and past winners.

For teachers interested in using the contest as a classroom assignment, learn more here. Plus, explore these standards-aligned lessons and activities to get students engaged in space travel and planetary science:

• 
  Art and the Cosmic Connection

  Students use art to describe and recognize the geology on planetary surfaces.

  Grades K-12

  Time 1-2 hrs

• 
  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

• 
  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

• 
  *NEW* Planetary Travel Time

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

  Grades 4-6

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Sizing Up Pluto

  Using measurements taken by the New Horizons spacecraft as it flew by Pluto in July 2015, students practice their math skills in a real-world application and see how new data can change scientific understanding.

  Grades 4-12

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  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* Create a Solar System Scale Model With Spreadsheets

  In this activity, students use spreadsheet software and their knowledge of scale, proportion and ratios to develop a solar system model that fits on a playground.

  Grades 5-12

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  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

• 
  *NEW* Kinesthetic Radial Model of the Solar System

  Students model the position of the planets around the Sun and then model viewing them from Earth on any given date.

  Grades 6-11

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Dancing Uranus

  In the dance of our solar system, one planet has moves like no other: Uranus. Find out how the planet's tilt puts it in a league all its own.

  Type Video

  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

TAGS: K-12 Education, Teachers, Educators, Students, Contests, Competitions, Essay, Language Arts, Science, Planets, Solar System, Moons

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kim Orr, Web Producer, NASA/JPL Edu

  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

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:

• 
  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

• 
  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

• 
  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

• 

  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.

TAGS: Curiosity, Rover, Contest, Mars, Students, K-12, Teachers, Language Arts, Essay

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kim Orr, Web Producer, NASA/JPL Edu

  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.
  

Hundreds of physics students from underserved communities participated in the project, constructing their habitats as part of a Next Generation Science Standards, or NGSS, curriculum. One of the key components of NGSS, which was adopted by California in 2013, is its inclusion of science content areas, such as Earth science and physics. The project, drawing upon the lessons found on the JPL Education website, was a chance for students to apply their knowledge of numerous high-school science courses into one summative project. It was also a rare opportunity for the students, who were coming from underserved communities, to see connections between classroom content and real-world science.

"It is difficult for [students] to connect what they do in school with their future," wrote Joshua Gagnier, a physics teacher at Santa Ana High School, who participated in the project. "The only advice they receive is to study, work hard and get help, which without clear goals, are abstract concepts. It is opportunities such as the JPL challenge, which had a tangible academic award, that my students need."

Teach

Explore standards-aligned lessons and activities for educators from NASA/JPL Edu

To help students apply their knowledge in a real-world context, teachers presented a challenge to build functional habitats, complete with power, wiring and the ability to withstand the elements. Each school focused on and contributed different components to the habitats, such as solar power or thermodynamics. Students were given broad freedom to construct rooms and devices that were of interest to them while still demonstrating their knowledge throughout the school year. Gagnier had his classes focus on the electromagnetic spectrum and use their understanding of waves – for example, the threat of seismic waves to physical stability and the availability of light waves for solar power – to select a habitat location. He also had students examine the use of solar energy to power their habitats.

"The students used JPL and NASA resources to understand the elevation of [electromagnetic] penetration in combination with Google Earth to find the altitude of the geography they were evaluating," he wrote. "When students were trying to find a way to heat water for their habitat using the limited available supplies, JPL's Think Green lesson was one of the main sources for their solution." This lesson, in particular, allowed students to measure flux and available solar energy at different regions in the country using NASA data available online.

Students at Santa Ana High School begin constructing their habitats. Image courtesy Joshua Gagnier | + Expand image

Students measure the current generated by their habitat's solar panels. Image courtesy Joshua Gagnier | + Expand image

Ultimately, it was up to the students to design and craft their habitats based on the lessons they learned. So the final prototype structures varied dramatically from class to class and even more from school to school. One school focused on habitats powered solely by renewable energy, while another school focused more on the structure's ability to withstand earthquakes via a shake table. Vaughn International Studies Academy worked across class periods to build "modular" homes – with each group building a single room instead of a whole habitat. These rooms, which included a living room, bedroom and even a sauna, were connected to a central power supply. In all cases, students had to quantify the amount of energy produced, determine how to disperse it throughout their home and present a sales pitch for their habitat, describing how it satisfied their criteria.

Participating schools elected to focus on certain features for their habitats, such as solar efficiency, circuity and wiring, or modular rooms that could be combined into larger homes. Image courtesy Brandon Rodriguez | + Expand image

At the end of the challenge, a winning group from each school was invited to JPL with their teachers to meet students from participating schools and tour the laboratory. It was also a chance for students and teachers to compare their projects. Due to the success of the pilot program, the participating teachers are already making plans for next school year, discussing ways to improve the challenge and expand the program to several more schools in the Los Angeles area.

Have a great idea for implementing NASA research in your class or looking to bring NASA science into your classroom? Contact JPL education specialist Brandon Rodriguez at brandon.rodriguez@jpl.nasa.gov

Special thanks to Kris Schmidt, Joshua Gagnier, Sandra Hightower and Jill Mayorga for their participation and dedication to bringing NASA science to their students.

TAGS: K-12 education, STEM, educators, teachers, science, engineering, physics, resources, lessons, students

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Brandon Rodriguez, Educator Professional Development Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Brandon Rodriguez is the educator professional development specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Outside of promoting STEM education, he enjoys reading philosophy, travel and speaking to your dog like it's a person.

How They Did It

Apollo Projects for Students

Design a mission to the Moon with these DIY projects for students.

When NASA was founded in 1958, scientists were unsure whether the human body could even survive orbiting Earth. Space is a demanding environment. Depending on where in space you are, it can lack adequate air for breathing, be very cold or hot, and have dangerous levels of radiation. Additionally, the physics of space travel make everything inside a space capsule feel weightless even while it's hurtling through space. Floating around inside a protective spacecraft may sound fun, and it is, but it also can have detrimental effects on the human body. Plus, it can be dangerous with the hostile environment of space lurking on the other side of a thin metal shell.

In 1959, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory began the Ranger project, a mission designed to impact the Moon – in other words, make a planned crash landing. During its descent, the spacecraft would take pictures that could be sent back to Earth and studied in detail. These days, aiming to merely impact a large solar system body sounds rudimentary. But back then, engineering capabilities and course-of-travel, or trajectory, mathematics were being developed for the first time. A successful impact would be a major scientific and mathematical accomplishment. In fact, it took until July 1964 to achieve the monumental task, with Ranger 7 becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to impact the near side of the Moon, capturing and returning images during its descent.

These side-by-side images show a model of the Ranger 7 spacecraft (left) and an image the spacecraft took of the Moon (right) before it impacted the surface. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › + Expand image

After the successful Ranger 7 mission, two more Ranger missions were sent to the Moon. Then, it was time to land softly. For this task, JPL partnered with Hughes Aircraft Corporation to design and operate the Surveyor missions between 1966 and 1968. Each of the seven Surveyor landers were equipped with a television camera – with later landers carried scientific instruments, too – aimed at obtaining up-close lunar surface data to assess the Moon's suitability for a human landing. The Surveyors also demonstrated in-flight maneuvers and in-flight and surface-communications capabilities.

These side-by-side images show Apollo 12 Commander Charles Conrad Jr. posing with the Surveyor 7 spacecraft on the Moon (left) and a mosaic of images taken by Surveyor 3 on the lunar surface (right). Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › + Expand image

In 1958, at the same time JPL was developing the technological capabilities to get to the Moon, NASA began the Mercury program to see if it was possible for humans to function in space. The success of the single-passenger Mercury missions, with six successful flights that placed two astronauts into suborbital flight and four astronauts into Earth orbit, kicked off the era of U.S. human spaceflight.

The success of the single-passenger Mercury capsule, shown in this illustrated diagram, proved that humans could live and work in space, paving the way for future human exploration. Image credit: NASA | › Full image and caption

In 1963, NASA's Gemini program proved that a larger capsule containing two humans could orbit Earth, allowing astronauts to work together to accomplish science in orbit for long-duration missions (up to two weeks in space) and laying the groundwork for a human mission to the Moon. With the Gemini program, scientists and engineers learned how spacecraft could rendezvous and dock while in orbit around Earth. They were also able to perfect re-entry and landing methods and began to better understand the effects of longer space flights on astronauts. After the successful Gemini missions, it was time to send humans to the Moon.

The Gemini spacecraft, shown in this illustrated cutaway, paved the way for the Apollo missions. Image credit: NASA | › Full image and caption

The Apollo program officially began in 1963 after President John F. Kennedy directed NASA in September of 1962 to place humans on the Moon by the end of the decade. This was a formidable task as no hardware existed at the time that would accomplish the feat. NASA needed to build a giant rocket, a crew capsule and a lunar lander. And each component needed to function flawlessly.

Rapid progress was made, involving numerous NASA and contractor facilities and hundreds of thousands of workers. A crew capsule was designed, built and tested for spaceflight and landing in water by the NASA contractor North American Aviation, which eventually became part of Boeing. A lunar lander was developed by the Grumman Corporation. Though much of the astronaut training took place at or near the Manned Spacecraft Center, now known as NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Texas, astronauts practiced lunar landings here on Earth using simulators at NASA's Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center in California and at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. The enormous Saturn V rocket was a marvel of complexity. Its first stage was developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. The upper-stage development was managed by the Lewis Flight Propulsion Center, now known as NASA's Glenn Research Center, in Ohio in partnership with North American Aviation and Douglas Aircraft Corporation, while Boeing integrated the whole vehicle. The engines were tested at what is now NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and the rocket was transported in pieces by water for assembly at Cape Kennedy, now NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. As the Saturn V was being developed and tested, NASA also developed a smaller, interim vehicle known as the Saturn I and started using it to test Apollo hardware. A Saturn I first flew the Apollo command module design in 1964.

Unfortunately, one crewed test of the Apollo command module turned tragic in February 1967, when a fire erupted in the capsule and killed all three astronauts who had been designated as the prime crew for what became known as Apollo 1. The command module design was altered in response, delaying the first crewed Apollo launch by 21 months. In the meantime, NASA flew several uncrewed Apollo missions to test the Saturn V. The first crewed Apollo launch became Apollo 7, flown on a Saturn IB, and proved that the redesigned command module would support its crew while remaining in Earth orbit. Next, Earth-Moon trajectories were calculated for this large capsule, and the Saturn V powered Apollo 8 set off for the Moon, proving that the calculations were accurate, orbiting the Moon was feasible and a safe return to Earth was possible. Apollo 8 also provided the first TV broadcast from lunar orbit. The next few Apollo missions further proved the technology and allowed humans to practice procedures that would be needed for an eventual Moon landing.

On July 16, 1969, a Saturn V rocket launched three astronauts to the Moon on Apollo 11 from Cape Kennedy. The Apollo 11 spacecraft had three parts: a command module, called "Columbia," with a cabin for the three astronauts; a service module that provided propulsion, electricity, oxygen and water; and a lunar module, "Eagle," that provided descent to the lunar surface and ascent back to the command and service modules.

In this image collage, the Apollo 11 lunar module is shown on its descent to the Moon (left), on the lunar surface as Buzz Aldrin descends the stairs (middle), and on its ascent back to the command module (right). Image credit: NASA | › View full image collection

On July 20, while astronaut and command module pilot Michael Collins orbited the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed Eagle on the Moon and set foot on the surface, accomplishing a first for humankind. They collected regolith (surface "dirt") and rock samples, set up experiments, planted an American flag and left behind medallions honoring the Apollo 1 crew and a plaque that read, "We came in peace for all mankind."

This collage of images from the Apollo 11 Moon landing shows Buzz Aldrin posing for a photo on the Moon (left), and setting up the solar wind and seismic experiments (middle). The image on the right shows the plaque the team placed on Moon to commemorate the historic event. Image credit: NASA | › View full image collection

After 21.5 hours on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin rejoined Collins in the Columbia command module and, on July 21, headed back to Earth. On July 24, after jettisoning the service module, Columbia entered Earth's atmosphere. With its heat shield facing forward to protect the astronauts from the extreme friction heating outside the capsule, the craft slowed and a series of parachutes deployed. The module splashed down in the South Pacific Ocean, 380 kilometers (210 nautical miles) south of Johnston Atoll. Because scientists were uncertain about contamination from the Moon, the astronauts donned biological-isolation garments delivered by divers from the recovery ship, the aircraft carrier the USS Hornet. The astronauts boarded a life raft and then the USS Hornet, where the outside of their biological-isolation suits were washed down with disinfectant. To be sure no contamination was brought back to Earth from the Moon, the astronauts were quarantined until Aug. 10, at which point scientists determined the risk was low that biological contaminants or microbes had returned with the astronauts. Columbia was also disinfected and is now part of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

These side-by-side images show the Apollo 11 astronauts leaving the capsule in their biological isolation garments after successfully splashing down in the South Pacific Ocean (left). At right, President Richard M. Nixon welcomes the Apollo 11 astronauts, (left to right) Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin, while they peer through the window of the Mobile Quarantine Facility aboard the USS Hornet. Image credit: NASA | › View full image collection

The Apollo program continued with six more missions to the Moon over the next three years. Astronauts placed seismometers to measure "moonquakes" and other science instruments on the lunar surface, performed science experiments, drove a carlike moon buggy on the surface, planted additional flags and returned more lunar samples to Earth for study.

Why It's Important

Apollo started out as a demonstration of America's technological, economic and political prowess, which it accomplished with the first Moon landing. But the Apollo missions accomplished even more in the realm of science and engineering.

Some of the earliest beneficiaries of Apollo research were Earth scientists. The Apollo 7 and 9 missions, which stayed in Earth orbit, took photographs of Earth in different wavelengths of light, highlighting things that might not be seen on the ground, like diseased trees and crops. This research led directly to the joint NASA-U.S. Geological Survey Landsat program, which has been studying Earth's resources from space for more than 45 years.

Samples returned from the Moon continue to be studied by scientists around the world. As new tools and techniques are developed, scientists can learn even more about our Moon, discovering clues to our planet's origins and the formation of the solar system. Additionally, educators can be certified to borrow lunar samples for use in their classrooms.

The Apollo 11 astronauts take a closer look at a sample they brought back from the Moon. Image credit: NASA | › View full image collection

Perhaps the most important scientific finding came from comparing similarities in the composition of lunar and terrestrial rocks and then noting differences in the amount of specific substances. This suggested a new theory of the Moon's formation: that it accreted from debris ejected from Earth by a collision with a Mars-size object early in our planet's 4.5-billion-year history.

The 12 astronauts who walked on the Moon are the best-known faces of the Apollo program, but in numbers, they were also the smallest part of the program. About 400,000 men and women worked on Apollo, building the vehicles, calculating trajectories, even making and packing food for the crews. Many of them worked on solving a deceptively simple question: "How do we guide astronauts to the Moon and back safely?" Some built the spacecraft to carry humans to the Moon, enable surface operations and safely return astronauts to Earth. Others built the rockets that would launch these advanced spacecraft. In doing all this, NASA engineers and scientists helped lead the computing revolution from transistors to integrated circuits, the forebears to the microchip. An integrated circuit – a miniaturized electronic circuit that is used in nearly all electronic equipment today – is lighter weight, smaller and able to function on less power than the older transistors and capacitors. To suit the needs of the space capsule, NASA developed integrated circuits for use in the capsule's onboard computers. Additionally, computing advancements provided NASA with software that worked exactly as it was supposed to every time. That software lead to the development of the systems used today in retail credit-card swipe devices.

Some lesser-known benefits of the Apollo program include the technologies that commercial industries would then further advance to benefit humans right here on Earth. These "spinoffs" include technology that improved kidney dialysis, modernized athletic shoes, improved home insulation, advanced commercial and residential water filtration, and developed the freeze-drying technique for preserving foods.

Apollo was succeeded by missions that have continued to build a human presence in space and advance technologies on Earth. Hardware developed for Apollo was used to build America's first Earth-orbiting space station, Skylab. After Skylab, during the Apollo-Soyuz test project, American and Soviet spacecraft docked together, laying the groundwork for international cooperation in human spaceflight. American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts worked together aboard the Soviet space station Mir, performing science experiments and learning about long-term space travel's effects on the human body. Eventually, the U.S. and Russia, along with 13 other nations, partnered to build and operate the International Space Station, a world-class science laboratory orbiting 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth, making a complete orbit every 90 minutes.

Although the configuration is not final, this infographic shows the current lineup of parts comprising the lunar Gateway. Image credit: NASA | › Full image and caption

And the innovations continue today. NASA is planning the Artemis mission to put humans on the Moon again in 2024 with innovative new technologies and the intent of establishing a permanent human presence. Working in tandem with commercial and international partners, NASA will develop the Space Launch System launch vehicle, Orion crew capsule, a new lunar lander and other operations hardware. The lunar Gateway – a small spaceship that will orbit the Moon and include living quarters for astronauts, a lab for science, and research and ports for visiting spacecraft – will provide access to more of the lunar surface than ever before. While at the Moon, astronauts will research ways to use lunar resources for survival and further technological development. The lessons and discoveries from Artemis will eventually pave a path for a future human mission to Mars.

Teach It

Use these standards-aligned lessons to help students learn more about Earth's only natural satellite:

• 
  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

As students head out for the summer, get them excited to learn more about the Moon and human exploration using these student projects:

• 
  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

• 
  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

Explore More

• NASA Apollo 50th Photos, Video and Audio Recordings
• NASA Moon to Mars website
• NASA Moon to Mars poster
• Blog: So You Want to Be an Astronaut
• Explore Apollo 50th Anniversary events near you

TAGS: K-12 Education, Teachers, Educators, Classroom, Engineering, Science, Students, Projects, Moon, Apollo, Summer

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ota Lutz, STEM Elementary and Secondary Education Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Ota Lutz is a STEM elementary and secondary education specialist 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

Though scientists had theorized they could image black holes by capturing their silhouettes against their glowing surroundings, the ability to image an object so distant still eluded them. A team formed to take on the challenge, creating a network of telescopes known as the Event Horizon Telescope, or the EHT. They set out to capture an image of a black hole by improving upon a technique that allows for the imaging of far-away objects, known as Very Long Baseline Interferometry, or VLBI.

Telescopes of all types are used to see distant objects. The larger the diameter, or aperture, of the telescope, the greater its ability to gather more light and the higher its resolution (or ability to image fine details). To see details in objects that are far away and appear small and dim from Earth, we need to gather as much light as possible with very high resolution, so we need to use a telescope with a large aperture.

That’s why the VLBI technique was essential to capturing the black hole image. VLBI works by creating an array of smaller telescopes that can be synchronized to focus on the same object at the same time and act as a giant virtual telescope. In some cases, the smaller telescopes are also an array of multiple telescopes. This technique has been used to track spacecraft and to image distant cosmic radio sources, such as quasars.

Making up one piece of the EHT array of telescopes, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile has 66 high-precision antennas. Image credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF | + Expand image

The aperture of a giant virtual telescope such as the Event Horizon Telescope is as large as the distance between the two farthest-apart telescope stations – for the EHT, those two stations are at the South Pole and in Spain, creating an aperture that’s nearly the same as the diameter of Earth. Each telescope in the array focuses on the target, in this case the black hole, and collects data from its location on Earth, providing a portion of the EHT’s full view. The more telescopes in the array that are widely spaced, the better the image resolution.

To test VLBI for imaging a black hole and a number of computer algorithms for sorting and synchronizing data, the Event Horizon Telescope team decided on two targets, each offering unique challenges.

The closest supermassive black hole to Earth, Sagittarius A*, interested the team because it is in our galactic backyard – at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, 26,000 light-years (156 quadrillion miles) away. (An asterisk is the astronomical standard for denoting a black hole.) Though not the only black hole in our galaxy, it is the black hole that appears largest from Earth. But its location in the same galaxy as Earth meant the team would have to look through “pollution” caused by stars and dust to image it, meaning there would be more data to filter out when processing the image. Nevertheless, because of the black hole’s local interest and relatively large size, the EHT team chose Sagittarius A* as one of its two targets.

A close-up image of the core of the M87 galaxy, imaged by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Image credit: NASA/CXC/Villanova University/J. Neilsen | + Expand image

This image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows a jet of subatomic particles streaming from the center of M87*. Image credits: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) | + Expand image

The second target was the supermassive black hole M87*. One of the largest known supermassive black holes, M87* is located at the center of the gargantuan elliptical galaxy Messier 87, or M87, 53 million light-years (318 quintillion miles) away. Substantially more massive than Sagittarius A*, which contains 4 million solar masses, M87* contains 6.5 billion solar masses. One solar mass is equivalent to the mass of our Sun, approximately 2x10^30 kilograms. In addition to its size, M87* interested scientists because, unlike Sagittarius A*, it is an active black hole, with matter falling into it and spewing out in the form of jets of particles that are accelerated to velocities near the speed of light. But its distance made it even more of a challenge to capture than the relatively local Sagittarius A*. As described by Katie Bouman, a computer scientist with the EHT who led development of one of the algorithms used to sort telescope data during the processing of the historic image, it’s akin to capturing an image of an orange on the surface of the Moon.

By 2017, the EHT was a collaboration of eight sites around the world – and more have been added since then. Before the team could begin collecting data, they had to find a time when the weather was likely to be conducive to telescope viewing at every location. For M87*, the team tried for good weather in April 2017 and, of the 10 days chosen for observation, a whopping four days were clear at all eight sites!

Each telescope used for the EHT had to be highly synchronized with the others to within a fraction of a millimeter using an atomic clock locked onto a GPS time standard. This degree of precision makes the EHT capable of resolving objects about 4,000 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope. As each telescope acquired data from the target black hole, the digitized data and time stamp were recorded on computer disk media. Gathering data for four days around the world gave the team a substantial amount of data to process. The recorded media were then physically transported to a central location because the amount of data, around 5 petabytes, exceeds what the current internet speeds can handle. At this central location, data from all eight sites were synchronized using the time stamps and combined to create a composite set of images, revealing the never-before-seen silhouette of M87*’s event horizon. The team is also working on generating an image of Sagittarius A* from additional observations made by the EHT.

As more telescopes are added and the rotation of Earth is factored in, more of the image can be resolved, and we can expect future images to be higher resolution. But we might never have a complete picture, as Katie Bouman explains here (under “Imaging a Black Hole”).

To complement the EHT findings, several NASA spacecraft were part of a large effort to observe the black hole using different wavelengths of light. As part of this effort, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory space telescope missions – all designed to detect different varieties of X-ray light – turned their gaze to the M87 black hole around the same time as the EHT in April 2017. NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was also watching for changes in gamma-ray light from M87* during the EHT observations. If the EHT observed changes in the structure of the black hole’s environment, data from these missions and other telescopes could be used to help figure out what was going on.

Though NASA observations did not directly trace out the historic image, astronomers used data from Chandra and NuSTAR satellites to measure the X-ray brightness of M87*’s jet. Scientists used this information to compare their models of the jet and disk around the black hole with the EHT observations. Other insights may come as researchers continue to pore over these data.

Why It's Important

Learning about mysterious structures in the universe provides insight into physics and allows us to test observation methods and theories, such as Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Massive objects deform spacetime in their vicinity, and although the theory of general relativity has directly been proven accurate for smaller-mass objects, such as Earth and the Sun, the theory has not yet been directly proven for black holes and other regions containing dense matter.

One of the main results of the EHT black hole imaging project is a more direct calculation of a black hole’s mass than ever before. Using the EHT, scientists were able to directly observe and measure the radius of M87*’s event horizon, or its Schwarzschild radius, and compute the black hole’s mass. That estimate was close to the one derived from a method that uses the motion of orbiting stars – thus validating it as a method of mass estimation.

The size and shape of a black hole, which depend on its mass and spin, can be predicted from general relativity equations. General relativity predicts that this silhouette would be roughly circular, but other theories of gravity predict slightly different shapes. The image of M87* shows a circular silhouette, thus lending credibility to Einstein’s theory of general relativity near black holes.

This artist’s impression depicts a rapidly spinning supermassive black hole surrounded by an accretion disc. Image credit: ESO | + Expand image

The data also offer some insight into the formation and behavior of black hole structures, such as the accretion disk that feeds matter into the black hole and plasma jets that emanate from its center. Scientists have hypothesized about how an accretion disk forms, but they’ve never been able to test their theories with direct observation until now. Scientists are also curious about the mechanism by which some supermassive black holes emit enormous jets of particles traveling at near light-speed.

These questions and others will be answered as more data is acquired by the EHT and synthesized in computer algorithms. Be sure to stay tuned for that and the next expected image of a black hole – our Milky Way’s own Sagittarius A*.

Teach It

Capture your students’ enthusiasm about black holes by challenging them to solve these standards-aligned math problems.

Model black-hole interaction with this NGSS-aligned lesson:

• 
  Dropping In With Gravitational Waves

  Students develop a model to represent gravitational waves and their propagation through spacetime.

  Grades 6-8

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Explore More

• 
  Video: What Is a Black Hole?

  Find out how what a black hole is, how they can form and why they are so cool!

• 
  Black Holes: By the Numbers

  What are black holes and how do they form?

• 
  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.

  Grades 6-12

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Teachable Moment: Modeling Gravitational Waves

  Find out how researchers proved part of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, then create a model of the Nobel Prize-winning experiment in the classroom.

• JPL News: Black Hole Image Makes History
• Graphic: Anatomy of a Black Hole

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

• What is a Black Hole?
• Game: Black Hole Rescue!
• If the Sun Became a Black Hole, Would Earth Get Pulled Inside?

TAGS: Black Hole, Teachable Moments, Science, K-12 Education, Teachers, Educators

• 

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ota Lutz, STEM Elementary and Secondary Education Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Ota Lutz is a STEM elementary and secondary education specialist 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.

Visit the "Pi in the Sky 6" lesson page to explore classroom resources and downloads for the 2019 NASA Pi Day Challenge. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kim Orr | + Expand image

Why March 14?

Pi, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, is what is known as an irrational number. As an irrational number, its decimal representation never ends, and it never repeats. Though it has been calculated to trillions of digits, we use far fewer at NASA. In fact, 3.14 is a good approximation, which is why March 14 (or 3/14 in U.S. month/day format) came to be the date that we celebrate this mathematical marvel.

The first-known Pi Day celebration occurred in 1988. In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution designating March 14 as Pi Day and encouraging teachers and students to celebrate the day with activities that teach students about pi.

The 2019 Challenge

This year’s NASA Pi Day Challenge features four planetary puzzlers that show students how pi is used at the agency. The challenges involve weathering a Mars dust storm, sizing up a shrinking storm on Jupiter, estimating the water content of a rain cloud on Earth and blasting ice samples with lasers!

›Take on the 2019 NASA Pi Day Challenge!

The Science Behind the Challenge

In late spring of 2018, a dust storm began stretching across Mars and eventually nearly blanketed the entire planet in thick dust. Darkness fell across Mars’ surface, blocking the vital sunlight that the solar-powered Opportunity rover needed to survive. It was the beginning of the end for the rover’s 15-year mission on Mars. At its height, the storm covered all but the peak of Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system. In the Deadly Dust challenge, students must use pi to calculate what percentage of the Red Planet was covered by the dust storm.

The Terra satellite, orbiting Earth since 1999, uses the nine cameras on its Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer, or MISR, instrument to provide scientists with unique views of Earth, returning data about atmospheric particles, land-surface features and clouds. Estimating the amount of water in a cloud, and the potential for rainfall, is serious business. Knowing how much rain may fall in a given area can help residents and first responders prepare for emergencies like flooding and mudslides. In Cloud Computing, students can use their knowledge of pi and geometric shapes to estimate the amount of water contained in a cloud.

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a giant storm that has been fascinating observers since the early 19th century, is shrinking. The storm has been continuously observed since the 1830s, but measurements from spacecraft like Voyager, the Hubble Space Telescope and Juno indicate the storm is getting smaller. How much smaller? In Storm Spotter, students can determine the answer to that very question faced by scientists.

Scientists studying ices found in space, such as comets, want to understand what they’re made of and how they interact and react with the environment around them. To see what molecules may form in space when a comet comes into contact with solar wind or sunlight, scientists place an ice sample in a vacuum and then expose it to electrons or ultraviolet photons. Scientists have analyzed samples in the lab and detected molecules that were later observed in space on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. To analyze the lab samples, an infrared laser is aimed at the ice, causing it to explode. But the ice will explode only if the laser is powerful enough. Scientist use pi to figure out how strong the laser needs to be to explode the sample – and students can do the same when they solve the Icy Intel challenge.

Explore More

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 Activities

• 
  The Sky and Dichotomous Key

  Students learn about cloud types to be able to predict inclement weather. They will then identify areas in the school affected by severe weather and develop a solution to ease the impacts of rain, wind, heat or sun.

  Grades K-3

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Precipitation Towers: Modeling Weather Data

  This lesson uses stacking cubes as a way to graph precipitation data, comparing the precipitation averages and seasonal patterns for several locations.

  Grades K-5

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  Create a Comet with Dry Ice

  Build an icy model of a comet out of dry ice -- complete with shooting jets! -- as a demonstration for students.

  Grades 2-5

  Time < 30 mins

• 
  Comet on a Stick

  Students build their own comet models using craft materials.

  Grades 2-8

  Time 30 mins - 1 hr

• 
  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 - 1 hr

• 
  Make a Cloud Mobile - NASA SpacePlace

  This mobile of feathery clouds will twist and turn in a gentle breeze. It even includes rain clouds with sparkling showers!

  Grades 3-6

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.

• 
  Game: Comet Quest - NASA SpacePlace

  Control a spacecraft and use it to explore an icy comet!

Facts and Figures

• Mars
• Jupiter
• Earth
• Comets
• Comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko
• What is a Laser? – NASA SpacePlace
• What Is the Water Cycle? – Climate Kids

Missions and Instruments

• Hubble Space Telescope
• Voyager
• Juno
• Opportunity Rover
• Rosetta
• MISR instrument
• Ice Spectroscopy Laboratory

Websites

• Mars Exploration
• Solar System Exploration
• NASA Climate

TAGS: Pi Day, K-12, STEM, Science, Engineering, Technology, Math, Pi, Educators, Teachers, Informal Education, Museums

• 

  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.

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.

Teach It

Explore standards-aligned lessons that bring Mars Exploration Rover science and engineering to students.

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.

A self-portrait of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity taken in late March 2014 (right) shows that much of the dust on the rover's solar arrays was removed since a similar portrait from January 2014 (left). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ. | › Full image and caption

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.

Inside the In-Situ Instrument Laboratory at JPL, rover engineers check how a test rover moves in material chosen to simulate some difficult Mars driving conditions. | › Full image and caption

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

This set of images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows a giant dust storm building up on Mars in 2018, with rovers on the surface indicated as icons. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS | › Full image and caption

This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA’s Opportunity rover’s point of view in the 2018 global dust storm. Each frame corresponds to a tau value, or measure of opacity: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/TAMU | › Full image and caption

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.

This mosaic shows an area of disturbed soil made by the Spirit rover's stuck right front wheel. The trench exposed a patch of nearly pure silica, with the composition of opal. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell | › Full image and caption

This color view of a mineral vein was taken by the Mars rover Opportunity on Nov. 7, 2011. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU | › Full image and caption

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!

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  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

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Ota Lutz, STEM Elementary and Secondary Education Specialist, NASA/JPL Edu

  Ota Lutz is a STEM elementary and secondary education specialist 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.