Students gain first-hand experience with the Doppler effect and how it's used by NASA’s Deep Space Network.

Students balance circular and gravitational forces to create a model of an object in orbit.

Students explore different types of space missions and observation techniques that scientists use to study distant objects like asteroids.

Students learn how NASA decodes spacecraft data, then students decode their own data to reveal space images.

Students learn how waves are used in communication with spacecraft and practice communicating using a similar process.

Students develop spreadsheet models that describe the relationship between the mass of a spacecraft using electric propulsion, the force acting on the spacecraft, and its acceleration.

Student teams use block coding or python to program the separate components of the Mars Sample Return mission, then combine their projects into an integrated successful mission demonstration.

Students draw and interpret topographic maps while learning about technology used to map Earth's surface, the seafloor, and other worlds.

In this engineering challenge, students must stay within design limitations while creating a balloon and gondola system that can descend or ascend at a given rate or maintain its altitude.