Material Detail

For any lesson that includes the solar system, this site is ANTICIPATORY SET material. Use this site as your one-stop destination for the latest and most interesting pictures and news from the space probes, hot off the deep-space carrier signal. These are more than a dozen space-faring robotic probes undertaking missions to Mars, Saturn and the uncharted worlds beyond. These kinds of unmanned spacecraft have been exploring since the 1960s, when Soviet and American machines were sent on suicide missions to the moon in order to scout the way for astronaut footsteps. Now, they fly under many flags to destinations throughout the solar system and even beyond its borders. They are powered by nuclear reactors or arrays of solar cells, driven by ion engines or flung by gravity alone to speeds of fifty times the speed of sound, and to distances beyond understanding. While their task is to cross far horizons, their ultimate purpose is to help us better understand life on Earth. Enjoy as you follow the links.

Disciplines:

• Education  / TeacherEd  / Teaching Methods  / Science