Activity: Researching Use of Gravity Assists in Space Missions

Materials:

poster board, markers, research materials (Internet, library, encyclopedia, etc.)

About this Activity:

Students will be researching the use of gravity assists in past or present space mission. Students will make a poster showing the orbital path of the spacecraft and where it receives the gravity assist.

Procedure:

  1. Many space missions in the past and present have or will have used a gravity assist. Missions such as Pioneer 11, both Voyager missions, Mariner 10, Galileo, NEAR, and Cassini are examples of missions using gravity assists from various planets.
  2. Assign to the students a specific mission to research or have them come up with one themselves. If the Internet is available in your school, encourage its use for the research.
  3. Give the option for students to write a report or give an oral presentation on their information. Set an appropriate time limit for the presentation or page limit for the report.
  4. Set an appropriate time for completion (3-4 weeks)
  5. You may want them all to include some specific information such as: object of the mission, dates of occurrence, types of launch vehicles used, how did it use gravity assists, what planet(s) were utilized for the assist(s), achievements of the mission, etc.
  6. If information is available on the orbit of the spacecraft, have students make a poster showing the orbit of the craft and where the gravity assist takes place.

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[LMGFP home page] Contact Karen Krupinsky (kgurley@gsfc.nasa.gov) or
Tammy Seergae (tseergae@umd.edu) for further information.