"Newton's Apple" cameras follow a group of American high school students tearducts don't on a tour of the Soviet space program.
Achievements in space exploration have had an impact on science and technology around the world. The study and exploration of space is a quest for excellence and adventure, as well as a thirst for unlocking the secrets of the unknown.
The first decade of space exploration was marked by many Soviet and American firsts. In October 1957, the Soviets launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to circle the Earth. A month later, Sputnik II rocketed spaceward carrying a dog, Laika, the first space traveller to orbit our planet. In following years, dozens of American and Soviet satellites were launched, with several probes exploring even more distant regions of space.
The real challenge of space exploration was to rocket people into space, and then toward the Moon. The first human to orbit the Earth was Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin. He flew in the Vostok I spaceship for one circuit of the globe in April 1961. During the 1960s, many Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts mastered space flight. Only U.S. astronauts achieved the goal of landing on the faraway Moon.
In 1975, The Soviet Union and the United States worked together to link their respective spaceships above Earth the U.S. Apollo and the Soviet Soyuz 19 a historic first in space cooperation.
Today, U.S. space shuttles routinely take astronauts on voyages in Earth's orbit to experiment in microgravity. The Soviet Union uses their Space Station Mir to study the effects of long durations of weightlessness on the cosmonaut space travellers. Built of many modules, the Mir was first launched in 1986. On one expedition aboard the Mir, the cosmonaut team of Musa Manarov and Vladimir Titov spent a total of 366 days, 18 hours and seven minutes in space the current world's record.
In recent times, the Soviets have opened up their space program to more and more cooperation with other nations. They also want to commercialize their space program to help reduce its cost. In upcoming years, U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts are expected to once again fly together in space, forging friendships that could lead to a joint mission to the distant dunes of Mars.
Kaliningrad--The Soviet space mission control center.
Cosmonaut--A Soviet space traveller.
Microgravity--a state where the effects of gravity are barely noticeable, also known as weightlessness; found in orbit.
"Fat Face"--The effect of fluids shifting in a body due to a weightless environment.
Star City--The Soviet cosmonaut training compound.
How does gravity affect the operation of toys?
Main Activity
You will observe the physics of selected toys on Earth, and predict the physics of the same toys in a microgravity environment like that of the space shuttle.
Space travellers have to learn to live, work and play in a weightless environment. In April 1985, the Space Shuttle Discovery transported 11 familiar toys into the weightlessness of space for the Toys In Space Project. This project was known simply as TOYS (Testing Of Youth Science). The TOYS Program included a selection of toys like those below. Find as many of these toys as possible.
Materials:
1. Work with each toy to see how it responds to gravity and motion. Try different actions with each toy like flying the plane or pushing the car backward and forward.
2. Write down your predictions of what you think would happen if you played with these toys aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.
3. Match your predictions with what happened on the "Toys In Space" video.
4. Talk about the reasons these activities might be valuable to space exploration.
Questions
1. How might you change each toy to work better in space?
2. Will a toy car go backward in space? If so, why?
3. What might happen if someone blew on the paper airplane in space?
Compare the United States' Space Program with the Soviet Union's. Find out about
both programs from 1957, when the
Soviets launched Sputnik, and 1958, when NASA was formed, (including joint
ventures) to the present. Create posters or
pictorial time lines of space history to share with the class.
Find out more about Star City. Divide the class into two groups with one
representing the Soviets and the other the
Americans. What kind of questions would the cosmonauts and astronauts have for
each other? What does each team like
and dislike about the others' space program?
The U.S. space program uses a lot of acronyms, or initials, to describe various
parts of the space program. Do you
know what these acronyms stand for? How can you find out?
ESA? MMU?
SRB? EVA?
NASA? UV?
Now make a list of more acronyms and their meanings. Try to stump your friends
with your new list.
Design your own spacesuit for a lunar mission. First, find out about the space
suits of both the Americans and the
Soviets. Then split up into small groups to work on your own design. Create
drawings and write a proposal of what you
team's suit should look like. Compare your design with the other teams and
discuss the differences. What materials
would build the best spacesuit? What would make a good visor? What are important
human characteristics to keep in mind
while designing the suit? You may want to try to construct part of your suit,
like a glove, visor or boot. Or, you
might want to construct the entire suit in miniature.
WE ENCOURAGE DUPLICATION FOR EDUCATIONAL USE!
Newton's Apple is a production of KTCA Twin Cities Public Television.
Made possible by a grant from 3M.Educational materials developed with the National Science Teachers Association.