February 15, 2013 Q2-Pg.Daily Goal: We will investigate what technology astronauts use to explore space. Homework: Read your New York Times article and answer the questions.

Science Starter:1. What are the main factors of life?2. What would life likely look like on other planets?3. Why is it so difficult to find the right

atmosphere?4. List the planets in order.

Table Group Points!!

• What is an asteroid?

• How big are asteroids?

Why don’t we have dinosaurs?

• The truth is no one knows for certain. What we do know for almost sure is that about 65 million years ago, a 10 km.-wide (or about 6-7 mile-wide) asteroid hit the Earth.

• Many scientists believe that this asteroid collision changed the Earth’s atmosphere so much that it killed the dinosaurs.

Could we be next?• It is unlikely that Earth will have

any major collisions soon. Still, it is too much of a danger to ignore.

• Scientists use telescopes to locate asteroids.

• After they find the asteroids, they use computer models to predict its path centuries into the future.

• Scientists think that they have found almost all of the asteroids that are big enough to cause global devastation.

Could we be next?

Arecibo Telescope!

This tracks asteroids fromPuerto Rico. • It is the largest radio dish in the world.

Early Explorations• The US was the first to

land on the Moon during their Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

• A lot of what we know about the Moon we gathered from samples that the astronauts brought back from the Apollo mission.

Brain Boost! (And table group points!!)

Look at the footprint left by the Apollo 11 astronauts. That footprint is still on the Moon.

Why do you think the footprint has lasted so long?

Early Explorations• More than 17 nations, including the US

worked together to start construction on the International Space Station.

• Astronauts use the space station to perform experiments in space.

Research in space can be more accurate, because astronauts do not have to deal with

differences in gravity.

Why can’t we go to other planets?1. Other planets are really far away – so far

away that it would take years to get to the closest planet!

2. A spacecraft would have to carry years’-worth supplies of:

1. Water2. Oxygen3. And survival supplies

If we can’t visit other planets, how do we know so much about them?

• Most space missions are performed through unmanned spacecrafts, or spaceships without people in them.

• They are controlled on Earth, are less expensive, and less dangerous than sending astronauts to space, but they provide valuable information!

• Spacecrafts have visited all the major planets in our solar system.

The Hubble Telescope

• Hubble Telescope- Hubble is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space.

• It has a clear view of the universe. Scientists use Hubble to observe distant stars and galaxies as well as our solar system

Crab Nebula Super Nova

Fermi-Gamma-ray Space Telescope

• The Fermi-Gamma-ray telescope has been helping scientists learn more about black holes by using pulsar.