Monday, May 25, 2020

Week 11 - "Eggstronaut" Landers!


Oh, you KNOW you want to!  You KNOW you can come up with an awesome design!  The timing is great - end of May, and it goes with the launch of the Crew Dragon by SpaceX!  (What goes up must come down... how will YOU land the crew safely?)


Option 1: comes from NASA - design a landing system with a PARACHUTE to safely land your "eggstronaut".  History - both the United States and Russia land their capsules with parachute systems.  Goal: land the capsule softly enough to NOT harm the vehicle or the astronauts. This video 21 minutes long, so you can skip it and design your own parachute system. If you ARE interested in watching, it has great suggestions, and tells how the NASA parachutes work.


Option 2:  Design a landing system that uses air cushioning.  Maybe your design uses bubble wrap or foam or something that inflates? That's how the Spirit rover landed on Mars!     

Option 3: Astronaut crew capsules have metal composit exteriors to be durable and protect astronauts from the heat of reentry.  Design a crew capsule with a metal exterior.  Maybe you have a can in your recycle that would work?  Maybe you can mold something from foil?  Treat this like a space capsule.  The crew is strapped into their custom seats, but there is air space all around them.  What is your plan?

Design your lander!  TEST it out!  Modify your design if you need to.  Find a high spot and DROP it!  Then report your results in the Google Form.  

If you have a great photo, sketch, or video clip, you can put it in the Padlet!  

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