UPD8

Stardust

Learning objectives

Students will:
· Discover what scientists hope to learn from analysing the tail dust of comet Wild 2
· Consider the value of analysing Wild 2's tail dust

Try the activity

• stardust teachers notes
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• stardust activity
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You will need Acrobat Reader installed to open the activity sheets.

Curriculum link

7L the solar system and beyond
· Our solar system includes the Sun, its planets and asteroids and the natural satellites of the planets
· That the planets orbit the Sun in similar ways to the Earth
· How evidence about the solar system has been collected and interpreted

9j gravity and space
· Our ideas about the solar system have changed over time

Running the activity

Show page 1 (either projected or as an OHT). Emphasise the challenges of the journey as well as the successful completion of Stardust's mission. Then introduce a potential controversy – the mission's $200 million cost – and clarify the task. Students will need to use the information on pages 2 and 3 to do the task.

Display page 2, which describes the mission. You might like to go into more detail about aerogel, the material that captured the dust grains:
Aerogel is a silicon-based solid comprising up to 99.9% air, commonly referred to as 'frozen smoke'. It is lightweight (1000 times less dense than glass) and a very effective insulator (39 times more so than fibreglass). Potential applications of aerogel include components of spacecraft and space stations, in sensors to detect chemical warfare agents, or as super insulation between window panes. NASA has used aerogel to trap tiny particles of space dust for research. In 2003 aerogel was the least dense solid in the world.
Give each group a photocopy of page 3 and ask them to do the task described on page 1. Emphasise that students should focus on what scientists hope to learn from Stardust's mission.
When students have completed the task, ask some groups to present their talks and graphics to the rest of the class (a bunch of journalists at a press conference!). Encourage those listening to ask questions.

Web links

News links

University of Berkeley, USA

Home computer buffs are needed to search the aerogel for particles of interstellar dust!

NASA

Stardust NASA site with lots of internal links

NASA

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:9r7FhzSO5gwJ:stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/+stardust+cost&hl=en

mission overview

NASA

quicktime movie of Stardust's path
and the Why bring a comet home feature are good for classroom use

Origins of the solar system

Origins of the solar system

Planet 10 World Builder

Think you could create the perfect World? Here's your chance to try. With World Builder. There's also a virtual Solar System to explore

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