"As I take man's
last steps from the surface, I believe
history will record that America's challenge
of today has forged man's destiny of
tomorrow. And as we leave the
Moon, we leave as we came, and, God
willing as we shall return, with peace
and hope for all mankind."
-Gene
Cernan, Apollo 17 astronaut
Instructions
(read
carefully)
This
assignment includes an essay and graphic
that must be submitted along with the
answer to a math problem. You
must submit the text section and the
math answer as one text document via
the Comm
Link .
You can type your essay in a Word document
and then copy and paste it into the
Comm Link Text Box. Make sure
you show your work for the math problem
and list the sources that you used.
Attach
your drawing separately using the Comm
Link. The Comm Link will not accept
your graphic if it does not meet the
following requirements:
•
It must be saved
as a .jpg of a .gif.
•
The maximum size
limit is 300kb.
•
There can not be
any spaces in the title.
Read
the rubric carefully to see how your
assignment will be graded. You will
have points deducted if you do not follow
the rubric or if your assignment is
late.
Along
with this assignment, you must also
complete the Quick
Quiz! for this lesson if
you have not already done so.
Your teacher reviewer will
grade your assignment and send comments
to you via e-mail within 1 week of the
assignment due date. You may also
go to your profile see your current grades.
Mission
Part
One: Lunar Base Essay and Graphic
You will design a lunar base or future
lunar colony. Possible components include:
mining and manufacturing facilities, greenhouses,
habitats, laboratories, power plants,
rocket ports, tools and equipment, transportation
devices, communications systems, etc.
Make sure that you include a clearly labeled
drawing in addition to a one page (500-word)
description of your colony.
Your lunar base will need to include a
description for each area listed below.
- Location
(Base site, environmental condition
adaptations: 1/6 gravity, vacuum, lunar
dust/regolith, solar winds, cosmic radiation,
temperature extremes, fortnightly day/night
cycle)
- Architecture
(Buildings, machines, roads, industries,
laboratories, observatories, equipment,
rovers)
- Personnel (Quantity;
rotation; mix; ages; medical concerns;
psychological needs)
- Activities
(Life support, astronomy, lunar science/geology,
manufacturing, power systems, communications,
transportation)
- Governance
(Government, management, capitalization,
funding, policies)
- Timeline of mission events
(Begin with the year that the lunar
base begins construction, when the first
crew arrives, lunar base milestones
and when it is fully operational.)
List
all your sources. Let your imagine
go and have fun! Use the links in
the lessons
and in the Extended
Mission for ideas to help you get
started.
Part
Two: Moon Math
Long ago,
Sir Isaac Newton gave us a mathematical
description of how one object affects,
and is affected by, the gravitational
force of another object. Many, many
years of observations have proven this
description to be accurate (at least
for masses like those of the planets).
Newton's Law of Gravitation states:
The force between any two objects having
masses M1 and M2 separated by a distance
R is an attraction along the line joining
the objects and has a magnitude of:
F
= (G x M1 x M2) / (R x R).
G is the universal gravitational
constant, which has a value of 6.6732
x 10-11 newton-meters2/kg2 for all
pairs of objects. (A "newton" is a unit
of force that physicists use. It is defined
to be the amount of force needed to accelerate
a 1 kg mass at 1 meter per sec2. A newton,
as a unit of force, is fairly small, like
a millimeter is a small unit of distance
or a microsecond is a small unit of time.)
How
do we know what speed an object in orbit
around a planet or a moon must travel
to maintain it's orbit and not be pulled
down to the surface by gravity?
The orbital velocity equation tells us
how!
Question
1: The Apollo spacecraft must be traveling
at what speed in order to remain in a
110 kilometer orbit around the moon?
The
magnitude of the velocity can be computed
exactly from the laws of gravitational
motion. To remain in orbit, a spacecraft
must travel at a very high velocity. The
required velocity is dependent on gravity
and decreases with increasing altitude
(i.e., distance) as shown:
v=(GM/r)1/2
or v= SQRT (GM/r)
where
V is the orbital velocity, R is the radius
of the orbit, and G is the local acceleration
of gravity. You can work the problem from
scratch or use the shortcut below:
Shortcut:
GM = 0.0049 (106 kilometers3/seconds2)
Your
answer should be in km/sec.
Hint:
First find the radius of the moon and
then add that to the orbital altitude
to answer the problem!
Question 2: Calculate
the escape velocity of the moon.
The
escape velocity (vesc)
of a body depends on the mass
(M) and the radius (r)
of the given body. The formula
which relates these quantities is:
vesc
= (2 * G * M / r)1/2
where
G is called the Gravitational
constant.
The
notation
(2
* G * M / r)1/2
means
(2 * G * M / r) to the
one-half power, which is equal to the
square root of (2
* G * M / r).
You
will calculate the escape velocity for
the Moon using the MKS
system where the unit for distance
is meters, the unit for
mass is kilograms,
and the unit for time
is seconds.
In
this system, the gravitational constant
has the value:
G
= 6.67 * 10-11 meter3/kilogram-seconds2.
As
an example, the mass M
of the Earth is 5.98 * 1024
kilograms. The radius r
of the Earth is 6378 kilometers, which
is equal to 6.378 * 106 meters.
The escape velocity at the surface of
the Earth can therefore be calculated
by:
| vesc
|
= |
(2 * G * M / r)1/2
|
| |
= |
( 2 * (6.67 * 10-11)
* (5.98 * 1024) / (6.378
* 106) ) 1/2
|
| |
= |
1.12 * 104
meters/second |
| |
= |
11.2 kilometers/second
|
This
simple physics equation can be used to
calculate the escape velocity for any
body if you know the mass of the body
and its radius!
The
escape velocity for the Earth is therefore
11.2 kilometers per second. This is the
velocity that an object
needs at the surface of the Earth to be
able to overcome the gravitational attraction
of the Earth and escape to space.
Use the Internet to find the mass
and radius of the Moon. Make sure to convert
the radii from kilometers to meters when
making the calculation, and make sure
that you can calculate the escape velocity
correctly.
Your answer should be in km/sec.
Here
are a few on-line Math sites that might
help you!
Ask
Dr. Math
The
Math Forum
Quick
Math
The
Math Help Desk
and
check out, Interactive
Algebra!
Rubric
Assignment 6
Your
assignment will be graded on your essay,
graphic, answer to the math problem
and quiz score using the following rubric.
If your assignment is late, points will
be deducted as follows:
•
If assignment is one day late, 1 point
will be deducted.
•
If assignment is two or three days late,
2 points will be deducted .
•
If assignment is four or five days late,
3 points will be deducted.
•
If assignment is six or more days late,
4 points will be deducted.
|
5
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
Essay
Content
•
Location
•
Architecture
•
Personnel
•
Activities
•
Governance
•
Timeline
•
Sources |
Meets
all content requirements of the
essay. |
Did
not meet one of the content requirements
of the essay. |
Did
not meet two of the content requirements
of the essay. |
Did
not meet three of the content
requirements of the essay. |
Did
not meet more than three of the
content requirements of the essay.
|
Did
not submit an essay. |
Essay
Quality
(Writing
Style, Grammar, Creativity, Length)
|
Excellent
essay. Correct grammar always
used. Integration of multiple
scientific terms. Excellent creativity
of assignment. Meets 500 word
length requirement. |
Good
essay. Correct grammar used most
of the time. Integration of several
scientific terms. Good creativity
of assignment. Meets 500 word
length
requirement.
|
Fair
essay. Correct grammar used sometimes.
Integration of several scientific
terms. Some creativity of assignment.
Meets 500 word length requirement.
|
Weak
essay. Correct grammar not always
used. Integration of some scientific
terms. Little creativity of assignment.
Does not meet 500 word length
requirement. |
Poor
essay. Correct grammar not used.
No use of scientific terms. No
creativity of assignment. Does
not meet 500 word length requirement.
|
Did
not submit an essay. |
Graphic
|
Graphic
is very clear. Every item that
needs to be identified has a label.
It is clear which label goes with
which item. |
Graphic
is clear. Almost all items (90%)
that need to be identified have
labels. It is clear which label
goes with which item. |
Graphic
is somewhat unclear. Most items
(70-80%) that need to be identified
have labels, but it is not clear
which label goes with which item.
|
Graphic
is unclear. Less than 70% of the
items that need to be identified
have labels OR it is not clear
which label goes with which item.
|
Graphic
is unacceptable. |
Did
not submit a graphic. |
Math
Problem |
Math
problem is correct. |
Math
problem is partially correct with
one mistake. |
Math
problem is partially correct with
two mistakes. |
Math
problem is partially correct with
more than two mistakes. |
Math
problem is incorrect but attempted.
|
Did
not attempt math problem. |
Quiz
|
Answered
10 questions correctly on quiz. |
Answered
8-9 questions correctly on quiz. |
Answered 6-7 questions correctly on quiz. |
Answered
4-5 questions correctly on quiz. |
Answered
2-3 questions correctly on quiz. |
Did
not complete the quiz or answered 0 or 1 question correctly.
|
|
