Challenger Learning Center at Chabot Space & Science Center
The Mission Scenarios
Return to the Moon TM
The year is 2015. For the first time since 1972, a crew of astronauts
is returning to the Moon. This time, they plan to stay. Their mission
is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to observe and explore,
as well as test the feasibility of off-Earth settlements. Navigating
their way into lunar orbit, students must construct and launch a
probe, and analyze a variety of data gathered from the lunar surface
to select a site for establishing the permanent Moon base. Students
begin a new era in human planetary explorations during their mission
to Return to the Moon.[
alignment with State of California Science Standards ]
 Rendezvous
with a CometTM
You are a mission specialist on a daring exploration of comets!
Your mission's goal is to plot a course to rendezvous with a comet
and launch a probe to collect scientific data on the object.
What may seem to be routine exploration is sprinkled with lots
of surprises and emergencies, giving you insight into teamwork and
problem solving. Rendezvous with a CometTM is
similar to NASA's STARDUST program,
which was launched in February 1999 to rendezvous with Comet Wild
2.
[ alignment with State of California Science Standards ]
 Rendezvous
with Comet HalleyTM
It is 2061 and Comet Halley is once again entering the inner
part of our solar system as it continues its 76-year orbit around
the sun. Your mission is to transport a crew to the Space Station
orbiting 250 miles above Earth.
From the Space Station you and the crew will plot a course to
rendezvous with Comet Halley, assemble a probe, and launch it into
the tail of the comet to collect important data for analysis. The
observation and analysis of Comet Halley in 1986 were original mission
objectives of Challenger's last flight.
[ alignment with State of California Science Standards ]
 Voyage
to MarsTM
It is 2076, one hundred years after the landing of Viking I,
and a now routine voyage to Mars has brought the latest human crew
into Martian orbit. Control of the incoming flight has been transferred
from Houston's Mission Control to Mars Control at Chryse Station.
The crew arriving from Earth on the Mars Transport Vehicle has been
trained to replace the crew of astronauts that has run Mars Control
for the past two years, and to continue its scientific explorations
of the Red Planet.
[ alignment with State of California Science Standards ]
The Mission Teams
You will become a Mission Specialist working on a team to accomplish
your mission's objectives.
Data (DATA) Transmits important images and shares vital
information between mission control and the spacecraft.
Medical (MED) Uses computers to gather data relating to
the crew's health and its reaction to the stress of the mission.
Life Support (LS) Monitors and repairs the spacecraft's
critical water, air, and electrical systems.
Probe (PROBE) Assembles a data-gathering scientific probe
to relay data for analysis.
Isolation (ISO) Uses robots to handle hazardous chemicals,
conduct tests, and count micrometeoroid impacts.
Remote (REM) Works in a glove box to analyze mass, volume,
and density of meteorite samples.
Communication (COM) Maintains a voice link between the
spacecraft and mission control.
Navigation (NAV) Calculates trajectories, and analyzes
and determines angles for launch coordinates and probe deployment.
Press Team (Optional) Interviews crew members, prepares
biographical sketches of the crew and uses video/photography equipment
to record the events of the mission.
Missions are available for
school and youth groups,
corporate groups, and the general public.
Teacher
workshops and classroom-based programs are also offered.
Contact us by phone at (510) 336-7355 or e-mail
.
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