Spacecraft and Exploration Technologies

Start with satellites and rockets

Begin with Satellites and Space for a look at artificial satellites, including those used for Earth observation and weather forecasting. Its branches also mention satellites that orbit other planets. Follow it with The science of rockets, which describes how a rocket moves by expelling gas in the opposite direction.

As you study, follow each branch and explain its main point in your own words. Then return to the map to check what you remember. You can compare the ideas in both maps by considering how rockets and satellites each contribute to exploration.

Explore robots and rovers

Awesome Space Robots introduces types of space robots, including probes, and mentions a mission that took photographs of the Moon. Next, open Space Rover to see how a mobile robot can explore the surface of a moon or planet, take pictures and collect information.

Space Rover Mind Map also asks what space rovers are used for. Compare it with Space Rover and note the questions each map helps you answer. Moving between maps gives you another way to check your understanding: cover a branch, recall its point, then look back at the resource.

Connect the ideas

Space C asks how humans have attained a presence in space and what scientific ideas lie behind the technologies developed. Use those questions to bring together what you have read about rockets, satellites and robots.

This topic is part of the Space Exploration unit in Astronomy. Its maps offer different starting points within that unit, from technologies that travel through space to machines that explore surfaces. Choose a map and follow the branches that interest you.