Exploring our Solar System Part 2

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Slide 1

Exploring our Solar System

Slide 2

Objectives

In this lesson we should learn:

about the distances involved in space travel

about manned and unmanned space flight

how very large distances are measured in space

Slide 3

Outcomes

Foundation Paper

You should now be able to

Describe that radio signals take a long time to travel through the Solar System

Explain that manned spacecraft need to take food, water and oxygen

Know that unmanned spacecraft can withstand conditions that are lethal to humans

State that unmanned spacecraft can send back information on: temperature, magnetic field and radiation; gravity, atmosphere and surroundings

Higher paper

Describe what a light-year is and its use in measuring very large distances

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using unmanned spacecraft to explore the Solar System

Slide 4

Who wants to go into space?

Slide 5

What do you think about space travel?

It isn’t cheap

Are there too many dangers with tonnes of metal floating around above our heads?

What should happen to the International Space Station stuck in budget wrangles?

What do you think about Virgin Galactic which announced the construction of a $200 million spaceport in 2005 to take tourists into low earth orbit?

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Slide 7

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Slide 9

How far…

Earth is 150 000 000Km away from the sun.

Light travels 300 000km each second

So light takes about 8minutes to reach Earth.

Very large distances in space are measured in light years- the distance that light travels in 1 year (9 500 000 000 000 000 Km)

The next star nearest to Earth (after the sun) is called Proxima Centauri and is 4.22 light years away.

Slide 10

Calculating how long light takes…

Light travels at a speed of 300 000 000 m/s.

How long does light from the Sun take to reach Earth? (distance of Earth from the Sun is 150 million km)

Distance from earth to the sun = 150 000 000 000 meters

300 000 000

150 000 000 000

= 500 seconds (/60 =8.3 minutes)