The Nature of Science Research this Find out why comets may help scientists to explain how life began on Earth.
38.3 The future of space travel NASA is currently planning more manned missions to the moon. NASA is also planning a Mars 2020 rover mission, and a not-for-profit organisation called Mars One is planning to send four people to Mars as early as 2024. The International Space Station has a critical role in all of these plans.
Why will humans continue to explore space? Learning more about the solar system and the other planets may help to provide answers about the origins of Earth and our place in the universe. Also, humans are curious. We have always explored unknown places and pushed the boundaries of what we know and where we can survive.
What possibilities do scientists think space holds? Further knowledge of space and the planets in our solar system may help us to learn more about our planet. New technologies developed for space travel may be useful to us here on Earth.
Research this NASA’s Mars 2020 rover mission will have new technologies to attempt a range of tasks. Part of the mission is to try to obtain oxygen from the carbon dioxide that composes approximately 95% of the atmosphere on Mars. Evaluate the importance of this technology for further space exploration.
38.4 Hazards of space exploration
Problems with technology testing and design have led to accidents in space programmes. Astronauts have been killed during take-off and during re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere. In 1970 the Apollo 13 mission planned to land on the moon. During the mission there was an explosion on the spacecraft. The plan to land on the moon was abandoned and scientists in NASA had to develop a solution to get the crew home using only the equipment and technology that was on the spacecraft. The crew landed safely in the Pacific Ocean thanks to their own skills and the skills of the NASA scientists on the ground.
Space travel has a serious impact on the human body As part of their work on the International Space Station astronauts carry out experiments to investigate the effects of space travel on human health and the long-term effects of living in microgravity. Effects of space travel on the human body include: G-force at take-off can cause unconsciousness. Lack of gravity and weightlessness has many effects. These include fluid build-up in the
