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Introduction The greatest discovery in the history of humanity has occurred! It has been determined that there is life outside of Earth! A new super telescope placed in orbit around the Earth has located indications of life in a distant galaxy. However, it cannot determine exactly which planet or moon maintains the life. There are four possibilities. Life exists on only one of the four. YOU are to determine where to send the astronauts to investigate this new life source. The astronauts will only be able to go to one planet/moon. The hopes and fears of all humanity as well as billions of dollars are tied up in your selection. If you select the right one, you will be a hero. Schools will be named after you. Your name will be in history books forever. If you choose the wrong one, your picture will appear in dictionaries next to the word “Fool.” Your children will change their last name so as not to be confused with you. Next
Instructions To make your decision, go to the Data Base and read what it says. The Data Base contains information about conditions on a planet or moon that will help you determine where life can exist. For example, Tidal Friction will tell you how the gravity of a large planet can pull on and affect a small moon of the planet. After reading the Data Base go to each of the four planet/moons and read about them. You are going to have to go back and forth between the planet/moons and the Data Base to make your decision. This will involve some time and some thinking. MAKE SURE YOU GO TO EACH LINK IN THE DATABASE! You should not make a quick decision- unless you want to see your picture next to the word “fool” in the dictionary! Remember- there can only be one right answer! Next Back
Conditions for Life to Exist Water in Liquid State Chemical Energy Next Back
Database Atmosphere Chemosynthesis Conditions for Life Freezing Temperature of Elements Ice Volcanoes Photosynthesis Tidal Heating Go To Planets/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Atmosphere The atmosphere is a layer of gasses surrounding a planet/moon that is retained by gravity of the planet/moon. If an atmosphere is thick enough, it can act as a filter- keeping good things in and bad things out. On Earth it protects life by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation and reduces temperature extremes between night and day. A planet with a weak field of gravity will be unable to retain an atmosphere. Without an atmosphere, many things necessary for life (such as water) will evaporate into space. Earth’s atmosphere is 79% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Chemosynthesis Recently, it has been learned that creatures can exist in the deep sea without using sunlight as their main source of energy. Instead they get energy from chemicals through a process called chemosynthesis. Some of these creatures have been found near underwater volcanic hot springs Go to Database Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Conditions for Life to Exist Water in a liquid state. Chemical Energy Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Freezing Temperature of Elements Ammonia is -78 C Carbon Dioxide is -79 C Methane is -182.5 C Water is 0 C Go To Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Ice Volcanoes Volcanic mountains that spew lava are familiar to most people. Less well know are Ice Volcanoes, which are cones of ice that eject water instead of lava. During the winter, ice forms along the shoreline of the Great Lakes. The wind and the waves of the lake can break the ice into large chunks. These chunks can freeze together while leaving open space between them. This results in tunnels that can lead back to the land surface. Waves can force water through these tunnels, into and up on the frozen surface. Water falling upon this frozen surface will refreeze and start building an ice cone. This would be similar to a lava cone around a mountain volcano. Ice volcanoes have been known to be as large as 25 feet. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Photosynthesis Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert the energy of the sun into chemical energy which enables the plant to live and grow. As animals eat plants, it can be said that most of life on Earth is dependent on Photosynthesis. A few forms of life on Earth get their chemical energy through Chemosynthesis. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Tidal Heating Tidal Heating is a process that transfers energy between planets. The Moon pulls on the Earth and causes the tides in the oceans. Jupiter’s gravity is much greater than the Moon’s. It can affect the geology of its nearby moons. There is a constant flexing of these moons which heats them up. This is known as Tidal Heating. Think of heating a rubber ball by squeezing it repeatedly. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Planets/MoonsKomarovMcAuliffeGrissomHusbandGo to Data BaseI’m Ready to Send the SpaceshipBack
Komarov Vladimir Komarov died in 1967 when the parachute of his space capsule failed to open upon landing. One of the first cosmonauts of the Soviet Union, he was the first person to die in the exploration of space. It is a planet that is a 1/3 of the size of Earth. It has 2 small moons. Both are only a few miles in diameter. Atmosphere- Thin, 1% of what is on earth. It is primarily carbon dioxide with a tiny amount of water vapor, Surface- The surface is very heavily cratered and looks a lot like Earth’s moon. There are two polar ice caps. The north cap is the larger of the two. It is frozen water, although there are concentrations of frozen methane within the water ice. The southern cap is frozen carbon dioxide. There are large rock outcroppings. There are numerous large volcanoes but they are extinct. The surface temperature can vary from -18 to -135 C depending on the location on the planet. The temperature can drop 38 C in a day. There is no indication of plant life. Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
McAuliffe Christa McAuliffe was a Social Studies teacher who was selected by NASA as part of the Teacher in Space program. She died in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster A moon that circles the same gas giant as Grissom. The diameter of the planet is 10 times that of earth. It is the largest moon of this planet. It is 3 times farther from the planet than our moon is from the earth. It is pulled upon by the gravity of the planet. Atmosphere- very dense. It is 1.6 times thicker than Earth’s. It is hazy and orange. Like earth, it has nitrogen. It is 98% nitrogen. Black methane rain falls out of the sky. Surface- In the south polar region there are methane rivers leading into a dark lake. Frequent storm clouds have been observed over the lake. There is frozen methane on the surface. There is a volcano that rises from the surface that is 20 miles wide in diameter. It emits a slushy ammonia. Surface temperature is -185 C. There is no indication of plant life. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Grissom Gus Grissom was the second American in space. In 1967, he and two other astronauts were killed in a training exercise when their capsule caught fire. It is one of 45 moons of a huge gas planet. The diameter of the gas planet is 10 times that of Earth. McAuliffe also circles this gas giant. The distance between Grissom and the gas giant is 2/3rds of the distance between Earth and the Moon. It is very small. Its diameter is only 311 miles. It is pulled upon by the gravity of the large planet. Atmosphere- Only a thin layer over the south pole with traces of water and nitrogen. Surface- The surface is dominated by fresh ice with smooth planes that has extensive linear cracks and ridges. There are craters on the surface. There are active ice volcanoes shooting towering plumes of ice crystals up from the surface at high speeds. As the surface is made of ice, it reflects sunlight. The surface temperature is -200 C. However, at the south pole of the planet, the surface temperature is -43 C. There is no indication of plant life. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Husband Richard Husband was an American astronaut who was commander of the space shuttle Columbia when it disintegrated upon reentry in 2003. It is one of 16 moons of a large gas giant. The diameter of the large planet is 11 times the diameter of Earth. It is 416,940 miles from the great gas giant while Earth’s moon is 240,625 miles from Earth. It is pulled upon by the gravity of the gas giant plus two other moons. Atmosphere is very thin. It is 100% oxygen. Surface- The surface is nearly craterless. It is brown and gray in color and consists of many small hills. There are extinct volcanoes. There are plains of ice criss-crossed with a large number of cracks. Some of these cracks extend for thousands of miles. The temperature at the surface is minus 154 C. There is no indication of plant life. Go to Data Base Go to Planet/Moons I’m Ready to Send the Spaceship Back
Earth Should send the spaceship to:KomarovMcAuliffeGrissomHusbandBack
Are you Sure the Spaceship should go to Komorov? Does Komorov have water in a liquid state? What is its source of chemical energy? Yes! No, take me back to the Database Back
Are you sure the Spaceship should go to McAuliffe? Does McAuliffe have water in a liquid state? What is its source of chemical energy? Yes! No, take me back to the Database Back
Are you sure the Spaceship should go to Grissom? Does Grissom have water in a liquid state? What is its source of chemical energy Yes! No, take me back to the Database Back
Are you sure the Spaceship should go to Husband? Does Husband have water in a liquid state? What is its source of chemical energy? Yes! No, take me back to the Database Back
You are correct! Grissom is the right choice! Although the surface is ice, creatures live beneath the surface in liquid water. It is liquid because tidal friction from the nearby gas giant warms the H20 so that it is greater than 0 degrees centigrade. Chemosynthesis provides energy for the creatures.
Sorry, you picked the wrong one. People are very mad at you because billions of dollars were spent and you sent the spaceship to the wrong planet/moon. Your picture now appears next to the word “fool” in the dictionary. Your relatives have changed their last name so no one knows that they are related to you.
