Fun Family Projects!
There are literally hundreds of things that you and your family can do
concerning the space program Many you can do for free, or are low cost. Some are modified
from the wealth of educational projects designed for schools. Some require traveling to
the many NASA complexes. Those too may require entrance fees and scheduling.
We are providing you a modest list of things you can do as a family. Some of
these things are projects we have done together. Others are just those that we know of and
have not done...yet!
In your backyard:
Spotting Satellites
Required: lawn chairs or a blanket
Time: At dusk
What you will see: From one to many satellites passing overhead. Depends on
the night you choose, as well as where you are in the world! These could range from
communications satellites, to space trash. Look like bright stars, passing overhead in a
straight path. Remember: sunlight must still be present in space, over you. It may be dark
out, but the first hour or so after sundown still has enough sunlight in space for the
satellites to reflect it. This is why they are visible.
Family Project: Go outside to spot satellites on a regular basis, and log
what you see. Keep a notebook! Then visit the related web sites!
For more information on seeing these satellites, please see:
Tracking Satellites Information
(This entire web site is worth a bookmark!)
SeeSat Mailing
List Archive
(Lots of techincal, and not so technical info here. Sightings from observers as
well)
Observing Earth Orbiting
Satellites
(Informative, easy to read. You will get a lot of information from here)
Hearing the Shuttle or Mir transmissions
Required: Scanner or Radio that allows you to set frequencies
Time: When a Space Shuttle Mission is on going, or when MIR is to be
overhead.
What you will hear:You will hear the Shuttle Crew talking to MCC (mission
control) or MIR transmissions. You could hear a local school participating in the SAREX
program or you could hear the Ham Radio folks participating in MIREX (talking to
MIR).SAREX is actually a NASA/ AMSAT / ARRL sponsored program for school children to talk
to Astronauts while the Shuttle is in Orbit. Frequency information can be found on some of
these web sites. If you are interested in trying to get your child's school involved in
the SAREX projects, the SAREX web sites below have a lot of information. Note: The waiting
list is generally years long.
For more information on listening to MIR and/or the Shuttle, please see:
MIREX official
home page
Shuttle Amateur Radio
Experiment (main)
Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (mirror site)
Exploring the Night Sky
Required: Reclining lawn chairs or a blanket
Extra things that could be helpful Binoculars, telescopes, star charts, easy
to understand books that explain what is up there.
Time: After Dark
What you will see (maybe) You can explore the stars at night with your kids
for the ultimate experience. With the naked eye you can spot stars and constelllations.
Just using binoculars, you can see things that you cannot see with the naked eye. This is
a wonderful way for a family to start out star gazing, and we often use binoculars along
with our telescope. Purchasing a telescope can be relatively inexpensive, but if you want
good sightings (such as seeing the rings around Saturn) you can invest in a good quality
and nice sized telescope. Email us, and we will tell
you where we purchased ours. They have telescopes in all price ranges, from inexpensive to
very big (without price tags). So what is out there? All kinds of things! Stars (of
course) galaxies, planets, nebulas (these are pretty!), on and on....The more you look at
the night sky, and read about what you saw, the more you will want to go outside and look.
Guarenteed fun.
For more information on exploring the night sky, please see:
The Space, Planetary, and Astronomical
Cyber-Experience
The Nine Planets
Super site! Easy to read, a whole lot of information and great pictures.
Sky Calendar
and other links and helpful information.
World Wide Web Virtual Library: Astronomy,
Astrophysics, and Astro-Web
If you can't find what you want here, you just can't find it!
(Note: There are thousands of web sites pertaining to astronomy. Some are easy to
read, some are very technical....just do a search and you will see what we mean.)
Rocketry!
Required: Rocket kits and accessories Inexpensive projects!
Time: Rainy day to build, low wind day and large clear area to send up the
rockets.
What you will experience: We spent an entire Christmas Holiday (2 weeks)
with lot's of rocket building "stuff'" on the kitchen table. We produced MANY
rockets that Christmas. Some were small single stage, but as the week progressed, we all
went from easy kits to designing 3 stage rockets. This is an inexpensive project, although
space is required to build them. Maybe you could make a place in your home that would hold
a table and perhaps some shelves to organize all the pieces, glue, paint, accessories?
Once you light a rocket off, you will be hooked. After the first few launches, you and
your family will want to figure out how to send them higher! In addition, there are groups
that are dedicated to just building and launching rockets. These groups have people who
build and launch rockets that range from beginners (5-6 inches) to massive rockets (6-10
foot high). Pretty awesome! Nice family activities.
For more information on exploring the night sky, please see:
Paul Gray's Model Rocketry Home Page
This personal web page has many links to other rocketry pages as well as a rocketry
web ring. You will find may helpful info web sites just by visiting Paul Grey's web site.
More to come!
spacecraft