Survival On The Moon

You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to meet with a mother ship on the light side of the moon. Because of mechanical difficulties, however, your ship was forced to land at a place 200 miles from the meeting point. During the landing, much of the equipment aboard was damaged, and since survival depends on reaching the mother ship, the most critical items available must be chosen for the 200 mile trip. Below are fifteen items intact and undamaged after landing. Your task is to rank and order them in terms of importance to your crew in allowing them to reach the meeting point.

Box of Matches                                                      _______   ________

Food Concentrate                                                 ________   ________

50 Feet of Nylon Rope                                          ________   ________

Parachute Silk                                                        ________   ________

Portable Heating Unit                                             ________   ________

Two 45 Caliber Pistols                                           ________   ________

One Case of Dehydrated Milk                                ________   ________

Two 100-Pound Tanks of Oxygen                          ________   ________

Stellar Map                                                             ________   ________

Life Raft                                                                  ________   ________

Magnetic Compass                                                  ________   ________

5 Gallons of Water                                                  ________   ________

Signal Flares                                                           ________   ________

First-Aid Kit With Injection                                     ________   ________

Needles                                                                  ________   ________

Solar-Powered FM Receiver-                                 ________   ________

Transmitter

Answers

Here are the model answers provided by NASA. They are ranked in order of importance. Hand these out to the students after they have completed the group consensus.

1. Two lbs. of Oxygen - no oxygen on moon so vital

2. Five Gallons of Water - you can't live long without it

3. Stellar Map - needed for navigation

4. Food concentrate - can live for sometime without food

5. Solar-Powered FM Receiver-Transmitter - for communication

6. 50 Feet of Nylon Rope - for travel over rough terrain

7. First-Aid Kit With Injection Needles- kit useful, needles useless

8. Parachute Silk - for carrying items

9. Life Raft - some value for shelter or carrying items

10. Two 45 Caliber Pistols - limited use for propulsion

11. Signal Flares - useless since no oxygen

12. One Case of Dehydrated Milk - needs water to work

13. Portable Heating Unit - the light side of the moon is always hot

14. Magnetic Compass - useless because moon's magnetic field is different to earth's

15. Box of Matches - useless because no oxygen