International Space Programs

A Webquest Activity for High School Social Studies Students

by John B. Peoples

Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Other Resources

Introduction

On Thursday January 16, 2003, Israel's first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, blasted off into space aboard the shuttle Columbia for a 16-day mission. Accompanying Col. Ramon were six Americans and over 80 science experiments. This is only the latest in international endeavors into outer space, the most famous of which is arguably the international space station, which, interestingly is not the destination of the Columbia crew.

However, this is definitely not the first time that a non-American has been in space. Most prominently, the Russians initiated a space program well before the U.S., but international cooperation in this area is of relatively recent vintage.

Task

In this activity, you are to research web-based international cooperation dealing with the space program. In addition, you will be asked to answer questions regarding your research.

Process

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

1. Using latitude, longitude, and altitude, give the current location of the international space station. Over which continent or ocean is it currently located?
2. How many nations in North America are taking part in the International Space Station? How many in South America?

3. Give the names of the crew of the STS-112. Is this an international crew?

4. Which nation, the U.S. or Russia, do you believe will probably have the

most responsibility for the space station, and why?

Image from http://www.cosmicimages.com/iss/images.html

RUSSIAN SPACE PROGRAM

1. Who was the author who inspired the Russian space program? What were his ideas on space travel?

2. Do you believe the American space program was influenced by the Russian program? If so, how? Were there any other foreigners or foreign nations who had an influence on the program?

3. The international space station was built upon the existing Mir-Shuttle

Program. What were some advantages of this?

Image from http://www.cosmicimages.com/Mir/index.html

INTERNATIONAL SPACE PROGRAMS

2. Which astronaut (or cosmonaut) holds the record for the longest stay in space? What was his/her nationality?

Image from http://www.cosmicimages.com/iss/images.html

Evaluation

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

1. The current location of the international space station is _____________

___________________. It is currently over _________________.

2. There are ______ and _____ nations in North America and South

America, respectively, taking part in the international space station

program.

3. The names of the crew of the STS-112 are _________________________ _________________________________________________________________.
	Image from http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo _gallery/photogallery-e arth.html

4. The nation with the most responsibility will probably be ____________.

This is because ____________________________________________________

________________________________________________.

RUSSIAN SPACE PROGRAM

1. The author who inspired the Russian space program was _____________.

His ideas on space travel involved ____________________________________

__________________________________________________________________.

2. The Americans were influenced by the Russians because _____________

__________________________________________________________________.

3. The advantages were ___________________________________________

________________________________________________________________.

INTERNATIONAL SPACE PROGRAMS

1. Six other nations with space programs are __________________________

______________________________________________________________.

2. The explorer with the longest stay in space is ______________________.

His/her nationality is ______________.

Conclusion

Information on the international space station:

http://shuttlepresskit.com/ISS_OVR/

Information on the Mir space station as well as the ISS:

http://www.cosmicimages.com

History of the American space program:

http://wings.avkids.com/Book/History/advanced/rockets-01.html

History of the Russian space program:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/factsheets/pdfs/russian.pdf

Location of the international space station:

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/temp/StationLoc.html

Man-in-space firsts:

http://www.spacetoday.org/History/ManInSpaceFirsts/LongAndShortOfIt.html

Other Resources

Committee on International Space Programs:

http://www.nas.edu/ssb/cip1.html

Up-to-date information on the international space station from NASA:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/

Russian Space Agency:

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/rsa.html

More history on the Russian space program:

http://www.space.edu/projects/book/chapter20.html