National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Year 11: Problems 683 to Present

Problem 692: Exploring Interplanetary Dust with Solar Probe-Plus
Students examine the impact frequency of dust grains in the vicinity of the Solar Probe orbit around the sun, and estimate how many impact will occur during the mission. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: rates; areas; proportions; geometry ] (PDF)

Problem 691: Investigating the Elliptical Orbit of Solar Probe-Plus
Students work with the basic algebraic properties of ellipses to determine the orbit of the spacecraft and its period. [Grade: 10 | Topics: Geometry; conic sections; properties of ellipses] (PDF)

Problem 690: Exploring Proton Storms with Solar Probe-Plus
Students use solar storm data near Earth to estimate how often the spacecraft will encounter solar storms and estimate how much power will be lost from the solar panels due to radiation damage. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: proportions; inverse-square law; probability] (PDF)

Problem 689: Exploring Solar Heating with Solar Probe-Plus
Students calculate the temperature of the heat shield and how much heat energy the shield has to dissipate to keep the spacecraft from over-heating. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: algebra; scientific notation] (PDF)

Problem 688: Exploring Solar Energy with Solar Probe-Plus
Students examine how solar panels collect energy and estimate how much electrical power the spacecraft will require for operation. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: rectangular area; rates; inverse-square law; unit conversions ] (PDF)

Problem 687: Exploring Equations with Solar Probe-Plus
Students work with the masses of various spacecraft systems expressed as fractions, and create and solve algebraic equations to determine the masses of these systems. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: algebraic fractions; solving lineqar equations ] (PDF)

Problem 686: Exploring Orbital Speeds with Solar Probe-Plus!
Students work with an equation for spacecraft speed along its orbit to determine the speed of the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft as it orbits the sun. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: Algebra; evaluating functions; scientific notation] (PDF)

Problem 685: Exploring Fractions with Solar Probe-Plus!
Students use fractions to calculate the mass of various spacecraft systems [Grade: 3-5 | Topics: adding, subtracting, multiplying simple fractions ] (PDF)

Problem 684: Exploring the Pressure of Sunlight with Solar Probe-Plus
Students calculate the light pressure on the heat shield, and use F=ma to calculate acceleration. [Grade: 8-10 | Topics: Unit conversions, area of rectangle; working with F=ma] (PDF)

Problem 683: Exploring the Solar Probe-Plus Heat Shield
Students examine the mass and density of the heat shield by calculating its volume and uding the density formula. [Grade: 6-8 | Topics: volume of a rectangular solid; mass=density x volume ] (PDF)