Back to School with Planet, Week 3 | 3, 2, 1, Liftoff!
This is the third installment of our Back to School with Planet series, a weekly update for K-8 students interested in learning more about the science we do with Earth and Space. Learn more about this series here.
You can find this entry in Spanish here. / Puedes encontrar este texto en español aquí.
At Planet, we design, build and operate our satellites, but we don’t have our own rockets, so we work with launch providers all around the world to get our satellites into space. We get really excited on launch day at Planet; here’s a video of our record breaking launch of 88 Dove satellites on an Indian PSLV rocket in 2017. We also have an important tradition of making pancakes for every launch (you can read more about our legendary launch pancakes here).
We’ve launched over 25 times on lots of different rockets, ranging from the small (but mighty) Rocket Lab Electron, which is about as tall as a four story building and launches from New Zealand, to a SpaceX Falcon 9, which is about as tall as the Statue of Liberty and launches from the U.S. with boosters that fly back to Earth to be used again. Each rocket is built with slightly different technologies, but the fundamentals are mostly the same. Here’s a handy video from National Geographic on “Rockets 101:”
You can also check out XKCD’s hilarious Up Goer Five diagram, a play on NASA’s venerable Saturn V rocket.
Activities
All of which brings us to this week’s assignment! Basic rocket science isn’t as hard as it sounds. With some everyday household materials you too can build a simple rocket in your backyard.
- Check out these instructions for making a water-based bottle rocket.
- Click here to find another bottle rocket design that uses baking soda and vinegar instead.
- And for the really advanced rocket designers out there, you can check out the rocket simulator computer game called Kerbal Space Program. It lets you get incredibly detailed with your rocket designs without needing to leave your bedroom.
During your rocket journey, share photos and stories of your creation on social media with #backtoschoolwithplanet so other kids can see your rocket designs.
If you have a great story about the experience, please send it to backtoschool@planet.com and it may appear in a future blog post.
Happy launching!
Further Inspiration
Reading (Grades 4–8): See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
Reading (Grades K — 3): The Ultimate Book of Space by Anne-Sophie Baumann
Movie to watch (Rated PG): October Sky (1999)
Where on Planet Earth?
I have all the necessary infrastructure for launching satellites into low Earth orbit, polar orbit, and geostationary transfer orbit. In February, 2017, my PSLV-C37 launch took 88 Doves on a journey to image the earth. Who am I?
