Gravity and Planetary Motion

To get you started, you’ll first need to learn about those Laws of Motion that Kepler put to words in the 1600’s. And, to warm up your memory, you'll first do a quick review of some Earth Science questions related to gravity. 

Once gravity is back in mind, you'll then look through some explanations of Kepler's Laws of Motion.  There are diagrams that help explain them, and you'll also do a few practice questions to help you digest them a little.

Then you can play around with an orbit simulator.  You will be able to select the number of planets and change how heavy (mass) each one is, how far (distance) apart they are, and how fast (velocity) each one is moving.   After some tinkering, you'll set up the simulator to represent Earth, the Moon, Mars, and a spacecraft, like Insight.  The idea here is not to get an exact representation, but to meaningfully change the factors that you can control, and to then observe how they interact. 

Finally, you’ll look at NASA's Mars Insight Mission and apply what you've learned about planetary motion.  How does the gravity of nearby planets and the Moon affect the spacecraft? Why did they select the May 5, 2018 launch timing?  What makes more sense now?  Is there any information that seems strange or unexpected?  Your closing task is to make a list of 5 questions you will give to NASA scientists during the review session.  Your questions should focus on how they planned Insight's launch, trajectory, and landing, in a way that applies what you've learned about gravity and planetary motion. 

If they choose to read and respond to your question during the review session, other research labs and science teams will be seeking you out for future job opportunities.  Perhaps you might even get a call from someone at NASA!!