Resources
Downloads
The following publications are free downloads that can help students and teachers understand the suborbital spacecraft and their applications.
2007 US Commercial Space Transportation Developments and Concepts: Vehicles, Technologies, and Spaceports. The latest edition of an annual report by the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation. This report describes current development work on suborbital vehicles and other commercial space transportation projects.
United States Department of Commerce Report on Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Applicable Markets. An older report, which still provides a good introduction to suborbital vehicles including operating principles, design philosophy, and missions.
Microgravity: A Teacher's Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology. A 174-page book covering all aspects of microgravity science for grades 5-12. The study of microgravity (“zero gravity” or weightlessness) will greatly benefit from the development of suborbital vehicles.
Wireless Drop Tower for Microgravity Demonstrations. Instructions for building a drop tower to recreate short periods of microgravity (“zero gravity” or weightlessness) for classroom experiments and demonstrations.
The Microgravity Demonstrator. This publication describes how to use a drop tower to perform microgravity science demonstrations involving magnets, springs, capillary action, sedimentation, and combustion in microgravity.
Web Sites
The following websites provide educational material on spaceflight and space exploration:
The NASA Education site provides a wide range of materials.
The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation has its own education office, which you can visit here.
The Civil Air Patrol is an official auxiliary of the United States whose missions include aerospace education. You can find more information at their aerospace education site.
Places to Visit
Here are a few of the places you can visit to see space vehicles and learn about space.
Rose Center for Earth and Space (New York City) features the new Hayden Planetarium, one of the most technologically advanced space theaters in the world. The center offers a wide variety of educational and public programs.
Kopernik Observatory and Space Science Center (Vestal, NY) is a well-equipped public observatory that offers public tours, Friday night viewing sessions, school programs, a science Talent Search, Summer Science Institute, and an annual Astrofest.
The National Air and Space Museum (Washington, DC) is the nation's most visited museum. At the museum's main branch, located on the Washington Mall, you can see two of the most historic suborbital spacecraft: the X-15 and SpaceShip One. There are many other space exhibits at both the main branch and the new Udvar-Hazy Center located near Dulles Airport.
The National Museum of the US Air Force (Dayton, OH) is one of the few aerospace museums whose collections can rival those of the National Air and Space Museum. The other surviving X-15 is located here.
Kennedy Space Center (Merritt Island, FL) maintains a complete visitor's center with museum, theaters, and a bus tour through the launch site used for both the Apollo and Shuttle programs.
The Museum of Flight (Seattle, WA) has one of the finest aerospace collections on the West coast. The museum's space exhibits recently received a complete renovation and update.
Chabot Space and Science Center (Oakland, CA) is a public science center with a 36-inch reflector, 70-foot planetarium dome with state-of-the-art digital projector, public viewing sessions, and weekly telescope-making workshop.
Space Center Houston (Houston, TX) is the official visitors center for NASA's Johnson Space Center. It is the jumping off point for tours of Johnson Space Center and home to numerous educational programs.
McDonald Observatory (Davis Mountains, Texas) provides a variety of tours, workshops, and activities for visitors. It is home to frequent star parties and public viewing sessions including occasional viewing sessions on the 107-inch Harlan Smith telescope – one of the largest telescopes in the world that the public can actually look through.