Mission Simulations

A Challenger Learning Center mission is more than a field trip or a computer game. Our mission simulations are learning environments based on the practices NASA uses to prepare astronauts. It’s as real as it gets without needing a spacesuit.

While students become astronauts and engineers at Challenger Learning Centers they are solving real-world problems as they share the thrill of discovery on missions through the Solar System.

How A Challenger Learning Center Mission Simulation Works:

  • Prior to the visit, educators receive curriculum to help students understand the theme and topic of their mission and to work on communication skills.
  • After arriving at the Learning Center, students are partnered up and assigned to one of eight teams: Communications, Data, Isolation, Life Support, Medical, Navigation, Probe, and Remote.
  • One student on each team is assigned to Mission Control, while the other team member is transported to the space station (at mission midpoint, the partners exchange places so every student can experience both learning environments).
  • During the mission, students must accomplish specific tasks in order for the mission to be a success. Astronauts on board the space station build space probes, monitor life support functions, conduct experiments on items taken from the surfaces of Mars or the Moon, and plot navigation courses for the spacecraft. Engineers at Mission Control support these endeavors by answering the astronauts’ questions and providing necessary research.
  • Following the mission at the Learning Center, educators have the option of using specific programs designed to help extend the Learning Center mission once they return to the classroom.

 

In the not too distant future, a team of scientists and engineers are on a daring mission to take an up-close look at a comet as it streaks its way across the galaxy. Their goal is to plot a successful course to rendezvous with the comet and launch a probe to collect scientific data on the object. They must first construct the space probe and then plot the correct intercept course.
In the year 2061, Comet-Halley will visit our part of the solar system as its route takes it close to the Sun and Earth. A team of scientists is on their way in a special equipped space station to take a closer look. Students construct a probe, plot an interception and overcome the challenges of space travel to Rendezvous with Comet-Halley.
The year is 2015. For the first time since 1972, a crew of astronauts is returning to the Moon. This time, they plan to stay. Their mission is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to observe and explore, as well as test the feasibility of off-Earth settlements. Navigating their way into lunar orbit, students must construct and launch a probe, and analyze a variety of data gathered from the lunar surface to select a site for establishing the permanent Moon base.
The year is 2076. A routine Voyage to Mars has brought the latest human crew into Martian orbit. Control of the incoming flight has been transferred from Houston's Mission Control to Mars Control at Chryse Station. The crew arriving from Earth on the Mars Transport Vehicle has been specially trained to replace the existing crew of astronauts, which has manned Mars Control for the past two years. After arriving on the Martian surface, the team will collect and analyze a number of planetary samples and data. This information is vital to scientists and explorers for a better understanding of the Red Planet.
It is 2137. A Low Earth Orbiting Satellite (LEO) has malfunctioned and must be replaced. The elite Emergency Response Squad, ERS-1, has been called to construct and deploy a new satellite, and retrieve important data about the Earth and its environment.