An international, cross-curricular exploration of Space Science, through on-line learning tools
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An international, cross-curricular exploration of Space Science, through on-line learning tools
Text of Online Discussions between the scientists and the students
AS Level teaching materials
Online Science Discussion | Online English
Discussion | Online RE Discussion |
Online Discussion of 'Other Matters'
Background
The Holy Cross School is a Catholic High School, formerly called Holy Cross
Convent School. As part of the STAR Project, we were involved in discussions
with Joe Kolecki, NASA Pathfinder scientist, on many levels.
As part of the development of ideas in the 6th Form, Joe Kolecki at NASA corresponded with one of my AS English students, Ali. Here is the latest “bulletin” which is shared with the rest of the AS English group. Joe’s notes are in bold.
Hello, Ali,
I have been very much looking forward to this letter. My responses are bolded and interlined in your original text.
At 09:30 PM 11/8/2005 +0000, you (Alicia) wrote:
Dear Joe,
Thank you very much for your encouraging reply! Your practical help and moral support have increased my confidence in the STAR project and have provided me with some innovative and exciting ideas for my work. Thank you in particular for the personal anecdotes you shared with me regarding communication and language, I can include these in my story, as they are highly relevant examples of the themes I wish to address and highlight the importance of language and communication in daily life. Your personal experiences are humorous, entertaining, interesting, engaging and authentic material with I value very much. Your collection of dictionaries also intrigues me. Personal hobbies and artefacts are indicators of an individual’s personality, background and culture. This is yet another idea which I can incorporate into my story.
You are most welcome, Ali. Many characters in many great stories are based upon real people, and many stories are, at least in part, autobiographical as well as biographical. I agree with your comment on hobbies and artifacts. I am particularly interested in peoples' handwriting. I have samples of pages (copies, all) written by Einstein and Newton and Sir E. Halley; books with copies of manuscripts by Mozart and Debussy and Brahms, and so on. One does not really know a writer or composer until one has seen an autograph manuscript or two. I also have Charles Dickens', A Christmas Carol, in his own hand, the odd numbered leaves of the book containing each a photographed page from the original manuscript and the preceding even numbered leaf containing a transcript in font Times Roman. Even the cross-outs are there.
I particularly appreciate A Christmas Carol because it teaches an important philosophical lesson via the scene involving Marley's face in the door knocker. Using this image of a face in an object, I have learned to find Beethoven's face in his music when I play, or Wells's face in his novel when I read, and so on. I am not only reading a story or playing a piece of music, therefore; I am encountering an historic figure at some prominent point in his/her life - the point at which the work at hand was being created. I can say that I have come to "know" many historical people in this manner - even been taught by them. My favorite way to state this notion is to say that most of my important teachers have been dead people. My interlocutors always give a look askance when I say this! after which, of course, I explain my meaning.
The life of one who leaves behind written records is quite present to the one who is aware that it is there and seeks it out. The story, or sonata, or scientific paper becomes merely a vehicle through which the astute reader makes his/her acquaintance with the author. By going through a large enough portion of a particular person's work to spans his/her lifetime, you can quite readily come to know the individual, and to recognize them in other of their works with which you are not yet familiar. Always remember, Ali, that people are the hearts and souls whom we seek to express and/or encounter in any great work.
As I explained in my last letter, the main part of my story will be set aboard a specialised spacecraft. I would be really grateful if you could give me a few pointers to help me start effective research into this area, as it is vital that my story is scientifically accurate and that I produce a credible account of a modern space expedition. For example, are there any similar artificial satellites or spacecraft that have already been sent to space on missions resembling the one I will describe in my story which I could research? What are the main areas that I need to explore before I endeavour to design my own spacecraft? I would welcome your guidance.
I can certainly steer you to websites and give you a bit of rocket physics myself. But why concentrate on the rocket? Concentrate, instead, on the characters. Real, three dimensional characters make the story. The rocket may be conveniently relegated to the background without a great deal of loss. For example, you can use an H. G. Wells, "slight-of-hand-type device - something like this:
"It was fortunate, in the early 21st century, that Dr. Hambrick in Germany made his famous breakthrough. Unwittingly - for at the first instance of his discovery, he hardly recognized, or believed, what he had accomplished - he opened the solar system to human exploration."
"You, the reader, have no doubt heard that the reactionless rocket was long considered a laughing stock until Hambrick stood up at the Second International Europa Conference in Switzerland and introduced his work. The attending scientists had been seeking a propulsion breakthrough - and Hambrick - a relative unknown at the time - dropped it into their very laps!"
Hambrick's drive made international headlines overnight; and just as quickly Hambrick's name became a household word! Suddenly, everyone spoke of Hambrick - Hambrick this and Hambrick that: how he stood up at the conference, entered onto the stage, circumspectly scanned his audience, then methodically, if also a little timidly, laid out his equations, described the concept, and showed the model.
He typed rapidly into his laptop, and then...
Such a force from such a simple device! It left the table, absolutely whizzed around the conference hall, then returned to its operator and settled again, as obediently as a trained dog or horse might do at the fair.
"You have also read how the audience progressed from noisy restlessness to completely spellbound silence, watched with a collective gasp the all but miraculous flight, then erupted into standing applause and cheers - an unlikely occurrence indeed amongst a group of stolid scientists! Why! One might have thought one's self at a rock concert just then, for all that commotion!" There were tears and handshakes, then someone started the hall chanting, "Hambrick, Hambrick, Hambrick..."
"Hambrick was, of course, funded. He developed the full scale drive between the United States and Great Britain during the next ten years. Setbacks were few, development keep on at a steady pace, and then, one bright day in Autumn, the full scale model was ready to fly. On its first mission into space, it went from earth, around the moon, and back in just over a day. And it was being run at less than half power!"
"Now, seven years later, I sit aboard one of the new generation of Hambrick interplanetary vehicles and await the last minutes of countdown to leave earth orbit. We will run at nearly full throttle for most of the journey. And our fuel consumption will be a mere fraction of the chemical rockets that Hambrick has rendered obsolete."
"It is difficult to imagine that, in only a few months, we will be close enough to Jupiter to see even the smallest details with the naked eye! "
I made this paragraph up just now in under half an hour. It says absolutely nothing about anything, but is still a neat (and fairly Wellsian) device to carry a story forward. Now, having the advanced rocket design out of the way, I would be free to concentrate on character development (that is, if I were the one doing the writing!).
I like Wells for this very reason - that he wrote primarily about people, and with an economy of words, leaving many essentials entirely to the reader. Wells was trained as a biologist, and he studied all the major branches of science in his day. But he also learned to introduce an "extraordinary element" - just one per story - around which his character development could then take place.
I am suggesting (and only suggesting, mind you!) that you make your "extraordinary element" the rocket and its new drive and then move on from there. The new rocket makes human conquest of Jupiter immediately possible, which is all that it has to do for the story, and you are not hamstrung trying to solve problems that even we scientists have yet to solve! Of course, the science in the remainder of the story must be carefully researched and presented. But also remember that understatement provides a wonderful means for getting around sticky story writing obstacles! Stick with generalities - avoid details as much as possible.
I have carried out some preliminary research into this subject. I know that Jupiter has sixty moons, including the four Galilean satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. I know that the Galileo spacecraft explored the moons for eight years whilst orbiting Jupiter, from 1996 to 2003. This is a recent space expedition that may be well worth researching in order to gather information for my story.
Excellent! You might also want to research the Cassini mission to Saturn as well. The types of details you allude to above will be of considerable interest to your readers. Use them sparingly, like pepper in the beef stew; but do, most definitely, use them! These kinds of details are the scientific meat and potatoes of your story!
In response to your questions from your last e-mail, I believe these moons are called ‘Galilean’ as they were discovered by Marius Galileo (Europa was discovered by him in the year 1610).
You mean, Marius and Galileo. There were two independent discoverers of these moons.
With regards to the conditions on Europa, I know that it has a very thin oxygen atmosphere and a smooth shell of frozen water covering its surface; both conditions being friendly to life. I have also found out that if you are navigating with a compass, you should remember that Europa’s magnetic field changes periodically as the planet passes through Jupiter’s own magnetic field. This variation suggests that there could be a large amount of material beneath Europa’s surface that conducts electricity. Could this be a large ocean of salty water? Perhaps, after some deeper investigation, the response to this question could be the answer to the ‘what if’ question in my story? In any case, I will have to decide this once I feel that I have gathered enough firm evidence to prove this theory . If not, as I am still in the early stages of developing my story, I may find another more appropriate hypothesis to incorporate into my account. I would be more than happy to discuss this with you at a later date.
Again, good. Word of warning: Please, as a writer, do NOT set out to prove anything. Even science never really proves anything (surprised?)! Scientists ask questions, acquire data, and build theoretical models which are always subject to modification. Thus, the work of the scientist is always a work in progress but never complete. (Good job security for future scientists!) Loren Eiseley often said, " Man will never come to the end of the road." This statement is the most optimistic that I have ever encountered in the description of science!
As to salt water on Europa, the safest assumption is that the water will indeed be saline. The reason is: The water must come into contact with the mineral structure of Europa somewhere on the little moon - at the ocean bottom if no where else. No mineral is perfectly insoluble. Thus, the water must contain a non-zero component of native European minerals - hence, it must be brackish. Also, the waters are moved about in what appear to be convection currents. These currents may be maintained by thermal energy in the moon's core. The water's motion will stir the minerals about and - coupled with the heat - might possibly increase their concentration even more than if the water were stationary.
Why heat? Europa's core is believed to be seriously flexed by the gravity of the other Jovian moons as they pass Europa (or Europa passes them) in their respective orbits. Flexing any solid will produce heat in the solid. Try flexing a coat hanger back and forth a few times, then quickly putting the bent part to your lower (or upper) lip. You will feel heat in the metal. I say, use the lip, because the lip is most sensitive to small changes in temperature. (I used to determine whether our sons had fevers by placing my lips against their foreheads - that is, when they were little! Now, they're big, strapping brutes, bigger than me, and I wouldn't dare!!!) Anyway, this flexing of the core, if true, could provide sufficient heat to drive convection currents in the European ocean.
Magnetic field reversals, which still occur on earth and have occurred on Mars in the remote past, are still a mystery to science, as is the source of the planetary magnetic field itself. Most scientists (myself included) attribute a planetary magnetic field to a molten (hot liquid) planetary core with convective motion. This idea is not without serious difficulties, however, particularly if you hold that the gas giants have no solid cores, as some still hold. I believe that the gas giants do have cores, and I know that a lot of other scientists that believe as I do. The question is an open one at this time. So is the question as to what drives the convection in a molten core such as Earth's at all. We certainly have a lot of homework left to do in space, don't we, Ali?!?!?!?
I look forward to hearing from you again, and hope that things will continue to run smoothly for you and the rest of the team. Again, I thank you for all your highly positive and encouraging comments.
And likewise Ali. Godspeed, and keep on climbing!!!
Your friend and colleague,
Joe Kolecki
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