Continuing in the tradition started by the Cassini mission to Saturn, Scientist for a Day challenges students in grades 5-12 to think like NASA scientists. Examine real spacecraft images of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, Saturn’s moon Titan, and Jupiter’s moon Europa. Choose the destination you think would be the best place to return with another spacecraft to learn even more about these amazing worlds. Support your choice in an essay of no more than 500 words.
Engineer Amruta Mehta explains how kids can be a scientist for a day by making a case to explore deep space destinations. Transcript and Download Options ›
Which of these three moons inspires you to explore further? What excites you about what we’ve learned so far? What do you hope we’ll find if we return to these places? If you like, you can even tell us which science instruments you would put on the next spacecraft to help us learn even more.
The 2018-19 essay contest is sponsored by the Radioisotope Power Systems program. This is the group at NASA that develops the power technology that enables spacecraft to explore the planets and moons of the outer solar system. For more information about Radioisotope Power Systems, visit https://rps.nasa.gov
"...the eruption plumes discovered in Enceladus are a magnificent contribution to understanding the interaction between orbits and gravitational tides."
"Enceladus, a natural satellite of Saturn, has become the best candidate to harbor extra terrestrial life thanks to certain similarities with planet Earth."
"La infinidad del Universo ha inspirado a ciertos hombres y mujeres a indagar sus secretos, cada descubrimiento que ha hecho el hombre, ha sido una conversación sostenida con el Cosmos."
"Para el misterio, para el Universo, Saturno, Cassini .... para los aficionados de la astronomía y para la NASA, yo soy Miguel, tengo 10 años, vivo en el pequeño puntito azul y soy humano."
"Saturn's hexagon is nothing like any cloud system seen on Earth and defies our notion of clouds, making it an attractive target for further investigation."
