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The Exploring Ice in the Solar System education unit examines the importance of water in the form of ice in the Solar System. From hands-on experiences with ice, the unit moves on to investigating ice in everyday life, in polar regions on Earth, and throughout the Solar System. The unit was developed by the Carnegie Institution of Washington Carnegie Academy for Science Education as part of their astrobiology program. Each activity can be modified for different grade levels. As is it is gea

Mission Design is intended to provide an overarching framework for discussing exploration in general. The Module places space exploration in the greater context of the history of human exploration, and allows the students to investigate how scientists and engineers today plan missions to study worlds in the Solar System and extend their exploration even further in the Universe. The Module unfolds as a story in three chapters, with each chapter asking a question which is addressed in the corre

To learn about the unique features on Mercury's surface and unravel its history, the MESSENGER Science Team pieces together many high resolution images of the planet to form a "mosaic" (check out this cool example!). With the MESSENGER mosaic postcards you can mimic that scientific process! To learn how to create your own mosaic of Mercury click on the "Mosaic Postcards" side above. Do you want to explore the features found on Mercury, just like the MESSENGER Science Team does? Select the "Su

The Staying Cool education unit explores the basic concepts of light, heat, and energy to investigate how spacecraft such as MESSENGER can study planets using light and radiation without being damaged by the harsh high-temperature, high-radiation environment in which they have to operate. The unit can be told as a story in three chapters. Each chapter asks a question which is addressed in the corresponding lesson. Click on the titles below to find an overview and downloadable version of the less