How Rockets Reach Space
Students learn how rockets use Newton's laws, carried propellant and staging to reach orbit, and how engineers plan trips to the space station, the Moon and Mars.
Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops7 stops
The full guide, with the 40-minute plan, discussion key points, exit ticket, activities, transcript and PDF, comes with a teacher license. Already licensed? Use Open the full guide.
What students will see and do
Students circle Earth for four stops on rocket science, then fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and Mars as Aetherion explains real launch, docking, coasting and landing techniques. The class pauses at the space station, the Moon and Mars to discuss orbital catch-up, coasting through space and the engineering of a round trip to Mars.
Learning objectives
- Explain rocket motion using Newton's third law, identifying the action and reaction force pair between the rocket and its exhaust.
- Describe why rockets carry both fuel and an oxidizer and why most of a rocket's launch weight is propellant.
- Explain how staging and launching eastward help a rocket reach the sideways speed of about 17,500 miles per hour needed for orbit.
- Compare the engineering challenges of trips to the space station, the Moon and Mars, including launch windows and landing without air.
NGSS connections
| MS-PS2-1 | Students apply Newton's third law to the paired forces between a rocket and its exhaust, and between a skateboarder and a thrown ball. |
|---|---|
| MS-PS2-2 | Students plan and explain how a rocket's change in motion depends on the forces on it and its mass, including the effect of dropping stages. |
| MS-ETS1-1 | The Mars stop asks students to define the criteria and constraints of a round-trip crewed mission. |
| MS-ETS1-2 | Students evaluate competing design solutions such as single-use versus reusable boosters and carried versus locally made propellant. |
Stops on this journey
- Every Push Pushes Back
- Fire That Brings Its Own Air
- The Hardest Problem
- Climbing to Orbit
- Catching the Space Station (discussion stop)
- The Road to the Moon (discussion stop)
- The Long Way to Mars (discussion stop)
Vocabulary
- thrust
- propellant
- oxidizer
- Newton's third law
- staging
- orbit
- launch window
- heat shield