As you know from the last couple of blog entries, I have been sharing mathematical problem solving lesson plans and video clips that focus around a theme of space exploration. Today while I was home for a snow day, I watched with interest the launch of the space shuttle Discovery. As the shuttle roared out into space, the announcer mentioned that after this flight, its next stop will be The Smithsonian. Discovery, the oldest and most-flown shuttle in NASA’s fleet, will be retired at the end of this 11-day mission to the International Space Station. To date, Discovery has traveled 143 million miles and carried 246 crew members into space since its first flight in 1984. On its 39th and final flight, STS 133 is carrying the Italian-built Permanent Multipurpose Module, Express Logistics Carrier 4 and Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot in space, to the International Space Station.
Watching Discovery’s launch was perfectly timed. It motivated me to add this month’s post to the blog. The video lesson clip and lesson plan for this February focus on the Hubble Space Telescope. I hope you will be as intrigued by Hubble as I have been.