Exploring+our+Solar+System

Year 7 Science - Term 3 Assessment Task Mark _ / 25 Teacher Name: Student Name: Humans have sent thousands of satellites and interplanetary probes into space over the past 50 years. Many were sent to study objects in our Solar System. Some probes flew past objects and reported what they observed. Some are in orbit around an object and are carrying out on-going research. Some have landed on and explored a solar system object. In this assessment you will be writing about one of the robotic missions that have been carried out in our solar system. ** You task is to investigate and write about ONE mission. ** Web links are provided for you to begin your research. You must use ONLY official NASA sites as your sources. This assessment will be marked out of 25 marks. ** Choose ONE mission from the following list: ** > (yes, there were four Skylab missions but you should write only about Skylab 1)
 * ﻿ Exploring our Solar System **
 * 1) ** SOHO **@http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/soho/index.html
 * 2) ** Skylab 1 **@http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/skylab/index.html
 * 1) ** Deep Impact ** @http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/deepimpact/main/
 * 2) ** Exploration Rovers – Spirit **[] (yes, there were two rovers but you should write only about Spirit)

Write the name of your chosen mission here:

Answer the following about the mission you chose in the spaces provided:

1: State when the mission began and when it ended. (or, is it on-going?) (1+1=2 marks)

2: **Identify** the solar system object or objects the mission was supposed to study. (1 mark)

3: **Outline ONE important scientific goal** of this mission. For that goal describe how the mission interacted with its object to achieve this goal. (Hint: Did it orbit, fly-by, observe, land, or explore?) (3+2=5 marks)

4: **Identify TWO important discoveries** made by this mission and **Explain** why they were important. (2x4=8 marks)

5: **Identify ONE thing** that happened on the mission that was unexpected or that went wrong.
 * Describe how** this affected the mission and its goals. (1+3=4 marks)

6: Write a paragraph of at least 100 words **discussing** **ONE interesting new thing** **that** **you learned** from the discoveries made by this mission. (Hint: you must say what it is and why you find it interesting!) (5 marks)