World Space Week — Teacher Key

Compact answer key for all five challenges. Facts verified against NASA, ESA, JPL, and JHUAPL.

1. Mystery Mission

Answers, in order:

Apollo 11 (NASA History)
Voyager 1 (NASA Science / JPL)
Hubble Space Telescope (NASA Science / ESA)
Cassini (NASA Science / JPL)
New Horizons (NASA Science / JHUAPL)
Juno (NASA Science / JPL)
Perseverance (NASA Science / JPL)
Parker Solar Probe (NASA Science / JHUAPL)
James Webb Space Telescope (NASA Science / ESA)

Scoring: 4 pts if solved on clue 1, 3 pts on clue 2, 2 pts on clue 3, 1 pt on clue 4.

2. Space or Not?

Item	Category
Memory foam (temper foam)	Developed for space exploration
Phone-camera image sensor (CMOS active-pixel sensor)	Developed for space exploration
Cochlear implant technology	Developed for space exploration
Scratch-resistant lens coating	Developed for space exploration
Invisible (clear) dental braces	Developed for space exploration
Cordless DustBuster vacuum	Adapted for space use
Velcro hook-and-loop fasteners	Associated with space but NOT a NASA invention
Tang powdered drink mix	Associated with space but NOT a NASA invention
Teflon non-stick coating	Associated with space but NOT a NASA invention
The pen that writes in space	Associated with space but NOT a NASA invention
The microwave oven	Not space-related
The barcode	Not space-related
The trampoline	Not space-related
Bubble wrap	Not space-related

Myth items — Velcro, Tang, Teflon, Space Pen, microwave, barcode, trampoline, bubble wrap — were invented independently of NASA. Sources: NASA Spinoff; velcro.com; Science History Institute; National Inventors Hall of Fame. (Space Pen source flagged for final re-check.)

3. Scale It

Order, smallest → largest diameter:

Ceres (dwarf planet) — about 940 km
Earth's Moon — about 3,475 km
Mercury — about 4,879 km
Mars — about 6,792 km
Earth — about 12,756 km
Jupiter — about 142,984 km
The Sun — about 1,391,000 km

The Sun's diameter is roughly 109 times Earth's, and about 1.3 million Earths could fit inside its volume.

Diameters: NASA NSSDCA Planetary Fact Sheet; Ceres: NASA Science.

4. Image Detective

Reveal: The Pillars of Creation, captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (NIRCam) in 2022. These columns of cool gas and dust lie within the Eagle Nebula (M16), about 6,500 light-years away, in a region where new stars are actively forming.

Caption: The Pillars of Creation, captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (NIRCam) in 2022. (NASA Science / ESA)

Notice / Wonder have no single right answer — assess the quality of observation and reasoning.

Source: NASA Science, "NASA's Webb Takes Star-Filled Portrait of Pillars of Creation."

5. Mission Patch Studio

Creation task — no answer key. Score against the rubric:

Mission has a clear name.
Names a real destination in space (moon, planet, asteroid, or region).
States one focused scientific question.
Includes ≥2 symbols, each explained.
Provides a one-sentence design rationale linking the art to the goal.

Example: Mission name: FROST. Destination: Europa, Jupiter's icy moon. Goal: Find out if a salty ocean lies under the ice. Symbols: a cracked ice sheet (Europa's surface) and a water droplet (the hidden ocean). Explanation: The blue-and-white patch shows a droplet breaking through cracked ice to represent the search for a hidden ocean.