Back to the Moon – For Good: Teacher’s Guide Target Audience: Ages 9+ (grades 3 – adult) Length: 24 minutes + Live Portion (50 minutes total) Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOLRWMOf4jQ Expanded Description: Narrated by Tim Allen, this show chronicles teams from around the world competing to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon for the first time in more than 40 years. With stunning visuals and a compelling narrative, the show highlights the importance of the Google Lunar X-Prize. This encourages today’s space entrepreneurs and innovators to build a new space economy, while inspiring the next generation to “shoot for the moon”. General Concepts: The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet Union’s Luna 2, on September 13th, 1959. Space probes and rovers explore unknown places before humans do, informing us of potential dangers. Spacecraft are designed to be small and lightweight to better escape Earth’s gravity. The United States’ Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon, on July 20th, 1969. A total of 12 men have landed on the Moon – the first was Neil Armstrong with Buzz Aldrin. The Apollo 17 mission on December 14th, 1972 with Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt was the last. All Apollo lunar missions required a 3rd crew member to remain on board a Command Module that orbited the Moon. Because the Moon is less massive, astronauts experience 1/6 the gravity we feel on Earth. It takes the Moon roughly one month to orbit the Earth and one month to rotate about its axis. This is why the same side of the Moon always faces Earth. Since the Moon has no atmosphere, temperatures can vary roughly 250°C, or 450°F, from night to day. The moon has resources such as frozen water, aluminum, and iron to help humans explore the Moon and beyond. Vocabulary: Atmosphere Gravity Revolve Axis Highlands Rotate Command Module Hydrogen Rovers Crater Maria Space Probes Engineering Oxygen Technology .