More than just a rocket on wheels
The SPACEBUZZ ONE from the German Space Agency at DLR is much more than just a lorry with a rocket-shaped trailer. It is a comprehensive school and education programme designed to complement STEM lessons. Before the lorry arrives at school, pupils from the age of eight undergo extensive ‘astronaut training’. Over the course of 11 modules, they learn more about spaceflight and its relevance for society. The truck only arrives at the school when they have successfully completed this training. The ‘young astronauts’ are then taken on an unforgettable flight into space. They take a seat on the movable seats, don VR goggles and experience a virtual journey into space. The audience leaves Earth for 15 minutes and travels around it. They will learn a lot about our home planet and anthropogenic climate change from the astronauts’ perspective before continuing on to the Moon and finally landing back on Earth.
Our ‘Spaceship Earth’ is an amazing, unique and at the same time tiny part of the entire Universe. It is also known as the Blue Planet. This is because its surface is mainly covered with water, which accounts for over 70 percent of its surface. Earth has a total surface area of 510 million square kilometres, of which only 149 million square kilometres are covered by land. Incredible dimensions that we only really realise when we leave Earth in a spaceship and – like the two German ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer – look down on our planet from space. And that’s exactly what schoolchildren and adults will be able to do. The two astronauts will take viewers on a virtual journey into space with a spaceship – around the Earth to the moon and back again. A truly memorable experience for all ages.
Link:
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
German Space Agency at DLR
E-Mail contact-dlr@DLR.de
