Audience
Educators, Students
Grade Levels
Grades 9-12
Subject
Engineering Design, Physical Science, Technology, Forces and Motion, Space Station
Type
Lesson Plans / Activities, Videos
In the Gyroscopic Stabilization STEMonstration, NASA astronaut Nick Hague demonstrates how gyroscopes are used to counteract instability and keep spacecraft stable while flying. A gyroscope is a spinning wheel with its mass concentrated far from its axis of rotation. As they spin, gyroscopes resist rotation along any axis other than their spin axis. By attaching a gyroscope to a spacecraft, its stability is transferred to the spacecraft.
In the corresponding classroom connection, students will make a model gyrostat, a modified gyroscope inside a rigid case, to explore rotational stability and learn how gyroscopes can be used to keep objects stable.
STEMonstrations are short, 3–5-minute educational videos filmed by crew aboard the International Space Station. They use the unique microgravity environment on station to demonstrate popular K-12 STEM topics.
Classroom Connection: Gyroscopic Stabilization STEMonstration
Grade Levels: 9-12
Time Required: 45-60 minutes