Engineering Design Challenges: Heavy Lifting

NASA has designed the Space Launch System as the foundation for a generation of human exploration missions to deep space, including missions to the Moon and Mars. SLS will leave low-Earth orbit and send the Orion spacecraft, its astronaut crew and cargo to deep space. To do this, SLS has to have enough power to perform a maneuver known as trans-lunar injection, or TLI. This maneuver accelerates the spacecraft from its orbit around Earth onto a trajectory toward the Moon. The ability to send more mass to the Moon on a single mission makes exploration simpler and safer.

In this challenge, students will construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the greatest payload possible. Student teams will receive identical parts, such as paper clips, balloons, masking tape, etc., with which to construct their rockets. Drinking straws will guide the balloon rockets up strings suspended from the ceiling. Teams will then compete to launch the greatest number of paper clips to space (the ceiling).

Engineering Design Challenges: Heavy Lifting

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