NASA Educational Materials

Educational Videotape
Educational Videotapes and slide sets are available through the Educator Resource Center Network and CORE.

Microgravity- Length 23:24

This video describes the restrictions that gravity imposes on scientific experimentation and how they can be greatly reduced in the exciting research environment of the Space Shuttle and the Interna-tional Space Station.

NASA publishes a variety of educational resources suitable for classroom use. The following resources specifically relate to microgravity and living, working, and science research in the microgravity environment. Resources are available from different sources as noted.

Slides
Microgravity Science - Grades: 8-12
This set of 24 slides illustrates the basic concepts of microgravity and describes four areas of microgravity research, including: biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, and materials science. 1994

NASA Publications
NASA (1980), Materials Processing In Space: Early Experiments, Scientific and Technical Information Branch, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.

NASA (1982), Spacelab, EP-165, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.

NASA (1976-Present), Spinoff. NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC (annual publication).

NASA (1994), "Microgravity News," Microgravity Science Outreach, Mail Stop 359, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (quarterly newslet-ter)

NASA (1988), Science in Orbit - The Shuttle and Spacelab Experience: 1981 -1986, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.

Suggested Reading

Books
Faraday, M., (1988) The Chemical History of a Candle, Chicago Review Press, Chicago, IL.

Halliday, D. & Resnick, R., (1988) Fundamentals of Physics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY.

Holden, A. & Morrison, P., (1982), Crystals and Crystal Growing, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Lyons, J., (1985), Fire, ScientificAmerican. Inc., New York, NY.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (1981), Combustion Experiments in a Zero-gravity Laboratory. New York, NY

Periodicals
Chandler, D., (1991), "Weightlessness and Microgravity," Physics Teacher, v29n5, pp.312-313.

Cornia, R., (1991), "The Science of Flames," The Science Teacher, v58n8, pp. 43-45.

Frazer, L., (1991), "Can People Survive in Space?," Ad Astra, v3n8, pp.14- 18

Howard, B., (1991), "The Light Stuff," Omni, v14n2, pp. 50-54.

Noland, D., (1990), "Zero-G Blues," Discover. vl1n5, pp. 7480.

Pool, R., (1989), "Zero Gravity Produces Weighty Improvements," Science, v246n4930, p.580.

Space World, (1988), "Mastering Microgravity," v7n295, p. 4.

Science News, (1989), "Chemistry: Making Bigger, Better Crystals," v136n22, p.349.

Science News, (1989), "Making Plastics in Galileo's Shadow," v136n 18, p.286.

USRA Quarterly. (1992), "Can You Carry Your Coffee Into Orbit?," Winter-Spring.

Microgravity Home