The Space Ball Project

Once in orbit, the satellite will be useful for many years.  In education, each new class has to learn many of the same lessons, year after year.  Different lessons can be learned as the student matures, so the Space Ball can become part of a student's life-long learning experience.  Young students will learn how science attempts to envision the unseen.  Once a student has been introduced to a beach-ball type model of the SpaceBall, he or she can explore its optical characteristics, make predictions, and then observe the actual satellite to test the predictions.  Teachers can ask students to perform observations to demonstrate characteristics, and derive conclusions from them.  Students will learn how to use scientific instruments, and the elegant conclusions one can make with simple tools. 

Some of the properties that can be observed are:

• Period: What are the diurnal/sidereal analogs?  How is its apparent period affected by the rotation of the earth?
• Decay: does it?
• Predictions
• When and where will it be?  For me.  For you. 
• Flashes?
• Across the moon
• Internet activities and spaces
• Surprises
• Orbit changes
• Spin changes
• Decay
• Visible characteristics
• Atmospheric optical characteristics: color and brightness. What is due to the SpaceBall, and what is due to the atmosphere?
• Aligning, comparing, calibrating tools
• Translating tools instructions, measurement results.
• Radio bouncing
• Mythology