NASA Exercise: Survival on the Moon

This is a fun scenario and exercise as well as a great story starter

Scenario:

You are a member of a space crew originally scheduled to rendezvous with a

mother ship on the lighted surface of the moon. However, due to mechanical

difficulties, your ship was forced to land at a spot some 200 miles from the

rendezvous point. During reentry and landing, much of the equipment aboard

was damaged and, since survival depends on reaching the mother ship, the

most critical items available must be chosen for the 200-mile trip. Below are

listed the 15 items left intact and undamaged after landing. Your task is to

rank order them in terms of their importance for your crew in allowing them

to reach the rendezvous point. Place the number 1 by the most important item,

the number 2 by the second most important, and so on through number 15 for

the least important.

Your Ranking NASA Ranking

_______ Box of matches _______

_______ Food concentrate _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ 50 feet of nylon rope _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Parachute silk _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Portable heating unit _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Two .45 caliber pistols _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ One case of dehydrated milk _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Two 100 lb. tanks of oxygen _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Stellar map _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Self-inflating life raft _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Magnetic compass _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ 20 liters of water _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Signal flares _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ First aid kit, including injection needle _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">_______ Solar-powered FM receiver-transmitter _______

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Answers

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Item Ranking NASA's Reasoning

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Box of matches 15 Virtually worthless -- there's no oxygen

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">on the moon to sustain combustion

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Food concentrate 4 Efficient means of supplying energy

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">requirements

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">50 feet of nylon rope 6 Useful in scaling cliffs and tying injured

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">together

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Parachute silk 8 Protection from the sun's rays

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Portable heating unit 13 Not needed unless on the dark side

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Two .45 calibre pistols 11 Possible means of self-propulsion

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">One case of dehydrated

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">milk

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">12 Bulkier duplication of food concentrate

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Two 100 lb. tanks of

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">oxygen

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">1 Most pressing survival need (weight is

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">not a factor since gravity is one-sixth of

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">the Earth's -- each tank would weigh only

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">about 17 lbs. on the moon)

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Stellar map 3 Primary means of navigation - star

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">patterns appear essentially identical on

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">the moon as on Earth

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Self-inflating life raft 9 CO2 bottle in military raft may be used

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">for propulsion

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Magnetic compass 14 The magnetic field on the moon is not

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">polarized, so it's worthless for navigation

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">20 litres of water 2 Needed for replacement of tremendous

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">liquid loss on the light side

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Signal flares 10 Use as distress signal when the mother

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">ship is sighted

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">First aid kit, including

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">injection needle

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">7 Needles connected to vials of vitamins,

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">medicines, etc. will fit special aperture in

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">NASA space suit

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Solar-powered FM

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">receiver-transmitter

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">5 For communication with mother ship (but

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">FM requires line-of-sight transmission

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">and can only be used over short ranges)

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">Scoring:

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">For each item, mark the number of points that your score differs from the

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">NASA ranking, then add up all the points. Disregard plus or minus

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">differences. The lower the total, the better your score.

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">0 - 25 excellent

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">26 - 32 good

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">33 - 45 average

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">46 - 55 fair

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">56 - 70 poor -- suggests use of Earth-bound logic

<p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom:0cm">71 - 112 very poor – you’re one of the casualties of the space program!

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