Space Exploration Merit Badge Pamphlet Space Exploration Merit Badge

Space Exploration


These were the requirements from 2014 until the revisions made in 2020

To see the changes made in 2014, Click here

To see the CURRENT requirements, Click here.

For the previous requirements, Click here


  1. Tell the purpose of space exploration and include the following:
    1. Historical reasons,
    2. Immediate goals in terms of specific knowledge,
    3. Benefits related to Earth resources, technology, and new products.
    4. International relations and cooperation
  2. Design a collector's card, with a picture on the front and information on the back, about your favorite space pioneer. Share your card and discuss four other space pioneers with your counselor.
  3. Build, launch, and recover a model rocket.* Make a second launch to accomplish a specific objective. (Rocket must be built to meet the safety code of the National Association of Rocketry. See the "Model Rocketry" chapter.) Identify and explain the following rocket parts:
    1. Body tube
    2. Engine mount
    3. Fins
    4. Igniter
    5. Launch lug
    6. Nose cone
    7. Payload
    8. Recovery system
    9. Rocket engine
  4. Discuss and demonstrate each of the following:
    1. The law of action-reaction.
    2. How rocket engines work
    3. How satellites stay in orbit
    4. How satellite pictures of Earth and pictures of other planets are made and transmitted.
  5. Do TWO of the following:
    1. Discuss with your counselor a robotic space exploration mission and a historic crewed mission. Tell about each mission's major discoveries, its importance, and what was learned from it about the planets, moons, or regions of space explored.
    2. Using magazine photographs, news clippings, and electronic articles (such as from the Internet), make a scrapbook about a current planetary mission.
    3. Design a robotic mission to another planet or moon that will return samples of its surface to Earth. Name the planet or moon your spacecraft will visit. Show how your design will cope with the conditions of the planet's or moon's environment.
  6. Describe the purpose and operation of ONE of the following:
    1. Space shuttle or any other crewed orbital vehicle, whether government owned (U.S. or foreign) or commercial
    2. International Space Station
  7. Design an inhabited base located within our solar system, such as Titan, asteroids, or other locations that humans might want to explore in person. Make drawings or a model of your base. In your design, consider and plan for the following:
    1. Source of energy
    2. How it will be constructed
    3. Life-support system
    4. Purpose and function
  8. Discuss with your counselor two possible careers in space exploration that interest you. Find out the qualifications, education, and preparation required and discuss the major responsibilities of those positions.

* If local laws prohibit the launching of model rockets, do the following activity: Make a model of a NASA rocket. Explain the functions of the parts. Give the history of the rocket.


BSA Advancement ID#: 107
Requirements last updated in: 2014
Pamphlet Stock Number: 35983
Pamphlet SKU Number: 35983
Pamphlet Revision Date: 2016

 
Worksheets for use in working on these requirements: Format
Word Format PDF Format
 

Blanks in this worksheets table appear when we do not have a worksheet for the badge that includes these requirements.


Page updated on: May 08, 2022



Scouts Using the Internet Cartoon - Courtesy of Richard Diesslin - Click to See More Cartoons
© 1994-2024 - U.S. Scouting Service Project | Site Map | Disclaimer | Project Team | Contact Us | Privacy Policy

Materials found at U. S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. Websites may be reproduced and used locally by Scouting volunteers for training purposes consistent with the programs of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) or other Scouting and Guiding Organizations. No material found here may be used or reproduced for electronic redistribution or for commercial or other non-Scouting purposes without the express permission of the U. S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. (USSSP) or other copyright holders. USSSP is not affiliated with BSA or WOSM and does not speak on behalf of BSA or WOSM. Opinions expressed on these web pages are those of the web authors. You can support this website with in two ways: Visit Our Trading Post at www.ScoutingBooks.com or make a donation by clicking the button below.
(U.S. Scouting Service Project Donation)


(Ruth Lyons Memorial Donations)