Welcome to the Messages from Space Teachers Page.
Few people realise just what amazing things satellites are, or how many are up there. Even fewer realise just how much physics is involved in building, launching and monitoring them. This Surrey University Satellites web site aims to introduce satellites, in all their diversity. There are fascinating facts, human interest stories, such as the satellite that helped in the rescue of earthquake victims, and technological breakthroughs - just how do you monitor a satellite the size of a football at an altitude of 900km?

You can use the public zone of the Messages From Space webpages to:

• Set the scene
  introduce students to the amazing diversity of what today's satellites are and what they can do and show how they are built here in Surrey.

The Schoolzone has been designed for you to use to support your Physics teaching. It slots into the A - level Physics syllabus requirements but places students in the fascinating world of satellites. Here you can:

• Provide revision material
  consolidate classroom study of topics related to satellites but which appear in every A - level syllabus : gravitation, circular motion, telecommunications, data analysis…

• Offer exercises in orbits, telecomms and satellite data analysis
  practise the theory learnt, with 'reveal' answers. These questions can be downloaded and photocopied for classroom use. The full solutions are password-protected and accessible only by teachers.

• Provide orbit simulations
  observe how different orbits are achieved and what parameters affect the orbit trajectory.

• Provide launch simulations
  see how rockets escape from a planet's gravitational field.

• Track satellites live!
  see how orbits differ and analyse live data downloaded into mission control from satellites as they pass overhead. Spot the trends as satellites pass into shadow or re-orientate themselves using the Earth's magnetic field.

Password-protected solutions to schoolzone questions:

Need the Teachers Password?
Teachers can request a login ID and password for this part of the site.

Printed Teachers Guide and CD-ROM
A free printed Teachers Guide is available, providing a hardcopy of the majority of the schoolzone material (from Nov 02)
Messages from Space is also available as a free CD-ROM which provides an offline copy of this website - suitable for installation and copying across your school computers (from Nov 02).
Teachers Guide and CD-ROM online request form

Contact Us
Email the Messages from Space team with enquiries or questions.