Point the spacecraft. Change the power.
Your spacecraft runs on sunlight. Its solar panels only make electricity when light reaches them, and how much reaches them depends on which way the spacecraft is facing. Your team will test two ways of pointing it, compare what the Twin produces, and recommend one — saying clearly what your evidence does and does not prove.
Does the way a spacecraft faces change how much electricity its solar panels make?
Learning outcomes · Grades 9–10
What you should be able to do, and the evidence that shows it.
- 01By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to quantify the absolute and percentage difference in generated energy between the baseline and candidate cases, and demonstrate this by reporting both figures from the comparison evidence.
- 02By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to test a stated quantitative prediction against repeatable Twin runs under an unchanged orbit and step size, and demonstrate this by comparing the predicted and observed direction and magnitude of change.
- 03By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to evaluate why the battery state-of-charge difference is a weaker signal than the energy and incidence channels over this run length, and demonstrate this by explaining the reasoning in a short written analysis.
Before we start
A quick check of what you already know. There is no score.
The idea behind the mission
Two runs, one difference: which way the spacecraft is pointing. Everything else stays the same, so anything that changes is caused by the pointing.
Sunlight hits a panel at an angle
A solar panel makes the most electricity when sunlight arrives straight on. Turn the panel away and the same sunlight is spread across more surface, so less of it becomes power. Turning the spacecraft turns its panels.
Predict before you run
Before you run anything: which way of pointing do you think will make more electricity, and why?
Which way of pointing will make more electricity — and why do you think so?
At least 20 characters — say what you expect and why.
Configure the mission
These are the two set-ups you will compare. They are fixed on purpose: if only one thing differs between your runs, anything that changes was caused by it.
Baseline case
Reference hold
Candidate case
Corner-biased hold
- Write your prediction first — running before predicting removes the point.
- Use the two set-ups provided, so the only difference is the pointing.
- The energy and battery numbers come from a model, not from a real spacecraft.
Units stay attached to every result: angles in degrees (°), time in seconds (s), power in watts (W), energy in watt-hours (Wh), battery state in percent (%), and elevation in degrees (°) where available.
Run the Digital Twin
Run the first way of pointing, then the second. Same orbit, same spacecraft, same length of time — only the pointing changes.
Baseline
Reference hold
Candidate
Corner-biased hold
Run the baseline first so you have something to compare against.
Read the evidence
Look at what changed between the two runs, and what stayed the same. The energy and incidence lines are the clearest signals.
Run the Twin to produce evidence.
Make the engineering decision
Which way of pointing do you recommend, and which number in your evidence backs it up?
Which way of pointing do you recommend, and what evidence supports it?
What this does not prove
What this mission shows
- My prediction
- The energy and battery comparison between the two runs
- Where each number came from
- One thing this model does not cover
What it does not establish
- The energy and battery numbers are produced by a model. Nothing here was measured on a real spacecraft.
- The incidence figure is calculated from the model's geometry, not observed.
- This lesson does not show how a whole real spacecraft would perform, and it is not evidence that a design is ready to fly.
Name one thing this software cannot tell you about a real spacecraft.
Show what you understood
Formative feedback for you and your teacher. There is no official grade.
Which evidence lets you compare the two ways of pointing?
Which way of pointing do you recommend, and why?
Name one thing this model does not tell you about a real spacecraft.
Revisit the mission evidence
Formative · not an official grade
No formative evidence has been recorded yet.
Next: Write your prediction, run both set-ups, then pick the evidence that supports your answer.
Formative guidance only. Official grade: none. A teacher still reviews your written reasoning.