Boy Scouts of America

Space Exploration Merit Badge

Space Exploration
Merit Badge

Boy Scouts of America Merit Badge Hub

Boy Scouts of America
Merit Badge Hub

SpaceExploration

Space Exploration Merit Badge Overview

Space is mysterious. We explore space for many reasons, not least because we don’t know what is out there, it is vast, and humans are full of curiosity. Each time we send explorers into space, we learn something we didn’t know before. We discover a little more of what is there.
Space-Exploration_merit-badge-overview

Space Exploration Merit Badge Requirements

The requirements will be fed dynamically using the scout book integration
1. Tell the purpose of space exploration and include the following:
  • (a) Historical reasons
  • (b) Immediate goals in terms of specific knowledge
  • (c) Benefits related to Earth resources, technology, and new products
  • (d) 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 of the Space Exploration merit badge pamphlet.) Identify and explain the following rocket parts:
  • (a) Body tube
  • (b) Engine mount
  • (c) Fins
  • (d) Igniter
  • (e) Launch lug
  • (f) Nose cone
  • (g) Payload
  • (h) Recovery system
  • (i) Rocket engine
4. Discuss and demonstrate each of the following:
  • (a) The law of action-reaction
  • (b) How rocket engines work
  • (c) How satellites stay in orbit
  • (d) How satellite pictures of Earth and pictures of other planets are made and transmitted
5. Do TWO of the following:
  • (a) 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.
  • (b) Using magazine photographs, news clippings, and electronic articles (such as from the Internet), make a scrapbook about a current planetary mission.
  • (c) Design a robotic mission to another planet, moon, comet, or asteroid that will return samples of its surface to Earth. Name the planet, moon, comet, or asteroid your spacecraft will visit. Show how your design will cope with the conditions of the environments of the planet, moon, comet, or asteroid.
6. Describe the purpose, operation, and components of ONE of the following:
  • (a) Space shuttle or any other crewed orbital vehicle, whether government-owned (U.S. or foreign) or commercial
  • (b) 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:
  • (a) Source of energy
  • (b) How it will be constructed
  • (c) Life-support system
  • (d) 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.

Get the Space Exploration Merit Badge Pamphlet

Learn all about the benefits of space exploration, along with building and launching a model rocket and designing your own space station while earning this merit badge!

Discover more about "Space Exploration"

All new merit badges get introduced. Only one has gotten launched. On June 3, 1965, two astronauts (both former Scouts) rocketed into space aboard NASA’s Gemini 4. They carried with them an extra special payload: a small round emblem representing the Space Exploration merit badge, which was then the BSA’s newest merit badge. When astronaut Ed White took his walk into space — the first ever spacewalk by an American — that small circle of embroidered threads and khaki cloth was tucked into the pocket of his spacesuit. “I think that Scouting teaches us to be independent, to rely on ourselves and to solve our problems in the best way as they come up,” White later told Scouting magazine. “The things they are learning will equip them to be good citizens, and that is really the big value in Scouting.” The Space Exploration merit badge debuted during the height of the space race. In the 1960s, young people around the world were transfixed by the steady stream of out-of-this-world “firsts” achieved by American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts. The badge was developed in close cooperation with NASA, demonstrating how top experts “in science, industry, education and government are helping develop requirements for modern merit badges,” Scouting magazine wrote in its March 1966 issue. That trend continues today. The launch of the Space Exploration merit badge could not have come at a better time. Just four years after its release came the biggest milestone in the space race: Eagle Scout Neil Armstrong’s 1969 walk on the moon. At 56 years old, the merit badge remains popular among Scouts. With commercial space travel, return visits to the moon and manned trips to Mars on the horizon, the badge remains relevant, too.
For a full portrait of Rachel Brachman’s passions and proficiencies, don’t look at her LinkedIn. Start with her merit badge counselor registration. Brachman, a public engagement specialist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, is a counselor for seven merit badges: Art, Astronomy, Canoeing, Disabilities Awareness, Horsemanship, Inventing and Space Exploration. “Each of these badges reflects a different aspect of my life,” she says. As a NASA specialist at the place where scientists built the Mars rover Curiosity and Saturn probe Cassini, Brachman is a natural to serve as a counselor for the Space Exploration merit badge. “Since I’ve been working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 17 years, I’ve had a front-row seat during significant moments in space exploration history,” she says. “I love sharing what I’ve learned about Saturn and Mars with Scouts who are earning their Space Exploration merit badge.” Brachman has been an active Scouting volunteer since her son became a Tiger in 2011 and a merit badge counselor since 2017. We asked Brachman for her top advice for merit badge counselors, which you’ll find below. She also shares a lovely free-verse poem about why she takes time to serve in this role. And finally, Brachman tells fellow volunteers about a NASA-sponsored essay contest no space-loving Scout will want to miss. 3 … 2 … 1 … let’s go.

View Related Merit Badges

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

WEB

Eagle Scout insignia Eagle Required

Bray Barnes

Director, Global Security Innovative
Strategies

Bray Barnes is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, Silver
Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Learning for Life Distinguished
Service Award. He received the Messengers of Peace Hero award from
the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he’s a life member of
the 101st Airborne Association and Vietnam Veterans Association. Barnes
serves as a senior fellow for the Global Federation of Competitiveness
Councils, a nonpartisan network of corporate CEOs, university presidents, and
national laboratory directors. He has also served as a senior executive for the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, leading the first-responder program
and has two U.S. presidential appointments

David Alexander

Managing Member Calje

David Alexander is a Baden-Powell Fellow, Summit Bechtel Reserve philanthropist, and recipient of the Silver Buffalo and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the founder of Caljet, one of the largest independent motor fuels terminals in the U.S. He has served the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, Teen Lifeline, and American Heart Association. A triathlete who has completed hundreds of races, Alexander has also mentored the women’s triathlon team at Arizona State University.

Glenn Adams

President, CEO & Managing Director
Stonetex Oil Corp.

Glenn Adams is a recipient of the Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, Silver Buffalo, and Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He is the former president of the National Eagle Scout Association and established the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. He has more than 40 years of experience in the oil, gas, and energy fields, including serving as a president, owner, and CEO. Adams has also received multiple service awards from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.