Space Exploration Merit Badge

1. The purpose of space exploration Requirement

Historical reasons, immediate goals in knowledge, benefits on Earth, and international cooperation. Four points in one explanation.

2. A collector's card about a space pioneer, and four more pioneers Requirement

Picture on the front, information on the back. Share it and discuss four other pioneers with your counselor.

3. Build, launch and recover a model rocket, then launch again Often forgotten Requirement

A second launch for a specific objective, and the nine parts identified and explained: body tube, engine mount, fins, igniter, launch lug, nose cone, payload, recovery system and engine.

The rocket must be built to the National Association of Rocketry safety code; the pamphlet's model rocketry section covers it. Launch with an adult and the right equipment, and decide the objective of the second launch before the first.

4. Rocketry and satellites, discussed and demonstrated Requirement

Action and reaction, how rocket engines work, how satellites stay in orbit, and how pictures of Earth and other planets are made and sent.

5. Missions. Do TWO Requirement

The badge states the choice: discuss two missions, present a current one, or design a sample-return mission.

3 parts

• 5(a). Discuss a robotic mission and a historic crewed mission Optional May not apply
• 5(b). Make a blog, website, slide show or scrapbook on a current mission Optional May not apply
• 5(c). Design a robotic sample-return mission Optional May not apply

6. A crewed spacecraft, explained. ONE Requirement

Purpose, operation and components of a crewed orbital vehicle or the International Space Station.

2 parts

• 6(a). A crewed orbital vehicle Optional May not apply
• 6(b). The International Space Station Optional May not apply

7. Design an inhabited base in the solar system Requirement

Drawings or a model, planned for its energy source, construction, life support, and purpose.

8. One career related to space Requirement

Training and education, costs, prospects, salary, duties and advancement. An interview or a visit needs your parent or guardian's permission.

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 1. The purpose of space exploration, 2. A collector's card about a space pioneer, and four more pioneers and 6 others.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.