Week of February 19, 2018

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This will be a shortened week as we observe Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays on Presidents’ Day, which Ohio officially calls Washington-Lincoln day. Who knew?

This Week in Physics
We lost a lot of time last week due to scheduling, and each section has different starting points for the week. Therefore please follow the announcements for your particular class section regarding when each of the following will be due. (Your class period may have already done some of these.)

Cool Science of Last Week
Last week Elon Musk‘s SpaceX launched a new rocket model into space. The Falcon Heavy rocket has the cool feature of returning its rocket boosters back to Earth in a way that allows them to land for reuse. You can check out their synchronized landing at the end of the short video clip below – so cool! Also super cool: The Falcon Heavy, while in space, released into an orbit around the sun a Tesla Roadster, an electric car from Mr. Musk’s other company, Tesla. In the Roadster: an astronaut mannequin named Starman. On the dashboard: a sign that says “Don’t Panic.” Music playing in the car: Starman by David Bowie, natch.
Bonus trivia: For how long could the mennequin hear the song play (if the mannequin could hear)? Bonus bonus trivia trivia: Elon Musk was the inspiration for the movie version of which fictional character? (Bonus trivia is worth only the bonus of fame and glory, not points. 🙂 )
The following is a real picture! Ridic!