Chapter 12. Moon Survival
This workshop corresponds with Chapter 5, “Collaboration.”
Collaboration often requires more energy than working independently. It’s also likely that the total effort exerted by a team to solve a problem can greatly exceed the effort of an individual solving the problem alone. This raises the question, “Why go through the hassles of working as a group?” The Moon Survival exercise, which was developed by NASA, provides a profound demonstration of the contrast between team and individual work.
Setup
Prepare a copy of each of the following handouts for each participant:
• Moon Survival Scenario
• Moon Survival Worksheet
• Moon Survival Scoring Instructions
• Moon Survival Expert Analysis
Refer to the facilitation instructions to determine when to distribute each of these handouts. Each participant also needs a pen or pencil.
Facilitation
Start the exercise by handing out the Moon Survival Scenario sheet to each of the participants. Give them five minutes to read the sheet and ensure that everyone understands the instructions. At this point, do not discuss the scenario; just discuss the procedure for completing the individual portion of the exercise.
Individual Exercise
When everyone is ready, hand out a copy of the Moon Survival Worksheet to each participant. Give everyone 15 minutes to rank the items from most important for survival (1) to least important (15). Participants should complete the exercise independently with no discussion.
After the individual exercise, ask the participants to fold over enough of the left side of the worksheet to cover their individual rankings. This is to prevent participants from seeing each other’s rankings during the team portion of the exercise.
Team Exercise
Next, organize into 4–6 person teams and have each group come up with a single ranking that the group agrees to. When the group ranking has been determined, all team members should record the group ranking on column D of their worksheets.
Scoring
Hand out a copy of the Moon Survival Scoring Instructions to each participant. When scoring has been completed, each participant should have an individual total and a team total.
This portion of the exercise may take 30–45 minutes. The facilitator plays an important role in keeping all groups on task and ensuring that they successfully agree to a ranking for the group.
Post-Exercise Discussion
Ask the participants to reveal their individual rankings to their teammates and discuss the differences. When discussing scores, remember that the lower the difference, the closer the match with the expert’s ranking. Usually, the team score will be better (a lower number) than anyone on the team’s individual score.
The ensuing discussion should center on why the team score beats the individual scores. Even if some individuals happen to beat the team, you should find that the team score will beat the score of the majority of its individual team members.
It’s recommended that the facilitator read Chapter 5 for insight to help facilitate this discussion. Work to focus the discussion more on team dynamics than on the reasoning behind the expert choices. You are likely to find that high D participants won’t be as concerned with the expert’s explanation because they may not agree with it anyway. On the other hand, high C participants are unlikely to be satisfied until they are given a complete explanation for why the experts ranked the items as they did.
After you are satisfied that the participants understand the value of teamwork, you may distribute the Moon Survival Expert Analysis handout for participants to read at their leisure. As with most of the activities in this book, you might want to remind participants not to discuss the details of the exercise with others who may have an opportunity to participate in the future.
Moon Survival Expert Analysis
Two NASA scientists separately ranked the same items and explained their reasons for their rankings. Dr. Carlton Allen was the first expert. Dr. Allen is the curator and manager of the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office. This office is responsible for protecting, preserving, and distributing extraterrestrial samples to help others learn more about solar system exploration. These samples include the Apollo Moon rocks and regoliths, Antarctic meteorites, and particles of solar wind. Dr. Allen’s background is in planetary science. The second expert was John Gruener, who is a flight systems engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and his background is in aerospace engineering and physical sciences with an emphasis in planetary geology. He has worked as a rocket scientist designing missions to the Moon and Mars, as a space farmer growing plants in advanced life-support systems and as a planetary scientist studying the rocks and soils on Mars.
Both experts agreed that the type of lander in which you were traveling would determine your course of action if you landed on the wrong place on the Moon. If you were in a two-stage lander (one stage for descent and one stage for ascent, like the Apollo lunar module), they suggested that you terminate the surface mission, head back to orbit, rendezvous with Orion in lunar orbit, and head home.
If returning home were not a choice and you were stuck on the Moon, the experts suggested that you sit tight and wait for someone at the outpost to come and get you. They agreed that the safest thing to do in this situation, as in most emergencies, is to stay put and call for help.
If someone from the outpost cannot reach you, the experts felt that you had no option other than to try to make it to the outpost. The rankings and explanations in Table 12.1 indicate how each expert ranked the items to help you reach the outpost.
