On this episode of REACH, Brian and Meredith learn the importance of teamwork when problem solving in space, what it means to curate a museum collection, we have a visit from the fastest planet, and then try to make a telescope at home. 

Hosts: Brian Holden and Meredith Stepien 

Written by: Sandy Marshall with Nate DuFort, Meredith Stepien and Brian Holden. 

Co-Created, Produced by: Nate DuFort and Sandy Marshall 

Edited by: Nate DuFort

Music composed by: Jesse Case

Logo by: Steven Lyons

Special thanks to Shannon Whetzel, Curator at the Cosmosphere International Science Center and Space Museum, which is the only place in the Midwest where you can see flown spacecrafts from all three early spaceflight programs. Discover more at cosmo.org.

Mercury was voiced by the amazing Dan Saks.  Dan is a musician and music educator as well as the host and producer of Noodle Loaf, a popular music education podcast for kids and grown ups alike. Noodle Loaf is available on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get podcasts.  You can also find Dan’s latest book entitled Families Belong at noodleloaf.com or wherever books are sold.

And special thanks this week to our REACH learning community: Blythe and Merrick. You can hear more of Merrick  weekly on the Hello Family podcast available wherever you get podcasts. and more of Blythe on Soundsington Media's own Unspookable.

Do you have a space related question that we didn’t get to? Well, you can submit that question for our bi-weekly “Reaching Out” episodes. Just get your parents permission and give us a call at 312-248-3402 (or an email at ReachthePodast@gmail.com) and leave us a message with your first name, where you're from and your question for a chance to be featured in an upcoming episode.

Build Your Own Telescope Activity

You will need:

• two  small dollar store magnifying glasses (it works best if one is larger than the other but not necessary)
• a cardboard tube - paper towel roll or gift-wrapping paper roll (it helps if it is long)
• duct tape or other strong tape
• scissors
• a ruler, or tape measure
• sheet of paper with print on it like a newspaper, magazine, or even a book 

Here's what you need to do:

• Get the two magnifying glasses and a sheet of printed paper.
• Hold one of your magnifying glasses between you and printed paper. The image of the print will may blurry, but that's okay.
• Hold the second magnifying glass between your eye and the first magnifying glass.
• Move the second glass until the print comes into focus where you will see that the print is both larger and upside down.
• Have a friend or family member measure the distance between the two magnifying glasses and write the distance down.
• Cut a slot in the cardboard tube about one inch away from the front opening, but do not cut all the way through the tube. The slot should be wide enough to hold the first magnifying glass.
• Cut your second slot in the tube the same distance from the first slot as your friend or family member wrote down. This is where your second magnifying glass will go.
• Place the two magnifying glasses in their slots  and tape them in with the duct tape
• Leave approximately 1 inch of tube behind the second magnifying glass and cut off any excess tube remaining.
• Check to see that it works by looking at the printed page. You may have to adjust slightly to get the exact distances between the two glasses right so that the image comes to a focus.

We'll post a photo of Brian and Meredith's telescope on our Instagram and if you're having issues we found a lot of similar plans online with the google search "how to build a telescope at home" ranging from simple like ours to very detailed plans. Choose the one that's right for you and thanks to National Geographic Kids, Space.com, How Stuff Works, Instructables, and WikiHow for the idea. 

You can find REACH on Twitter and Instagram or at http://www.ReachThePodcast.com

REACH: A Space Podcast for Kids is a production of Soundsington Media committed to making quality programing for young audiences and the young at heart. To find out more go to http://www.soundsingtonmedia.com