What Is Pi? (Grades 5-8)

NASA STEM Team

Contents

• Astronauts returning home from the International Space Station use parachutes to slow their spacecraft down for a safe landing. But just how big do the parachutes need to be? NASA uses pi to calculate the circular area required to slow a spacecraft as it moves through the atmosphere.

  Planetary scientists use pi to learn about the materials inside a planet or asteroid. They use pi to determine the object’s volume. Combined with the object’s mass, they can determine the density of the object. Since we know the densities of planetary materials like rock, ice, and metal, scientists can make informed guesses about what the planet or asteroid might be made of.

  Did you know that spacecraft fuel tanks are usually sphere-shaped? Rocket scientists use pi to figure out how much fuel a spacecraft will need. They also use pi to compute how much fuel is available in spacecraft tanks and how quickly that fuel travels through their cylindrical fuel lines.

  To learn more ways pi helps NASA explore our home planet and beyond, check out 18 Ways NASA Uses Pi.

  Career Corner

  Are you interested in a career that uses pi? Many different occupations use this mathematical wonder. Here are a few examples:

  • Manufacturing technician: Turning designs into reality takes skilled technicians. Fabrication and assembly of robotic equipment and spacecraft parts often involve curves that must be precisely calculated. Being able to follow intricate instructions is key. Trade school training and skills such as operating forklifts and heavy machinery may be required.
  • Mars rover driver: Driving a rover on Mars is not like driving a car on Earth. There are no steering wheels on Mars rovers. Instead, operators on Earth send commands to the rovers. These might include turning wheels or moving a robotic arm, and those functions use degrees calculated using pi. College degrees in robotics and software engineering might lead to this career.
  • Planetary scientist: What are objects in our solar system made of? And where did the planets, moons, asteroids, and comets come from? Planetary scientists use pi to answer these questions and more as they study our celestial neighborhood. A college degree is key to being an expert in this field, but subject areas can vary from physics to astronomy, or even geology.

  Explore More

  How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Need Anyway?
  The NASA Pi Day Challenge