# Build a Mission Story

Part of the Space Exploration Merit Badge Digital Resource Guide: [Introduction & Overview](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/space-exploration/guide/index.md)

*5. Mission Pathways*

> **5b.** Using articles from the internet, photographs and text, create a blog, website, or slide show about a current planetary mission or use magazine photographs, news clippings, and articles from the internet to make a scrapbook about a current planetary mission.

This option is about storytelling with evidence. Your final product should help someone else understand a mission that is happening now or very recently, not just dump facts onto a page. Good mission storytelling answers three questions: what is the mission trying to do, how is it doing it, and why should anyone care?

## Pick a current planetary mission

A planetary mission studies another world, such as Mars, Jupiter, Europa, an asteroid, or a comet. Choose something current enough that you can find recent updates, images, or progress reports.

Possible examples include missions studying Mars, Jupiter's moons, asteroids, or the outer planets. Once you choose, stick with one mission so your project stays focused.

## Choose the format that fits you

A slideshow works well if you like presenting aloud. A website or blog works well if you want sections with images and links. A scrapbook works well if you enjoy arranging visuals and captions by hand.

**What your project should include** — No matter which format you choose

- [ ] **Mission name and destination**: What is going where?
- [ ] **Mission goal**: What question is it trying to answer?
- [ ] **Spacecraft or instruments**: What tools does it use?
- [ ] **Current status**: What has happened so far?
- [ ] **Why it matters**: What could scientists learn from it?

## Make the audience care

Do not lead with the launch date unless it is the most exciting part. Lead with the mystery. Maybe the mission is hunting for signs of past habitability, sampling a primitive asteroid, or looking beneath icy crust for evidence of an ocean. Start with the question that makes the mission interesting.

> **Tip**
>
> Each slide, page, or scrapbook spread should have one main idea. If you try to say everything at once, the mission gets buried under details.

## Use pictures like evidence

Photographs are not decorations here. Use them to support a point. A launch image can show scale. A map can show destination. A spacecraft diagram can explain instruments. A planetary image can show what scientists are studying.

![Annotated photo of a mission presentation layout with sections for destination, spacecraft, discoveries, and current status](https://ik.imagekit.io/doulacoop/tr:w-800/mbu-assets/merit-badges/space-exploration/guide/planetary-mission-presentation-board?v=44f78064)

> **Be Prepared! A strong closing for your project**
>
> - **What has this mission already taught us?**
> - **What questions remain unanswered?**
> - **Why should this mission continue to matter in the future?**

Since this option has no official requirement-level resource links, focus on building a clean, accurate project you can walk your counselor through with confidence.

---

- Previous: [Compare Great Missions](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/space-exploration/guide/req5a/index.md)
- Next: [Design a Sample Return](https://merit-badge.university/merit-badges/space-exploration/guide/req5c/index.md)