“Mars has been flown by, orbited, smacked into, radar examined, and rocketed onto, as well as bounced upon, rolled over, shovelled, drilled into, baked and even blasted. Still to come: Mars being stepped on.”
Buzz Aldrin, in his new book Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration (2013).
Mission Brief
The mission to Mars is extremely expensive and has taken many years to prepare for by dedicated teams of scientists and engineers. Going to Mars has caused much debate over the cost in these financially challenging times.
Your team of engineers are designing the Mars Landing Module MLM)
The MLM is the very last part of the module that will finally land on the surface of Mars and deploy its payload, affectionately called BUFFY. Note the image below is not what you are creating. You are creating the module containing it, that must keep BUFFY safe when it lands. Here is BUFFY, by the way it costs around 400 million USD, breaking it is not an option!
Your team of engineers are designing the Mars Landing Module MLM)
The MLM is the very last part of the module that will finally land on the surface of Mars and deploy its payload, affectionately called BUFFY. Note the image below is not what you are creating. You are creating the module containing it, that must keep BUFFY safe when it lands. Here is BUFFY, by the way it costs around 400 million USD, breaking it is not an option!
Courtesy of NASA
Here are some of the following constraints have been placed on you and your team:
To do this project in school (or at home, depending on the current situation here), the payload (BUFFY) is represented by an egg. The package around it that you will create represents the MLM and your egg must fit inside and be able to be taken out, unharmed quickly on landing from at least 3 meters but more likely 10 meters.
Some useful resources:
Getting to Mars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCIzZHpFtY
Mars drop simulation: http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/interactives/edlcuriosity/index-2.html
Mars drop animation:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/9449218/Nasa-animation-shows-Curiosity-rover-landing-on-Mars.html
- There is a restriction on the number of resources you have available and the amount of these due to cost and environmental concerns. You will therefore have to recycle prototype designs.
- Due to the testing requirements you will need to make a number of prototypes for testing. Time is short and you will have to ensure building these can be done quickly.
- Costs of fuel are high, the module must be as light as possible but still perform its function.
- Your designs are one of 10 or more that are bidding for the contract from [SMEg]
To do this project in school (or at home, depending on the current situation here), the payload (BUFFY) is represented by an egg. The package around it that you will create represents the MLM and your egg must fit inside and be able to be taken out, unharmed quickly on landing from at least 3 meters but more likely 10 meters.
Some useful resources:
Getting to Mars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCIzZHpFtY
Mars drop simulation: http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/interactives/edlcuriosity/index-2.html
Mars drop animation:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/9449218/Nasa-animation-shows-Curiosity-rover-landing-on-Mars.html
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1. Getting to Mars (video above)
2. Mars drop simulation:
http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/interactives/edlcuriosity/index-2.html 3. Mars drop animation:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/9449218/Nasa-animation-shows-Curiosity-rover-landing-on-Mars.html Insight Mission to Mars Boarding Pass |
In 2017, The Esmail family had their names along with just 1.6 million others imprinted onto one of 2 tiny chips that was then placed in the Insight Lander, where it will remain forever on Mars. A boarding pass was then emailed to us for every name we submitted.
Courtesy of NASA: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin
A new mission is being planned for 2026. Want to be a part of history, then participate at https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/future
