presents
So you want to
go to Mars?
Now is your chance!
The Planetary Society is looking for students who want to
be involved in an actual planetary exploration mission.
The Red Rover Goes to Mars Training Mission is set to
pave the way for the launch of a student-controlled Mars
rover which will travel to the Red Planet in the next 3-5
years (the next launch opportunity is in 2003). In
preparation for that mission, the Planetary Society will
select of group of student scientists and student
navigators to work with NASA and JPL on the Mars Global
Surveyor mission, a spacecraft which has been mapping the
surface of Mars since April 1, 1999. Three separate
competitions are underway to select participants in this
exciting opportunity:
Student Scientists
Over a three month
period, student scientists will undergo remote training
and use Viking and Mars Global Surveyor images to select
a candidate landing site for the proposed Mars sample
return mission. Students will operate MGS’s Mars Orbiter
Camera to take detailed, high-resolution pictures of the
landing site on the surface fo Mars. Student Scientists
will also train Student Navigators on the processes they
used to select their landing site, hence applicants must
demonstrate their knowledge of Mars science and how
science goals can be accomplished using the instruments
which have been sent to Mars. Student Scientists will
selected through an essay contest, the details of which
(along with full rules for the competition) can be found
on the Planetary Society’s website, http://planetary.org.
Student Navigators
Student navigators
must log their experience with a LEGO rover (such as that
found at Challenger Learning Center of Arizona) in a
journal using the Red Rover Goes to Mars Journal Form
(available from the Planetary Society). All journal
questions must be answered. Student Navigators will
travel to a to-be-determined location in the United
States where a large-scale simulated Martian terrain will
be created by the student scientists. Student Navigators
will use rovers to explore the terrain to complete their
objective of selecting an interesting sample to return to
Earth. Details for this competition can be found on the
Planetary Society’s website, http://planetary.org.
Landing Site
Terrain Drawing Competition
In addition to the
above competitions, students from around the world will
participate ina contest to produce detailed drawings of
what the landing site chosen by Student Scientists might
look like. The winning drawing will be used to construct
the large-scale terrain to be used by the Student
Navigators. Details are available from the Planetary
Society at http://planetary.org.
YOU can
particpate in this exciting opportunity! Contact the
Planetary Society today!
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