Introduction	Objectives
Field Trips	Team Projects
Goals

The on-site experience will maximize student exposure to careers in aerospace, science, math, and technology. The focus will be on letting students see NASA engineers at work and participating in hands-on and team-building activities. We hope to integrate students into the NASA world for 1 week, and to introduce them to the people and the career opportunities available to them.

• Presentations by astronauts, engineers, controllers, and scientists will give students a good overview of a variety of disciplines and career opportunities. One-on-one question-and-answer periods with these personnel will help students to formulate in their minds the kinds of career options open to them.

• Tours of JSC facilities by engineers working in those areas will give students insight into the day-to-day workings of the space program. Interactive experiences, such as time in the flight simulators, will impact students directly. Tours of Mission Control, the mock-ups in Building 9, the Neutral Bouyancy Laboratory (NBL), the robotics lab, the X-38, and the shuttle/station simulators will give students an understanding of NASA’s current goals.

• To emphasize the future of NASA (and the students' future careers) we will arrange tours of the Advanced Life Support Facility, the Bioplex, the Advanced Space Suit Laboratory, and the Chang-Diaz Plasma Rocket engine lab.

Partnerships with the the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Challenger Center, and Space Center Houston will support this program.

• The Challenger Center Mars Mission involves a pre-mission briefing and a Mission to Mars. The mission allows students an opportunity to work as a team in Mission Control and on the spacecraft to support the success of the mission.

• Students will be able to describe what is needed to accomplish a human mission to the Moon or planet Mars, including rationales for why humans should first return to the Moon.

• Students will be able to discuss the physical and psychological issues (total health) involved in a human mission to the Moon or planet Mars.

Students will be briefed on the following topics by subject matter experts, and they will be able to explain what is needed to accomplish a human mission to Mars:

• Prototyping and testing of systems on the Moon
• Interplanetary spacecraft design (propulsion and communication systems)
• Mars space suit requirements
• Moon/Mars habitat design
• Plant growth facilities
• Rover transportation
• Robotics
• In-situ resource utilization on Mars
• Human physical constraints involved in long-duration spaceflight
• Human psychological issues involved in long-duration spaceflight

Students will be able to discuss the following physical constraints and issues involved in long-duration spaceflight:

• Radiation hazards
• Microgravity, Lunar (1/6) and Mars (1/3) gravity issues
• Nutrition and exercise

Students will also be able to describe the following psychological adaptations and requirements of long-duration spaceflight:

• Communications
• Team and interpersonal relationships
• Recreation

Each week the students will be divided into three teams. Each team will have a designated color and a designated theme. The themes that will be explored during your experience focus on Mars exploration.

The Topic for Primary Scholar Weeks is a human Mission to Mars!

Getting There and Back (Red Team):

Why do we go? How do we go? What are the risks? Where are we going? How do we go safely?

Rationale and risk assessment

• Prototyping and testing of systems on the Moon

• Interplanetary spacecraft design (propulsion, timelines, and communication systems)

• Landing sites

• Radiation hazards

• Microgravity issues and Mars (1/3) gravity issues

• Nutrition and exercise

How do we survive? What are the dangers? What are our physical needs? What are our psychological needs?

• Moon/Mars habitat design
• Plant growth facilities
• In-situ resource utilization on Mars (air, water, fuel)
• Radiation and climate hazards
• Mars (1/3) gravity issues
• Nutrition and exercise
• Recreation and interpersonal relationships
• Communications with Earth

What is our mission? What do we need? How shall we do it? Where shall we go? How will we communicate our discoveries? How will we work together as a team?

• Exploration: discovering a new world
• The search for life
• Laboratories and tools
• Space suit requirements
• Rovers and robots
• Communications
• Team organization (work assignments)

Student teams will use the following tools to give a final team project presentation on each of the above themes (the PowerPoint, the oral presentation, and the poster, model, system. or facility design):

• Subject Matter Expert Briefing/Tour
• Mentor Knowledge
• Internet Resources (including links provided for pre-service instruction)
• Books

The Topic for Alternate Scholar Weeks is Robotic Missions to Mars!

What propulsion system will our spacecraft use to get to Mars? What is our timeline? What is our scientific mission? What experiments will be done from orbit? How will we send data back to Earth?

• Spacecraft Design
• Propulsion systems
• Timelines
• Orbital Inclination
• Orbital Experiment Packages
• Scientific Instruments
• Communications Systems
• Impact on Future Missions

Surface Mission (White Team):

What type of landing system will we employ? Where will our landing site be located? What scientific instruments will be carried on the lander? Will we use a rover (or more than one)? Will we deploy other robotic experiments (balloons, impactors, drills, etc.)

• Spacecraft Design
• Landing System
• Landing Site
• Timeline
• Primary mission
• Lander science experiments
• Communications relay systems
• Rover(s)
• Other robotic components
• Impact on Future Missions

Sample Return (Blue Team):

What type of propulsion system will be used to enter Martian orbit? What type of propulsion system will be used to return to Earth? What samples will be excavated and how? How will the spacecraft be designed to protect it upon re-entry? What about contamination?

• Propulsion systems
• Spacecraft design
• Landing Site
• Sample retrieval equipment
• Contamination issues
• Impact on Future Missions
• Timeline

You will be notified of your team in April. Each team will consist of 6-10 students, a teacher, a NASA engineer mentor, and a NASA engineer co-op student. Students will meet their mentors, teacher/ counselors and co-ops via e-mail and on-line discussions.

Last Updated: 09/07/01