With the UAE’s Hope Mission reaching the Red Planet and NASA’s Perseverance lander scheduled to touch down on February 18th, it’s a great time to take a closer look at Mars.
We’ve got a suite of resources lined up for you to learn more about Mars over the next few weeks.
First of all, don’t forget that you can follow a live broadcast of the Perseverance Lander’s touchdown mission here. Coverage starts at 7:15 PM Irish time on February 18th
The Mars DPSM Classroom Resource Booklet is available here.
This Science in Society debate resource asks the question: Should we send humans to Mars?
Check out this cool NASA resource demonstrating the simulated entry, descent and landing phase of the mission!
BUILD YOUR OWN ROVER ACTIVITY
Over 10 years ago, when we were just a fledgling Observatory, Dr Fuk Li, of NASA Mars Programme, sent our space campers this message. All these rover models are based on real rovers that went to Mars! What would your rover try to find out? What would it look like? Can you make a small model of it and share your design with us? Use ESERO – space buggy for a help if you need it….
When you’ve built your Rover you may want to explore further and try to figure out how you would land it on another planet…
If you’re feeling even MORE adventurous there’s a fantastic resource to help you build your own Rover available at NASA ‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory