Astronomers, you will be working on exploring the difficulties of deep space travel over the next four weeks. NASA and Texas Instruments have collaborated to bring this project to our attention:
Their mission:
"Explore the challenges of deep space travel: Ignite students’ imaginations with the Design Challenge student competition. They will build STEM skills and learn about astronaut Scott Kelly’s One-Year Mission as they adapt space station systems and processes to support a two-year crewed voyage beyond Earth orbit."
Check Google Classroom to acquire a copy of the Design Notebook that you and your group will be completing the design challenges in.
Also, here are links to both NASA and ESA videos and pictures that are public and you can use in your final presentations!
Design Challenge One: What's for dinner?
You must design a plan and system to feed astronauts as they travel to Mars and back. Remember to consider all option as well as the implementation of multiple options.
Ideas: Meal bars, dehydrated food, growing food, preserved food, and other options!
Make sure to consider all of the pros and cons for each nutritional plan and discuss this at length in your design notebook!
Design Challenge Two: Keep it Clean
Remember the pre-activities we did to prepare us for this challenge! Look at the water filtration and resupply/waste elimination missions.
You must plan and design a system to manage the waste on the mission to Mars. Keep in mind that what goes in must come out and that there are three types of waste: common, hardware, and human waste.
Design Challenge Three: Cabin Fever
You must plan and design the living and working spaces for astronauts on their mission to Mars. Keep in mind the length of the trip, the necessary facilities for life, the necessary facilities for scientific work, and facilities for recreation and health.
Keep in mind the tour of the International Space Station that we took. How can you implement or improve systems you saw there?
Design Challenge Four: Shields Up!
Remember the warm-up activity we did to prepare for this design challenge. It will help get you started on your design and its requirements.
You must design a spacecraft that can travel to Mars and back while avoiding collisions with any orbital debris or "space junk". It must do this by detecting the debris and being able to adjust course to avoid collisions.
There are many resources on the mission imagination page. To complete this challenge you will need to explore them all in-depth.
FINAL PRESENTATION: PRESS CONFERENCE
Your group has two choices for your final presentation. You may either make a video or present your information to the class via a series of posters or google slides presentation.
You must present your final solution to each design challenge as you outlined in Step 8 of each challenge and discuss the difficulties your group faced in completing each design challenge.
Both the video presentations and oral presentations must be at least 10 minutes in length, every team member must be an active participant in the presentation, and the presentation must be well practiced. Both the content and presentation style will be graded! Good Luck! Work Hard!
Credits:
Created with images by upsidedown astronomer - "Mars from last night" • NASA Goddard Photo and Video - "Sun Over Earth (NASA, International Space Station Science, 11:22:09)" • WikiImages - "rocket launch rocket take off" • WikiImages - "moon landing apollo 11 nasa" • Kowh - "International Space Station 1280x1024" • skeeze - "mars rover curiosity vehicle" • BarricadeCaptures - "Station Debris" • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - "Apollo 11 Video Restoration Press Conference / Newseum" • Willy D - "nasa"