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The Space Challenge Set consists of seven Challenge Missions, nine Learning Missions and one Basics of Gears project. Each mission and project presents a fun STEM learning opportunity.
The Space Challenge Set consists of seven Challenge Missions, nine Learning Missions and one Basics of Gears project. Each mission and project presents a fun STEM learning opportunity.
Three Research Projects, co-developed with NASA Engineers, provide rich opportunities for students to explore and create innovative solutions to current space exploration topics. The Research Projects are based upon three key problems that researchers around the world are trying to solve: how to ensure human survival in space, how to create energy in space, and how robots can help humans explore space.
https://www.handsontech.co.za/lego-education-ev3-space-challenge-activity-pack.html
ev3-space-introduction.pdfResearchProjects Rubric.pdfGears Rubric.pdfPBL Essential Question: Research Resource page link
PBL Essential Question: Research Resource page link
How can we create an environment for humans to live on Mars?
How can we create an environment for humans to live on Mars?
space_challenge_curriculum_grid.pdfHere's a link to the building instructions for the Space Challenges missions and individual model links below.
Here's a link to the building instructions for the Space Challenges missions and individual model links below.
Space Mission Map Setup
Space Mission Map Setup
Tips for Setting Up the Models
Tips for Setting Up the Models
- Make sure that each model has been built correctly and that all of their mechanisms operate as they should.
- To see how to set and reset models, refer to the last page(s) of the building instructions
- The Flight Crew, Crater, Solar Panel, Launcher, and Mars Outpost models use Dual Lock fasteners to keep them in place.
- Carefully apply the Dual Lock fasteners and place the model in the correct position on the Challenge Mat.
- Refer to the Challenge Mat overview for the correct placement of the models.
Tips for Setting Up the Models
- Make sure that each model has been built correctly and that all of their mechanisms operate as they should.
- To see how to set and reset models, refer to the last page(s) of the building instructions
- The Flight Crew, Crater, Solar Panel, Launcher, and Mars Outpost models use Dual Lock fasteners to keep them in place.
- Carefully apply the Dual Lock fasteners and place the model in the correct position on the Challenge Mat.
- Refer to the Challenge Mat overview for the correct placement of the models.
Assessment Opportunities
Assessment Opportunities
Teacher Observation Checklist
Create a scale that matches your needs, for example:
Partially accomplishedFully accomplishedOverachievedUse the following success criteria to evaluate your progress:
Students were able to describe the role of their model(s) in a human mission to Mars.Students worked as a team toward a common goal.Students examined how their model(s) worked in order to come up with strategies for solving their first mission.Self-Assessment
Have each student choose the achievement badge that they feel best represents their performance.
Bronze: We’ve built and placed the model(s) on the Challenge Mat.Silver: We’ve built and placed the model(s) on the Challenge Mat and explained the role of our model(s) in a human mission to Mars.Gold: We’ve built and examined the model(s) on the Challenge Mat and explained the role of our model(s) in a human mission to Mars.Platinum: We’ve not only explained the role of our model(s) in a human mission to Mars, but we’ve also built and examined the model(s) on the Challenge Mat and came up with a plan for tackling our first mission!
Getting Ready to go to Mars
Getting Ready to go to Mars
People have long been fascinated by Mars, the planet in our solar system that’s most like Earth. Uncrewed missions have sent orbiters, probes, and rovers to explore the planet since the 1960s, but what would it take to carry out a successful human mission to Mars?
Think about these questions:
Think about these questions:
- What’s needed to support human life on Mars?
- How can robots help humans explore Mars?
- What could we learn from going to Mars?
- How could a space crew on Mars communicate with a mission control center on Earth?
Challenge 1: Activate Communications
Challenge 1: Activate Communications
The scientists want to upload a whole load of raw data to the space base in order to get it up and running. Right now, we can't seem to do the upload!
What we need is a robotics expert who can get the communications station online quickly and effectively. We have been told that you and your team are the people we need to speak to. Do everything you can with your robot to get the station online.
Satellite dishes are a type of antenna that uses radio waves to receive or transmit data. On a human mission to Mars, they’d be used to transmit messages between Earth and Mars. Radio waves travel at the speed of light, and because the distance between Earth and Mars is variable, there’s an approximate delay of between four and twenty-four minutes in communication between the planets.-->One-way
- What’s a satellite dish?
- How are satellite dishes used in deep space communication?
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot navigates to the satellite dish and then pushes on it until it’s fully upright.
NASA: Space Communications and Navigation
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/communications/outreach/funfacts/index.html NASA: Space Communications and Navigation
Challenge 2: Assemble Your Crew
Challenge 2: Assemble Your Crew
It’s almost time to take off for Mars! It has been a huge achievement and everybody is really proud of you. Now for the next stage.
You need to assemble your flight crew for the journey. One of the most important members of the crew is the flight commander, so you’ll need to collect her from the lunar flight base where she has been preparing for the flight and set her down at the base area. Can you program your robot to do this?
On a human mission to Mars, the crew must endure darkness, low gravity, and isolation. A lunar base could be used to prepare the crew for this, both physically and mentally. On Earth, a research station in Antarctica is used to simulate the conditions of Mars missions.
How do astronauts train and prepare for space missions:
- What’s an astronaut?
- How can astronauts prepare for space missions?
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot navigates to the lunar base, picks up the flight commander, and sets her down at the base area.
Challenge 3: Free the MSL Robot
Challenge 3: Free the MSL Robot
While it was climbing one of the steeper slopes on the Martian terrain, the MSL robot got stuck. Although there is enough power to turn the wheels, the faster they turn, the more they dig into the surface. If the MSL robot can’t free itself . . . then it's up to you!
Program your robot to free the MSL robot from the slope so it can continue on its mission to study the Martian surface. This is an expensive robot, so we need your help urgently!
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) robot is a radioisotope thermoelectric-powered rover that’s been exploring the Martian surface since 2012. With various drills, scoops, and other equipment, the robot can study the Martian climate and geology.
What is the role of planetary rovers in space exploration:
- What are planetary rovers?
- How can they help humans explore space?
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot navigates to the crater and frees the MSL robot so that all six of its wheels are back on the Martian surface.
With its rover named Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet's "habitability."
Curiosity MSLLithoSet2013.pdf
See Ms.B's books for much more information on Curiosity and other NASA Rovers
Challenge 4: Launch the Satellite into Orbit
Challenge 4: Launch the Satellite into Orbit
This satellite is a key part of the mission and will be responsible for making sure that the space base can communicate with Earth. If the satellite doesn't launch and there are problems with the space base, you could end up with a serious problem.
For this reason, you need to place a broadband communication satellite into low Earth orbit. The satellite has to go into the marked area to make sure that it can communicate quickly and clearly and send a secure unlimited real-time flow of data to and from Earth.
Make sure that you program the robot so that it places the satellite in the marked area. We are depending on you!
A communication satellite relays and amplifies radio waves from an Earth-centered orbit to different locations on Earth. Radio waves travel in a straight line, so there needs to be a line-of-sight between the sender and receiver. Satellites in orbit are better suited to maintaining a line-of-sight with Mars than Earth-based antennae. They’re also relatively unaffected by electromagnetic interference or atmospheric disturbances.
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot navigates to the marked area and places the satellite inside it.
Space Communications and Navigation
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/communications/outreach/funfacts/index.html Space Communications and Navigation
tdrsgeneraloverviewlitho2017_2.pdftdrsatellitefactsheet_3.pdf
Challenge 5: Return the Rock Samples
Challenge 5: Return the Rock Samples
The purpose of the Mars expedition isn't just to see if it is possible to get there. It’s also a scientific expedition, so your task here is to collect three rock samples. Two of the required rock samples are from the Martian soil, and a third is from a nearby asteroid called Vesta.
If you get these samples, scientists will have the chance to investigate the rocks in more detail, which could lead to some amazing new scientific discoveries. While they’re setting up their racks of test tubes and firing up the mass spectrometer, program the robot to get the samples and return them to the base area for further investigation.
Studying the composition of rocks from the Martian surface can help scientists understand the history and evolution of its surface. Organic molecules containing carbon and hydrogen are of particular interest because they’re associated with biological processes and potential indicators of life.
- What are Martian rocks?
- What could we learn from investigating them?
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot collects the Rock Samples and returns all three of them to the base area.
New Rock-Drilling Method in 'Mars Yard' Test
This photo taken in the "Mars Yard" at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, on Aug. 1, 2017, shows a step in development of possible alternative techniques that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover might be able to use to resume drilling into rocks on Mars.New Rock-Drilling Method in 'Mars Yard' Test
Challenge 6: Secure the Power Supply
Challenge 6: Secure the Power Supply
The space base is nearly up and running. The living quarters have been set up, all the life support systems are connected, and the living quarters have been pressurized, so we will be able to breathe in there. You've all done extremely well and for the first time in days, it looks like this really has potential as a space base.
Before the rocket leaves, there's just one more job that we need to do. We need to unfold and set up the solar arrays, which will provide the space base with power and get all of the complex systems up and running. Using one of the robots that you have to help you, program it to rotate the handle, unfold the solar array, and start power running to the station.
Solar arrays consist of multiple solar panels and are useful as a power supply for space exploration. The amount of sunlight on a planet decreases as the distance to the Sun increases. This means that Mars receives less than half the amount of sunlight that we have on Earth. However, with a big enough solar array, plenty of power can be generated!
What are the advantages and disadvantages of solar power in space:
- What’s a solar array?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of using solar arrays as a power supply for the Mars Outpost?
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot navigates to the Solar Panel and rotates the handle until it’s fully unfolded and stays in an upright position.
NASA:
NASA:
Challenge Sample 7: Initiate Launch
Challenge Sample 7: Initiate Launch
Welcome to the launch site
The crew members are all here and the pre-flight checks have been conducted. What you need to do is have the launch pad robot press the launch button outside to send this craft streaking into orbit.
And that's where you come in. Program your robot to press the launch button and start the launch sequence to bring the first crew to explore Mars.
The distance between Earth and Mars varies greatly, and they’re closest to each other about every 2 years. They’re about 55 million km apart at their closest, which provides a convenient launch opportunity. A rocket going to Mars first has to reach an escape velocity of over 11 km/s to escape Earth’s gravity and then embark on the journey to Mars, which takes approximately 150 to 300 days.
How are rockets are launched into outer space: See Launch Sequence
- What are space rockets?
- How are they launched?
Mission Goal
Mission Goal
The robot navigates to the launch site and presses the launch button. The Rocket launches and when it reaches the Mars Outpost, it activates it.
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