Planetary Rover

PLANETARY ROVER CHALLENGE

You are part of NASA’s Surface Landing Team for their next planetary exploration mission. NASA has not yet determined to what planet the mission will travel making your task of developing a rover which is able to travel on all types of planetary surfaces and withstand varying conditions a bit more complicated. Speed will not be a factor for your planetary rover, but your team may want to study how weight, inclines, and design affect distance and deplete power.

Key Questions:

  1. How far will it have to travel?
  2. What is the terrain like?
  3. What and/or who will it have to carry?
  4. What tasks will it have to perform?
  5. In what ways can we power the rover?


EXPLORE

ThunderBolt Kids!

Learn about the difference between:

The Pathfinder Rover

Spirit

Opportunity

Curiosity

Think about...

  1. How do we make a vehicle move on the Moon or Mars?
  2. How do we collect information about the rocks on the surface?
  3. What do scientists want to know about the Moon and Mars?

What are the different ways to build a wheel and axel?

The Wheels of 3 Mars Rovers! What do you notice?

TRY THIS OUT FOR FUN!

TEST OUT A BALLOON POWERED ROVER!

  1. Your rover must be balloon powered.
  2. Your rover's wheels should be able to roll easily and it should go at least 2 meters on the floor.
  3. Your rover must have two seats and it must have a model of you as a Moon explorer.
  4. It must be able to carry two small stones for at least 2 metres. The stones represent rock samples from the Moon, to take back to Earth.

DESIGN:

  1. Draw a picture/ blue print of a rover you could make.
  2. Show the seats, with an astronaut in one seat. Show the place where the Moon rocks will go.
  3. Add other parts that your rover should have. Write labels to tell everyone what the different parts of the rover are.
  4. Leave some space at the bottom for a second design. When you begin making the rover, you will get better ideas. Then you can draw another picture of your design. The two pictures will show how your ideas changed.

KEY IDEAS CONCEPTS TO WORK FROM

  • Scientists send vehicles to explore the surface of moons and other planets.
  • These vehicles have radios that send back information to scientists on Earth.
  • The vehicles need special wheels to move across the sand and stones.
  • People have been to the Moon, but no people have yet been to Mars.
  • Only vehicles (robots) operated by people back on Earth have been sent to explore the surface of Mars.

KEEP THESE IDEAS IN MIND!!

  1. Axles must be parallel for the car to run straight.
  2. Axles can be fixed and wheels free to turn, or the axle can turn with the wheels fixed to it.
  3. Axles turn in bearings. Bearings let axles turn freely.
  4. A car must have energy from some source. The source can be a hand that lifts the car up to the top of a ramp, or the source can be a falling weight, or the source can be rubber bands or a blown-up balloon.

WATCH CURIOSITY LAND ON MARS!

FOOTAGE FROM THE FIRST LANDING ON THE MOON!