Mission 4: Landing on Mars
Your task now is to figure out what time of the day is best to land on Mars without crashing with an asteroid. You do this with the help of a simulator.
Space task
What to you know about the Moon and Mars?
Travelling to Mars is neither simple nor entirely safe. You must prepare carefully if you are to succeed. You’re on your way from the Moon to Mars and have just found out that the time of day you choose to try to land on Mars can be very important. Your task is to find out what time you have the biggest chance of successfully landing on Mars without colliding with an asteroid! Before this, you need to learn a little more about Mars.
We are getting close to the end of our journey. Start by reading chapter 4 of Leia and the tardigrades crack the Space Code – student material.
You'll find all the answers in the chapter.
Questions to answer
Describe what happened when people landed on the Moon in 1969.
Mars has two moons. What are they called?
Why are there such good maps of Mars?
Something to think about
Which of the planets in the solar system would you most like to live on? You cannot choose Earth. Explain why you chose that planet. Explain what is good and what is bad about the planet you have chosen.
Code task
Code a simulator for landing on Mars
Code a simulator that predicts even the minor risks of colliding with asteroids.
Math assignment
Analyse the simulation and decide which time to land on Mars.
Using your simulation, you are now going to analyse the results and answer the question:
What time should I land on Mars to have the best chance of succeeding?
The math assignment has three levels, decide what suits your class best.