Education Plan: Design Your Spacecraft
Before they can launch to Mars, students need to design their spacecraft based on what they want it to do on the Red Planet. Billy Allen, a mechatronics engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talks about his job on the Perseverance Mars rover mission and some of the important factors to consider when designing a spacecraft. Watch en Español: Seleccione subtítulos en Español bajo el ícono de configuración.
Mission This Week
Now that we’ve planned our mission, it’s time to design – and test – our spacecraft. This week’s activities engage students in the engineering design process. Students must use creative thinking to brainstorm a design, whether it’s for the whole spacecraft or just a part, such as the robotic arm; create a physical model; and then test their model. During testing, students will likely see ways they can improve their model. Encourage them to do so, even if it means starting over from scratch. This is what engineers at NASA do – design, test, redesign, retest – when trying to come up with the best solution for a problem.
Tips This Week
Don't have all the materials listed in a lesson plan or project? That's ok! Common materials found around the house combined with a little ingenuity can result in great designs.
Have students first sketch their designs on paper or use technology to create a design. The drawings don’t need to be perfect. Sketching develops spatial awareness skills!
Encourage students to be creative and try new ideas. When some of their ideas don’t yield the desired results, treat it as a learning experience. Sometimes we learn more from an unsuccessful attempt than we do from a successful one!
Encourage cooperative learning and exchanging of ideas. NASA engineers work together on projects, sharing ideas and striving for team success.
This Week's Education Resources
Use these STEM lesson plans, projects, videos, and articles to get students designing their Mars missions. Lessons and projects are standards-aligned. These assignments can be done in any order and in part or in full as schedules allow.
