Education Plan: Launch Your Mission
Before they can conduct research on Mars, students need to launch their spacecraft. Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, a navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talks about her job on the Perseverance Mars rover mission and some of the important factors to consider when launching a mission to the Red Planet. Watch en Español: Seleccione subtítulos en Español bajo el ícono de configuración.
Mission This Week
Now that we’ve designed our spacecraft, it’s time to launch our mission. This week, older students will engage in the engineering design process and data collection while younger students will use geometry and develop their spatial skills.
Students will learn about Newton’s laws of motion and brainstorm a rocket design. They can then create a physical model, test their model, collect performance data, and redesign and retest their rocket until it's performing at its best.
Students will also decide how to measure performance. For example, is flight distance or accuracy more important? Here’s Sarah Elizabeth McCandless, a navigation engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with some expert advice about how NASA launches spacecraft.
Tips This Week
Launching rockets is great fun! Caution students to be careful to aim their rockets away from people and to wear eye protection.
The simplest rockets involve either balloons or straws. Any balloon will do, it doesn’t have to be a particular shape. If students don’t have straws, encourage them to make a paper straw.
This Week's Education Resources
Use these STEM lesson plans, projects, videos, and articles to get students learning how to launch a Mars mission. Lessons and projects are standards-aligned. These assignments can be done in any order and in part or in full as schedules allow.
