Unit 6.3: Evaluating Previous NASA Missions

Angela Daneshmand, Santiago Canyon College

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Initial Publication Date: September 20, 2024

Summary

What does it take to execute a successful NASA mission? In this unit, students research past NASA missions and evaluate the engineering design by comparing the mission goals to the design of the rover completing the mission. Teams suggest revisions to assigned rover/orbiter based on research and start to think about mission goals and designs for their own rover to prepare them for the next class session. Teams choose a planet to set up a potential mission and begin researching background information on their chosen planet to be prepared for the next class session.

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Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit, students will be able to:

  1. Evaluate the engineering design of previous rover missions and suggest revisions
  2. Apply science and engineering practices to address questions about Earth and/or planetary systems
  3. Work in teams to problem-solve and communicate the results of scientific investigations

Context for Use

This is an introductory unit intended to come after Unit 6.1 and 6.2. Students use information from previous units and the current unit to learn best practices in executing rover and orbiter missions. Engineering design is incorporated in the beginning phases of planning out a rover mission proposal at the end of this unit.

Target Audience:

Unit 6.3 is intended for students in undergraduate level Earth science courses, including entry-level courses designed for future educators.

Time Needed:

The activities in Unit 6.3 are designed to take place over the course of one 85-minute class session and can be administered in face-to-face, synchronous, or asynchronous classes.

Prerequisite Skills Needed:

Units 1-5 and Unit 6.1 and 6.2 should be completed before attempting this unit. If this is not possible, it is recommended that students watch the NASA videos from Unit 6.2 and have background knowledge on identifying landforms and estimating resource locations.

Description and Teaching Materials

Teaching Materials:

  • This slide set serves as a guide through Unit 6.3. Breakout session slides should be printed for each group (or accessed online if computers are available in the classroom). If using the slides online, the instructor should create a separate slide set for each group to access and work on.
  • For breakout session #1, students will be using mobile white boards to create a gallery walk poster board for their assigned mission. If students are using Google Slides for their Gallery Walk, they can use this slide set as an example layout. Each group should have their own slide deck.
  • For breakout session #1, students will critically evaluate their assigned mission and suggest potential revisions to improve the mission. They will practice analyzing and evaluating engineering designs and communicating research findings. Each group should have their own worksheet.

85-minute Class Session Overview:

  • Breakout Session 1 (45 minutes): Students research and evaluate a previous Mars Rover Mission. Students set up a Gallery Walk Poster Board (or use Gallery Walk Slide Deck Template (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 143kB Jan19 24)) for their assigned Rover Mission. Gallery Walk posters must include: title, mission goals (paraphrased is okay), drawing of rover with key parts/features labeled, an explanation of how those features linked to the mission goals, results of the mission, mission importance, and suggested rover/orbiter revisions made by your group in Unit 6.3 In Class Worksheet (Acrobat (PDF) 122kB Jan19 24) (What ideas do you have about how the mission could be improved? What would you have done differently? What new questions do you have about Mars based on the results?)
  • Gallery Walk (25 minutes): Students explore their peers' posters and take notes on each past mission. Each person must write at least one question per poster on a post-it and leave it for the group. Groups will gather all questions received, continue their research and answer at least 2 of the questions during their group presentation. During presentations, each group briefly presents their past mission and answers the questions they received.
  • Setting Up Your Mission (15 minutes): In groups, students choose a planet/moon to set up a potential mission (Example topics: Mercury, Venus, Saturn-Titan, Saturn-Enceladus, Jupiter-Europa, Jupiter-Io, Jupiter-Ganymede, Jupiter-Callisto, Uranus-Oberon, Uranus-Titania, Neptune-Triton). They will further revise their mission plans in 6.4 for their final presentation.
    • The instructor places the names of planets on a sheet of paper, tapes them to the classroom walls, and posts post-its created from previous class session (Unit 6.2) under each associated planet. Groups look over the questions posed by their classmates (generated during Unit 6.2) and keep these in mind when designing their rover.
    • Teams will need to generate at least 2 potential mission goals and describe what types of equipment their rover would need in order to accomplish these goals.
      • Keep in mind, the motivating question at the beginning of Unit 6 is "As Earth's resources are dwindling due to human consumption, we may find ourselves asking if there are resources on other planets that we can acquire. Are there resources on other planets that humans can access? Should we access them?"
    • Teams will create a basic Google slide deck for their final group presentation. Teams may want to utilize Canva to make their presentation more aesthetically appealing.
      • Slides should have no more than 3 bullet points each with less than one sentence of text.
      • Slides should have 2–3 images to help the audience visualize what you are talking about.
    • Each member of the group focuses on a different portion of the planet/moon for homework. These can be assigned during class:
      • Atmosphere/Magnetosphere
      • Surface/Structure
      • Previous Missions
      • Astrobiology
      • Comparison to Earth and/or Mars
  • If completing Unit 6.4: Students will want to start completing the first three slides for their presentation: planet conditions, potential resources to be extracted, previous missions/discoveries to the planet.

Homework:

  • The Pre-Class Homework aims to establish a foundation for designing a rover/orbiter in class. Each group has chosen a planet to explore, and researches facts about this planet to figure out which type of rover/orbiter is the best fit and which tools should be a part of the rover in order to complete your mission goals successfully.

Teaching Notes and Tips

For all modalities, instructors are encouraged to transfer the PowerPoint slides into Google Slides for classroom and student use.

Face-to-Face Courses:

  • If you are using Google Slides for the Breakout 1 Gallery Walk, use this template. If you do not have a class set of computers (or at least one computer for each group), each group can be given a whiteboard/poster board or a section of the white board to complete their Mars Mission Poster.

Synchronous Online Courses:

  • Students can access Google Slides to complete during a video conferencing session (e.g., Zoom) in breakout rooms. It is best for each group to have its own slide set. The instructor is advised to set these up before class starts. If they are using Google Slides for the Breakout 1 Gallery Walk, use this Gallery Walk Slide Deck Template (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 143kB Jan19 24). Students will need to be placed into groups for their Planet Mission Project.

Asynchronous Online Courses:

  • Students need to be assigned topics for Breakout Session 1 in advance. The instructor should consider using Google Slides to create their gallery walk poster and/or a video discussion board such as Padlet for students to present their information and ideas to the class. If they are using Google Slides for the Breakout 1 Gallery Walk, use this Gallery Walk Slide Deck Template (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 143kB Jan19 24). Students will need to be placed into groups for their Planet Mission Project.

Background Information Resources:


Assessment

Formative Assessment:

  • Gallery Walk Mars Rover Mission Collaboration/Presentation
  • Mission Goals Creation

Summative Assessment:

  • Gallery Walk Mars Rover Mission Suggested Revisions Worksheet

References and Resources

Barnett, Amanda. "Jupiter." NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA, 10 Aug. 2022, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/jupiter/overview/

Barnett, Amanda. "Mercury." NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA, 23 Sept. 2021, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/

Barnett, Amanda. "Neptune." NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA, 19 Apr. 2022, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/neptune/overview/

Barnett, Amanda. "Saturn." NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA, 4 Aug. 2021, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/

Barnett, Amanda. "Uranus." NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA, 4 Aug. 2021, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/uranus/overview/

Barnett, Amanda. "Venus." NASA Solar System Exploration, NASA, 10 Feb. 2022, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/overview/

Goodall, Kirk. "Mars Pathfinder Home." NASA/JPL Mars Pathfinder, NASA, July 1999, https://mars.nasa.gov/MPF/index1.html

"HiRISE Browse Map." The HiRISE Project at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab, NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona, https://www.uahirise.org/hiwish/browse

Isbell, Douglas, and Franklin O'Donnell. "Mars Pathfinder Landing - NASA Mars Exploration." NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, NASA/JPL, 24 June 1997, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/816/

Isbell, Douglas, and Franklin O'Donnell. "National Aeronautics and Space Administration ... - NASA Mars Exploration." NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, NASA/JPL, Sept. 1997, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/814/

Isbell, Douglas, et al. "1998 Mars Missions - NASA Mars Exploration." NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, NASA/JPL, Dec. 1998, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/818/

Isbell, Douglas, et al. "National Aeronautics and Space Administration Mars Climate Orbiter Arrival." NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, NASA/JPL, Sept. 1999, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/812/

"Mariner to Mercury, Venus and Mars." NASA Facts, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/809/

"Mars 2020 Perseverance Landing Press Kit." NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jan. 2021, https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/mars_2020/landing/

"Mars 2020/Perseverance - NASA Mars Exploration." NASA Facts, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, https://mars.nasa.gov/files/mars2020/Mars2020_Fact_Sheet.pdf

"Mars Exploration Rover." NASA Facts, NASA/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/825/

"Mars Exploration Rover." NASA Facts, NASA/JPL, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/825/

"Mars Global Surveyor." NASA Facts, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/813/

"Mars Global Surveyor." NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology, NASA, 28 July 2012, https://mars.nasa.gov/mgs/

"Mars Pathfinder." NASA Facts, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/815/

"Mars Pathfinder." NASA Science Mars Exploration Program, NASA, 7 Sept. 2019, https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/pathfinder/

Savage, Donald, et al. "Mars Exploration Rover Landings." NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION, NASA/JPL, Jan. 2004, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/826/

"Uncovering the Mysteries of the Martian Arctic." Phoenix Mars Mission - NASA Mars Exploration, NASA, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/817/

"Viking Mission to Mars." NASA Facts, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/828/

Williams, David R. "MARS 2020." NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details, NASA, 27 Apr. 2022, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2020-052A

Williams, David R. "Mars Climate Orbiter." NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details, NASA, 27 Apr. 2022, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1998-073A

Williams, David R. "Mars Polar Lander." NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details, NASA, 27 Apr. 2022, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1999-001A

Williams, David R. "Opportunity." NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details, NASA, 27 Apr. 2022, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2003-032A

Williams, David R. "Phoenix Mars Lander." NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details, NASA, 27 Apr. 2022, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2007-034A

Williams, David R. "Spirit." NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details, NASA, 27 Apr. 2022, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=2003-027A

Williams, David R. "Viking Mission to Mars." NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, NASA, 12 Apr. 2018, https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/viking.html