Mars: Top Ten Fun Facts

One of the first images taken by Perseverance on Mars!

Do you remember when I had the good fortune of chaperoning Team Mercury to the Kennedy Space Center? My daughter, along with her team of high school Space Exploration students and their teacher John Yi, took a trip to the KSC when they won NASA’s App Development Challenge. We watched the launch of a rocket, NASA’s Orion Ascent Abort-2, toured the building where rockets are built, the Vehicle Assembly Building, built our own rockets, stood under the Space Shuttle Atlantis, and learned about NASA’s work to get Perseverance to Mars through lectures and participation in the Mars Experience.

On February, 18, 2021, Perseverance landed on Jezero Crater on Mars, and the excitement of the engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab was palpable. Perseverance, which launched from Earth on July 30, 2020, will stay on Mars at lease one Mars year (657 Earth days) with a goal of seeking “signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.” Hon, did you watch the landing? Want to view raw images from Mars? Click here.

Top Ten Fun Facts About Mars

1. Mars is named after the Roman God of war.
2. Mars is red because of rusty iron in the ground.
3. The average temperature on Mars is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. 
4. There are signs of ancient floods on Mars, but now water mostly exists in icy dirt and thin clouds.
5. A day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes.
6. A year on Mars is 687 Earth days because it takes a lot longer than Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun.
7. Mars has two moons. Their names are Phobos and Deimos.
8. Based on the make-up of the planet and atmosphere (iron, magnesium, sulfur, acids and CO₂), researchers have concluded that Mars smells like rotten eggs.
9. Mars is home to the highest mountain in our solar system, a volcano called Olympus Mons, which is about three times the height of Mount Everest.
10. The first spacecrafts to land on Mars were the Viking Landers, which touched down on the surface in 1976.

Sources: NASA Science Space Place, Australian Academy of Science, National Geographic Kids

NASA Trip–Food For Mars

Team Mercury: Mr. Yi, Max, Andrew, Clare, Javier, Frances and Darcy

One of the coolest things we did at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex was the Astronaut Training Experience. In the Botany Lab of “Mars Base 1,” we planted seeds, discussed what kinds of  food would last on Mars, and learned the effects of different colored lights on the growing process.

A trip to Mars is a 3 year mission:  6-9 months travel time, 18 months there, and another 6-9 months to return to Earth. Some food would be sent ahead of a time while some would be grown by astronauts.

A recent New York Times article A Menu for Mars? NASA Plans to Grow Chiles in Space by Sarah Mervosh  talks about food on Mars.

Scientists are working on building a garden in space. The goal is to grow fresh produce to supplement existing packaged foods.

NASA has already harvested a variety of edible leafy greens, grown without earthly gravity or natural light. Soon, researchers plan to expand to a more difficult crop, Española improved chiles, in their quest to answer one of the most pressing questions of a Mars mission: How will astronauts get enough nutritious food to survive years in the unforgiving depths of space?

Scientists believe the project, if successful, could open the door to growing similar crops in space — think tomato plants and strawberries — and perhaps eventually to more advanced foods, like potatoes.

“This is the most complex crop we have done to date for food purposes,” said Matthew W. Romeyn, who is leading the pepper experiment for NASA.

The peppers are being tested on Earth, he said, and could be sent to space as early as next spring.

Scott Kelly, a retired astronaut who set an American record in 2016 when he returned after spending 340 days in space, said he received a shipment of fresh fruit and vegetables every few months while on the International Space Station. But that would not be possible on a trip to Mars.

“It’s not like you can just run out to the store,” he said. “To have fresh food, it helps with nutrition. It also helps with morale.”

No matter how many options there are, packaged food alone would not be enough to fuel a mission to Mars.

Certain vitamins break down over time, leaving astronauts at risk of inadequate nutrition, said Gioia D. Massa, a scientist who works on space crop production for NASA.

“We don’t really have a food system that we are confident will be good for the entire duration of a Mars mission,” she said. “We feel plants are a very good way to help solve that problem.”

More recently, NASA harvested red romaine lettuce, which had been nurtured under the purplish, LED lighting of a special vegetable garden known simply as “Veggie.”

If this space gardening plan works, scientists say, it could help combat “menu fatigue” among astronauts, who typically lose weight while spending months in space.

Aside from nutrition, gardening has another big benefit.

Maintaining a garden could also serve as a hobby for crew members during monotonous months. “It’s kind of like, why do people like flowers?” Mr. Kelly said. “When you are living in an environment that is very antiseptic or laboratory-like, or on Mars, it would be pretty devoid of life with the exception of you and your crewmates. Having something growing would have a positive psychological effect.”

Preparing planters.

Scooping granulated soil.

Planting tiny seeds.

Measuring water.

Leveling the soil.

Learning which plants are already growing.

Placing our plants under blue and red lights.

 

NASA Trip–Space Shuttle Atlantis

Countdown: the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon!

Hon, this is the perfect week to show you what my daughter’s Space Exploration team did at the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex in Florida. Lucky me, I got to chaperone, learn alongside the students, and watch a rocket launch! Woohoo!

Shout out to Mr. John Yi, the high school’s Space Ex teacher, and Jamie Semple and Arianna Moore, NASA’s App Development Challenge Team who work in the Office of STEM Engagement at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and who put together the entire itinerary.

My daughter asked, “They planned all of this just for us?” Yup, they did.

(space post photos are a combo of mine and those put together by the group)

Here’s what the KSCVC site says about the Space Shuttle Atlantis, “a space shuttle launched like a rocket and landed like a glider.” 

You can’t miss the entrance to the home of space shuttle Atlantis: a mighty full-scale space shuttle stack of two solid rocket boosters and orange external tank. Inside, Atlantis is displayed as only astronauts have seen her in space, rotated 43.21 degrees with payload doors open and Canadarm extended, as if just undocked from the International Space Station (ISS). One of three space-flown shuttles displayed in the United States, Space Shuttle Atlantis^® showcases the orbiter spacecraft and tells the story of NASA’s 30-year Space Shuttle Program.

In addition to marveling at the size of the Atlantis, visitors can “train like an astronaut in the essential functions of space shuttle flight with high-tech simulators,” experience a space shuttle launch simulation, and visit tributes to “the 14 brave astronauts who perished during the loss of orbiters Challenger and Columbia.”

Aside from marveling at the size of the Atlantis, my favorite part of the Space Shuttle Zone was learning about the Hubble Space Telescope and seeing photos its taken in outer space.

Deployed in 1990 and orbiting 340 miles above the Earth’s surface, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) debut was delayed when it was discovered the optic mirror did not work. Watch how dedicated astronauts fought to save the telescope over the course of five grueling service missions. Learn how Hubble has answered some of the most basic questions about the universe and is still operating in space more than 25 years later. Including an exact replica of the telescope suspended between two stories of the Space Shuttle Atlantis® attraction, HST Theater also allows a close-up look at the configuration of Hubble and its solar arrays.

Seeing the Atlantis up close.

Posing in front of the Atlantis.

Imagining traveling in a Space Shuttle.

Marveling at the scale of the wings and engines.

Trying the controls.

Anticipating the Space Shuttle Experience.

Wondering if the Space Shuttle Experience will feel like a roller coater (it didn’t.)

Remembering those who lost their lives. On display is a section of Challenger’s left fuselage with American flag.