Fiona

Facts You Need to Know in Order to Send a Rover to Mars

 * == The ground is red and dusty because of the oxidized iron rocks which turn red and give off dust - the rover must be correctly built for this habitat so that no dust can get into its machinery and damage it ==
 * == Since mars spirals around the sun it has different seasons- The rover must be ready for all different climate changes so that during the winter it has enough sunlight for its solar panels ==
 * == Mars has huge craters, volcanoes and canyons that dominate most of the planet- The rover has to know where these are so that it doesn’t fall into them or go close ==
 * == The weather on mars is usually -125-25 °C (-190- 75 °F) and consist of no rain and a lot of windstorms- The rover needs to be ready for the cold weather and be closed up so that no rain or wind can get inside it ==
 * == There are polar ice caps at the north and south poles that are made out of CO2 and frozen water- If exploring these ice caps the rover has to have the ability to walk on top of them ==
 * == It gets only 44% the sunlight of Earth because of the thick red dust in the air- The solar panels must be able to get enough sunlight for the rover to function ==
 * == Mars and earth orbit the sun at different speeds and distances; sometimes they are far apart and sometimes they are closer together; the launch has to be done when Earth and Mars are aligned- you will need to aim ahead of where Mars currently is to reach it ==

//Ms. Mc: Good facts about Mars and its conditions. Nice addtions from our class discussion as well. Please capitalize Mars as it's a proper noun :). Good work! 10/10//

History of Rocketry
Around 100 B.C. a Greek inventor named Hero of Alexandria made a device that used the principles of today’s modern rocketry. This machine was made up of a fire which turned a bowl of water into steam which then flowed into a sphere with two L-shaped tubes coming out the end. The steam pushed out of the tubes causing the thrust for the sphere to rotate. Little did he know that this small discovery would conduct research to lead up to the big, powerful modern rockets we use today. The real true rocket was not invented until the Chinese put gunpowder filled tubes on an arrow to be used in combat. The Chinese soon found out that the rockets could propel themselves and were put on a stick only as a simple guidance system to keep the rocket going in one general direction through the air. In battle with the Mongols in 1232 these flaming rockets were first used. When the powder was lit, the rapid burning of powder produces fire, smoke, and gas which escaped out the open and caused a thrust for the rocket to move. All through the 13th to 15th century rocketry was being researched, experimented, and improved on. In England, a monk named Roger Bacon worked on improved forms of gunpowder that increased the range the rocket traveled. In France, Jean Froissart found out that more accurate flights could be accomplished by launching rockets though tubes. Joanes de Fontana, of Italy designed a surface-running rocket torpedo which could set enemy ships on fire. Almost all of the uses of rockets so far had been for warfare. In 1898, a Russian school teacher named Konstantin Tsiolokovsky proposed the idea of using rockets for space exploration. He also suggested using liquid fueled rockets that could achieve greater range. No one developed on this idea of a liquid fueled rocket until Robert H. Goddard began to experiment with solid-fueled rockets and measured the exhaust velocity of the burning gases. He became convinced that liquid fueled rockets could propel the rocket better and started to create a rocket that was liquid fueled. On March 16, 1926 he achieved the first successful flight by a liquid propellant rocket. Now small rocket societies were springing up all over the world. In Germany the V-2 rocket was formed to use against London in World War II. It achieved great thrust by burning a mixture of liquid, oxygen, and alcohol every 7 seconds. Both the United States and the Soviet Union started to realize potential of rocketry as a military weapon and started to experiment. Many basic missiles were created and the tension that led up to the Cold War began between the USA and the Soviet Union.

On October 4, 1957 the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space which they named Sputnik I. This satellite was shaped as a sphere with antennas stick out of it. Less than a month later the Soviets also launched a dog named Laika out in to space. She survived 7 days in space and was put to sleep right before she ran out of oxygen. A few months after these launches the US army launched its own device. The Explorer I was launched on January 31, 1958 and the October of this year NASA was formed. NASA became a civilian agency with a goal of peaceful space exploration for the benefit of all human kind.

//Ms. Mc: Great overall summary of the main contributions to the science of rocketry! Great drawings too. Please refer to them in your text (i.e., "as seen in Figure 1, . . .). 10/10//

media type="custom" key="14053868"
1. Turn on sound 2. Click the Green Flag to start 3. Enjoy! Click the Red Octagon to stop If the Simulation does not work click on "Learn more about this project"
 * Instructions for Running Simulation**

Taylor-Good job explaining all six stages of the flight. Next time maybe have your spaceship more creative. I enjoyed the ending alot.

Tori- I really enjoyed your definitions, and the ending was really cute, but there were just one or two spelling errors.

Rocket Parts


The 8 different parts of a rocket all greatly contribute to the structure and the way the rocket is able to fly as shown in the figure above. On the very tip of the rocket is the nose cone which guides the air around the rocket for less air resistance and a steadier flight. Without it the rocket would have another force to oppose and more thrust would have to be used to make the rocket fly. Under it is the long thin body tube which provides the main structure of the rocket and holds many important pieces to it like the recovery system. This is the device which is ejected from the rocket at the peak of flight and helps the rocket get down safely to the ground after its flight. Besides the recovery system the inside of the body tube also holds the recovery wadding which protects the recovery system from the hot gases that are emitted by the motor. Also on the inside of the body tube the motor is ignited and makes the rocket fly upwards overcoming earths gravitational pull. It is held in place by the motor mount which safely keeps the motor from flying away from the rocket. On the exterior of the body tube is the launch lug which helps the rocket fly straight up into the air and keeps it travelling straight. Last but not least are the fins which provide a steady flight and keep the rocket going in one direction.These are the important parts of a rocket which keep it functioning and flying.

// Ms. Mc: Great descriptions and labels! 10/10 //

Atlas V-541 Rocket
The Atlas V-541 rocket is made up out of 4 major parts as seen in figure #1. There is the Atlas V rocket which is the fuel and oxygen tanks that feed an engine for the lift-off it powers the space craft into Earth's orbit. Then there are the solid rocket motors that are providers of the rocket's thrust; there are 4 in total. The Centaur is like the vehicles brain and fires twice once to send the rocket into orbit and again to accelerate the spacecraft out of Earth's orbit and on its way to Mars. The last part is the payload fairing or the nosecone which gently guides air around it while going through Earth's atmosphere. The Atlas V-541 rocket was selected for the Mars Science Laboratory mission because it has the right liftoff capability for the heavy weight requirements. Itself, it is 191 feet (58 meters) tall and about 1.17 million pounds of weight.

[[image:cascience7-2012/fjw_Atlas_V541_rocket.JPG caption="Figure #1- Main parts of the Atlas V541 rocket"]]
//Ms. Mc - good overview and diagram of the launch vehicle! 10/10//

Rocket Launch Analysis and Data
The purpose of this experiment was to figure out if the mass of the rocket affected its apogee. When the rocket was on the launch pad it was not moving because the forces acting on it were equal and opposite of each other. These two forces were gravity and the force of the launch pad which acted in different directions and were equal to each other. During lift-off the force of thrust pulled the rocket into the air overcoming the force of gravity. The powered flight then still carried the rocket higher with even greater thrust because it also had air-resistance acting on it. When the rocket started coasting the engines were turned off and the force of inertia was now carrying the rocket upwards overcoming the forces of gravity and air-resistance. When the rocket finally reached its apogee the force of gravity was still acting on it. It was hypothesized that the mass of the rocket does affect the powered flight because the force of gravity was acting on the rocket at all times and if an object is heavier, gravity will pull it down faster than a lighter object. During lift-off the thrust was the same for all of the rockets. The thrust didn't carry the heavier rocket as far as lighter rocket during the powered flight because there was more gravity acting on the heavier rocket. This meant that the coasting time for the heavier rocket was not as great as the lighter rocket causing the heavier rockets apogee to be lower than the lighter rocket because of the mass. 

In the scatterplot graph above the average mass of the rockets was 45.3 grams with the lowest mass being 43.5 and the highest 47.2. The average for the apogee was 108.9 meters. This data showed that the lighter rockets had a higher apogee point than the heavier rockets. As seen in graph #1 the lightest rocket weighing in at 43.5 grams had the highest apogee flying 142.5 meters of the ground. The heavier rockets of 46 and 47.2g apogee were lower at about 71.3 and 100 meters. This data shows that there is an inverse relationship because when the rocket mass (IV) goes up the apogee (DV) goes down in opposite directions.

 The mass of the rocket did affect the apogee which was hypothesized and proven correct as shown by the data collected. Even though the thrust was the same the mass affected if the rocket flew higher or lower otherwise the data points would all be the same. It was also hypothesized that the lighter rockets would have a higher apogee such as the 43.5g rocket flying to an apogee of 142.5 meters; and that the heavier rockets would have a lower apogee. Such as the rockets with a mass of 46.0 grams which fled the lowest at a 71.3 meter apogee. The other rocket of 46 grams had a much higher apogee at 107.2 meters which proves that there could have been some errors or variables that affected the data. One of these errors could have been the weather conditions or the wind since the rockets were tested on different days that had different wind speeds. The wind could have caused for the rocket to veer off in another direction affecting the height of its apogee. Another variable could have been the angle gun measures which were different for different rockets. Different people could have measured the rockets apogee differently affecting the final measurement.

Rocket Fin re-design


The rocket will achieve a higher apogee because the fourth fin will cause for the rocket to be symmetrical and for the center of pressure to be lower on the rocket. Making the fins thinner will lower the mass a little and curving them caused for the air to flow around the rocket better as seen in figure #1.

The new fin designed rocket had a greater mass than the older rocket weighing 49.0 grams. The rocket before the fin re-design weighed only 43.8 grams which is almost 5 grams less than the new rocket. This might have been why the apogee of the new rocket was lower than the apogee of the old rocket. The extra mass caused for gravity to act on the heavier rocket causing for it to fly lower than the first rocket. Another reason that the new rocket also did not fly as high as the old rocket was because the extra fin added more weight to one side of the rocket causing for the center of gravity to be lower on the rocket. This also caused for the center of pressure to move down the rocket though making a stable flight path for the rocket. The main reason it did not fly as high as the first rocket was only because of the extra mass added on by the extra fin.

History of Robotics
In 320 BC Greek philosopher Aristotle made his famous quote: "If every tool, when ordered, or even of its own accord, could do the work that befits it... then there would be no need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords." Nobody followed up on this until 1495 when Leonardo Da Vinci sketched out a plan for a humanoid robot. Between 1700 and 1900 a number of robot like devices were created like the mechanical duck by Jacques de Vaucanson that could flap its wings, crane his neck, and even swallow food. The word robot was not used though until the play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) written by the Czech Karl Capek (1890-1938) was opened in Prague in January 1921. The world robot came from the Czech word "Robota" meaning "slave or forced labor". The play ends dramatically as robots take over the world and destroy humanity. Capek distinguishes the robot from man by the absence of emotion.

In 1941, Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov (As seen in Figure #1) writes the short story ‘Liar!’ in which he describes the Three Laws of Robotics. The first law is that a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. The second law is that a robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. The final law is that a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Asimov later added a fourth or 0th law which states that a robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm. The lower numbered laws are more important than the higher numbered laws on the list and a higher numbered rule can be broken if it is to follow a lowered numbered rule. These laws simply state what a robot can and can't do to protect not only the humans but also the robots themselves.



In 1954, George Devol and Joe Engleberger designed the first programmable robot "arm". Engelberger started a manufacturing company 'Unimation' which stood for universal automation and so the first commercial company to make robots was formed. Devol wrote the necessary patents for the company. In 1961, the first industrial robot, UNIMATE (As seen in Figure #2), was installed in a General Motors automobile factory in New Jersey. The assembly line robot is controlled step-by-step by commands stored on a magnetic drum; the 4,000-pound arm sequenced and stacked hot pieces of die-cast metal. As a result Engelberger has sometimes been called “the father of robotics”. This innovation led to much more exploration and discoveries in the field of robotics. In 1994, the student of Carnegie Mellon University made a robot named Dante II that successfully flew into The Alaskan (USA) volcano Mt. Spurr to sample volcanic gases. Also during 2004, Epson releases the smallest robot. Weighing 0.35 ounces (10 grams) and measuring 2.8 inches (7 centimeter) in height. The robot helicopter was intended to be used as a ‘flying camera’ during natural disasters. It is predicted that by the year 2020, the Intelligent Service Robot industry will be as big as the IT industry and that every household will own at least one robot.

//Ms. Mc: Excellent overview! 10/10//

In challenge #3 the robot started when it heard “go” spoken into the microphone. Then it moved forward an unlimited number of rotations until it sensed that the light reflected changed to less than 35%. Once it sensed the change of reflected light it was told to stop moving and say “watch out”.

media type="file" key="fjw_challenge Video #1- a video of challenge #3; on the edge



Block 1- a waiting sound block that tells the robot to wait until it hears the sound “go” spoken into the sound sensor from port 2 (What level of sound needed to be detected? -1/2) Block 2- a movement block that tells the robot to move forward from servers B and C at 50% speed and keep moving until told otherwise Block 3- tells the robot to wait for the next command once it senses a change of reflected light less than 35% with the light sensor from port 3 Block 4- a movement block tells the robot to stop when it sees a change of reflected light from servers B and C (by braking or coasting? -1/2) Block 5- a sound block that tells the robot to say “Watch Out” at maximum volume (for how many times?)

Ms. Mc - good explanation of the code! 19/20

** Life on Mars **
On November of 1971 Mariner 9 was placed in Mars's orbit to observe the planet and its shape and form. Mars was chosen simply for three reasons it is the most like earth, other than earth it is most likely to have developed indigenous life, and it will probably be the first extraterrestrial planet to be visited by humans. It was not though until the Viking Missions that the theme of the mission was to search for extraterrestrial life on Mars. No evidence was found of this and many Mars rovers after this failed to find evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars. There were some good discoveries though the first was that it was found out organisms can live in a much wider range of water than it was originally thought raising the chance of life since water is essential for life. The second discovery is that earth life started very quickly stating that Martian life is very possible. The third is that condition on Mars were very Earth-like when life first arose on Earth. The fourth is that earth and Mars exchange materials making it even more Earth like and increasing the chance of life.



Despite all of the failures in 1996 scientist suddenly announced they had found life in a Martian meteorite. They found four things leading up to this conclusion; there were bacteria-like objects found, the detection of hydrocarbons, mineral assemblages that were not produced in chemical equilibrium, and magnetic particles similar to those produced by some bacteria from Earth. Although now days scientist can prove that these claims were invalid proving that Martian life was not found. Since life could not be found scientist started searching for water one of the essential things for life. In 2001 the Mars Odyssey carefully mapped out the polar regains and neutron measurements suggested that the Polar Regions contain huge reservoirs of water ice under the surface. In Europe, an orbiter named the Mars Express detected vast fields of water ice as well as carbon dioxide ice at the south pole and confirmed that the southern polar cap, like the northern one, contains frozen water. Also rovers Spirit and Opportunity found evidence of water on Mars. Opportunity actually found a number of rocks that seemed to have been laid down at the edge of an ancient body of salty water. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter also went to Mars to search for water and its imaging system took photographs of dark streaks that appeared to be salty water flowing downhill after it had melted during the Martian spring. The last piece of evidence of water found on Mars was by rover Phoenix finding that was water ice underneath the surface of Mars and alkaline soil.



Microbes are organisms that are single cell, cell clusters, or multicellular relatively complex organisms. They are found in everything such as bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa; microscopic plants (green algae), and animals. If something from Mars has microbes it is not immediately alive it has to have all 8 characteristics of life as well. The first is to grow/evolve which according to the reading most microbes do. The second is reproduction which microbes can do if in the right conditions. They also need materials, respond to stimuli, and maintain homeostasis which microbes can do. The last two are that they are made of cells and respiration which means they give off energy and produce waste which both microbes can do. Since microbes do have all 8 characteristics when alive a sample with microbes from Mars would be dormant, dead, or alive. A living microbe would have all 8 of these characteristics (and all would be fully functioning).  Whereas a dormant one would temporarily have them suspended but still could have all 8 characteristics. Or the sample could be dead meaning that it used to have all 8 characteristics but no longer does. (no longer are functioning)

//Ms. Mc - very good overview and figures! Forgot to specifically refer to your figures in your text though (-1/2). 9.5/10//