Marisa

4/9/2012

Facts that We Need to Know in Order to Get a Rover to Mars
- Has seasons - The solar system was created 4.5 billion years ago - Maximum temperature of 36 __degrees__ Celsius - Minimum temperature -123 __degrees__ Celsius - If you weighed 70 pounds (32 kg) on the Earth, you would weigh about 27 pounds (12 kg) on Mars. - Mars once had rivers, streams, lakes, and even an ocean. - Need enough fuel to escape earth’s gravity - Need to launch so the distance traveled is the least possible - Launch __window__ to determine aim for mars where it’s going to be in the future when a rocket gets their - Everything lines up within 2 years - Mars has 2 small moons so need to steer clear of them - Mars has huge dust storms so need to make rover as dust proof as possible - 4th planet from __the sun__ - Mars has polar caps made of frozen carbon dioxide & water - Has a thin atmosphere - Mars has seasons - Mars is cold, average air temperature is- 36 __degrees__ Celsius so rover needs to be able to withstand cold temperatures - Mar’s has hundreds of thousands of craters, large mountains, and huge a huge canyon. - No liquid water so doesn’t need to worry about that in picking a landing site. - Pressure is 1/108th of that on earth so rover needs to be able to operate in this environment
 * Very cold

//Ms. Mc: Good facts about Mars and its conditions. You were to relate your facts to concerns about either getting a rover to Mars or having it operate there. You didn't do this for some of your facts (-1) and some of your facts are not related to a rover mission (-1). Good additions from our class discussion. 8/10 //

Rocket History


When a fire was lit under the machine it would turn the water inside of it to steam. The gas then went through the pipes and into the sphere. The tubes on the side of the sphere allowed gas to escape. As the gas escaped, it made the sphere rotate.

The Chinese had created a __sample__ rocket from saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal dust for a __religious__ festival. To create such thing they filled bamboo sticks with the special ingredients and put it in a fire. Instead of them exploding they propelled. Then, they attached bamboo to arrows and launched them with bows.

Konstantin proposed the __idea__ of space exploration by rocket. He created the __idea__ of using liquid propellants for rockets in order to achieve greater range. Tsiolkovsky was named Father of Modern Astronautics.

Goddard achieved the first successful flight with a liquid-propellant rocket on March 16th 1926.

Raumschiffahrt created the V-2.The V-2 rocket was small by comparison to today's rockets. It achieved its great thrust by burning a mixture of __liquid oxygen__ and alcohol at a rate of about one ton every seven seconds.

After the first Sputnik, the US followed the Soviet Union with a satellite of its own. In October, the USA organized its space program by creating __the National__ Aeronautics and Space Administration also known as NASA. NASA became a cilivan agency with the goal of peaceful exploration of space for the benefit of all humankind.



//Ms. Mc: You were to put your answers to the review questions into paragraph form and expand upon them (-3). Please be sure to put a caption for each diagram (-1) and refer to them in your text (i.e., "as seen in Figure 1"). 6/10//

Entry #3
media type="custom" key="14043254" Instructions for How to Run Simulation

1. Please turn up your volume. 2. Click on the green flag. 3. To stop the sketch simulation ,during anytime, click the red circle. 4. If the simulation does not run click on the "learn more about this project" link.

Cat- Marisa, I loved your project! Your countdown occurred during the perfect time (just when your rocket was actually about to blast off from the landing pad) and your information speech bubbles were detailed and accurate. I will mention that at some points your rocket didn't move like a real rocket does, but a vast majority of the time it looked lifelike. I think you did a great job on your project. It's apparent you spent a lot of time on your rocket and on your rover; they both looked so real! Keep up the fantastic work!

Rocket Parts


The nose cone is used to "cut" through the air, and reduces air resistance. Next, the body tube. The body tube is used to shelter all of the components inside of the rocket. Such as, the recovery system, recovery wadding, motor mount, and the rocket motor. The recovery system opens up when it reaches a certain height so that the landing will be safe. The recovery wadding prevents anything happening to the parachute. The motor mount keeps the rocket motor safe. The rocket motor produces thrust and is kept inside of the motor mount; the motor mount is inside the body tube. The launch lug guides the rocket to start it in the correct direction until it gets going fast enough that the fins can stabilize it. The fins are used as stability.

// Ms. Mc: great definitions and labels! 10/10 //

Atlas V-541 Rocket


The Atlas V 541 is made up of the Atlas V Rocket, Solid Rocket Motors, Centaur, and Payload Fairing. The Atlas V rocket is fuel tanks and oxygen tanks that powers the spacecraft into Earth’s orbit. Solid Rocket Motors: There are 4 solid rocket motors. All of which are used to increase the thrust of the engine. The Centaur is a fuel and oxidizer. The Centaur fires twice. The first time is to insert the spacecraft stack into low earth orbit. Then, it fires the 2nd time to accelerate the spacecraft our of Earth orbit and on its way to Mars. The Payload Fairing is a nose cone to protect the spacecraft while it’s going through Earth’s atmosphere. As seen in Figure 1, all of the pieces of the Atlas V 541 are crucial as to any rocket. The Atlas V-541 vehicle was selected for the mission because it has the right liftoff capability for the heavy weight requirements and rockets in the same family have successfully lifted also. The weight of the Atlas V-541 was 1.17 million pounds and the height is 58 meters.

Ms. Mc: Good overview and diagram. Please try to write in your own words more. 10/10

Model Rocket Write Up
 The purpose of this experiment was to discover if the mass of a model rocket affects its' apogee. There were numerous forces acting against the rockets. While on the launchpad, the forces were gravity and the launchpad. The forces were equal since the rocket was still on the platform. Gravity was pulling down while the launchpad was pushing up with equal forces which makes the rocket stay on the launchpad. Thrust came from the rocket's motor. Gravity was pulling down with less force than thrust (the force of thrust was pushing up). There was air resistance which was also pulling down, and afterwards there was powered flight. The forces during the powered flight were gravity and air resistance pulling down with less force than thrust pushing up. During the coasting of the rocket, the force of gravity and air resistance were in action. There wasn't a force pulling up during coasting since inertia was in action. Inertia follows Newton's first law. "An object at rest will stay in rest; unless, acted upon by an equal or opposite force." During the phase of apogee, the rocket stopped moving. When the rocket stopped moving, gravity was pulling down on it. When the rocket was in the phase of descent, air resistance and gravity were pulling down on the rocket. It was hypothesized that the rocket with the less mass will have a higher apogee because there is less air resistance. Also, it was hypothesized that a rocket with less mass would have less force of gravity pulling down on it.



As seen in Graph 1, all of the rockets' masses fell between 43 and 48 grams. The average of the rockets' masses was 77.3g. All of the apogees ranged between 40 and 120 meters. So, there was a wide range of apogees. Referring to Graph 1, there was no relationship within the data.

The hypothesis that the lighter the mass of the rocket the higher the apogee was correct. It wasn't true in this data since the lightest rocket of about 44.0g had the apogee of 107.2m. 107.2 meters was the highest apogee. So knowing that, it proved that the lightest rocket did in fact have the highest apogee.The rocket that had the apogee of 71.3m was the third lowest rocket out of 6. Also, the heaviest rocket with a mass of 47.1grams had the apogee of 63.7 which was one of the lowest apogees. There might have been errors in the making of the experiment. Some of the errors could have been some rockets had more glue or paint on them, the launching wasn't straight at 90 degrees, the weather could have been altered during different launches, or there could have been an error in the calculation with the angle gun.

Rocket Fin Re-Design


As seen in Figure 1, 3 smaller fins were added to the original rocket. One smaller fin went between each big fin. This design was created in hopes of increasing apogee and improving the stability of the rocket.

On the rocket's second launch the rocket didn't launch at all since the fin was blocking the launch lug. The fin wasn't giving the launch lug enough room to lift off. The first rocket's mass was 43.5 grams. The improved rocket's mass was 44.9 grams. There was a 1.4 gram difference between the first and the second launch.

When the first rocket was launched the rocket reached an apogee of 71 meters. The second rocket was never able to get launched since one of the fins was in front of the launch lug which prevented the rocket from being able to glide off. As mentioned before, the redesigned rocket failed to launch becasue of the small fin in front of the launch lug. The mass of the 2nd rocket would've made the mass greater and therefore the gravity would have made the rocket not reach a higher apogee.

5/3/11 Entry #8 History of Robotics

From the 1490's to today, robots have had a significant impact on the lives of people. Modern robots were influenced from the robots that were made a while back and they have been used as models and references.

In 1495, Leonardo da Vinci created a robot that was a knight. The knight stood, sat, raised its visor, and moved its arms like humans. The robot he created was only controlled by pulleys and cables. As seen in Figure 1, the robot barely looked like a robot; however, it resembled a smaller version of a real knight. This robot was quite advanced for its time. After the German-Italian Medieval Armor-Clad Robot was invented, it was used as a model since it was very functional.

Throughout history, robots have been used in various situations. Robots were used in warfare during World War II. The Germans used a remote controlled military robot called Goliath, a track mine demolition vehicle with high-powered explosives and destroyed tanks, buildings, bridges and killed many people. In addition, the Soviet Union created wireless remote-controlled unmanned robotic tanks, the Teletanks, in the 1930s and 1940s, to use during war. In Figure 2. the Goliath was used during World War II.

Today, the U.S. Military researches and develops automated robotic weapon systems.The military robots monitor activities in other countries, destroy targeted properties, and kill people. In addition, NASA used robots to explore the moon and Mars. Robots continue to become more advanced as technology improves.

 Now in the __21st century__, the robots have been programmed to do everything from playing the violin to performing surgeries. Robots are used to conduct surgeries since they are very accurate and far more precise than a human. Robots create cleaner cuts and cause less pain for the patient. The robots that perform surgeries save the surgeons lots of time to work on other things. In addition, the surgeon doesn't have to be present in order to control the surgery. In fact, the surgeon can be on the totally opposite side of the world and still be able to do the surgery. Refer to Figure 3 to see what a surgery robot looks like.

//Ms. Mc - very good overview and pictures! Don't foget to give each one a caption (missing on Fig. 2). I like how you discussed how robots are used for military and medical purposes. By law, surgeons do need to be in the operating room with the robot and they are in control of it (-1/2). How are robots primarily used today (-1/2). Good job, overall! 9/10//

Summary of Curiosity's Mission and Instruments
Curiosity's assignment is to investigate whether conditions have been favorable for life. Also, the purpose of the mission is to search for clues in the rocks about possible past life on Mars. Unlike past rovers, Curiosity will carry more advanced payloads. The payloads are more advanced since it is 10 times the size of other payloads. The rover will function off of electrical power. The electric power would be provided by a U.S. Department of Energy radioisotope power generator. Radioisotope generator produces electricity from the heat of plutonium-238's radioactive decay. Scientists will communicate with Curiosity by using radio relays with Mars orbiters.



Please, refer to figure two. All of the numerous parts and pieces of the rover are necessary. Without a specific piece then Curiosity will not excel as needed. The CheMin is very crucial to the rover. The CheMin is a fluorescence instrument. CheMin will also examine samples gathered by the robotic arm. It's designed to identify and quantify the minerals in rocks and soil, and to measure bulk composition. Also, the Mars Hand Lens Imager is very important to the rover. The Mars Hand Lens Imager is mounted on the arm. The Mars Hand Lens Imager will take close-up pictures of rocks, soil, and possible ice if there is any. The image is so detailed it shows images that are smaller than the width of human hair. Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer will play a role in the rover, also. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer is also on the arm of Curiosity. It is used to determine the relative abundances of different elements in soils and rocks. In addition, Mast Camera is necessary since it is camera that takes pictures of the rover's surroundings in high-resolution stereo and color. The Mast Camera will also store high-definition video sequenes. The camera is attached to the rover at about the human-eye height. Likewise, the ChemCam is critical for Curiosity since the ChemCam will use laser pulses to vaporize thin layers of material from Martian rocks or soil. The Radiation Assessment Detector will characterize the radiation environment at the surface of Mars. The information is useful for planning human exploration of Mars. The Rover Environment Monitoring System on Curiosity measures ultraviolet radiation, temperature, different wind levels, humidity, and atmospheric pressures. The purpose of the Sample Acquisition/Sample Preparation and Handling System is used to pick up soil, drill into rocks, sweep dust from rocks' surfaces, and retrieve powder samples. The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons ,otherwise known as DAN, measures subsurface hydrogen. It will measure the subsurface hydrogen up to one meter below the surface. Finally, Sample Analysis at Mars, also known as SAM, examines a gas chromatograph and different soils.



//Ms. Mc - great overview of Curiosity's payload, Marissa! 10/10//

On the Edge Robot Challenge
The purpose of the challenge was to give directions to the robot so it can sense where the blue tape ,which was on the table, was located. The robot was instructed to use an ultrasonic and sound sensor. The ultrasonic sound sensor was used as a tool to the robot so it can sense when it was near the blue tape. The sound sensor was used to tell the robot to go when the word "go" was said.

media type="file" key="100_0148.AVI" width="300" height="300" Video 1. NXT Robot Moving Using the Computer Programming



Block 1- A wait for sound block that tells the robot to move when it hears the word "go" through the microphone. (What volume of sound? -1/2 What port? -1/2)

Block2- Block 2 is a movement block. The movement block tells the robot to go forward. Also, it tells the robot to move forward at a power of 49. Port B and C are in use.

Block 3- The ultrasonic sensor is used to tell the robot to stop when a different object is sensed. The block tells that the ultrasonic sensor is plugged into port 4. Also, it tells the robot to stop when it discovers an object with a distance greater than 10 centimeters from it.

Block 4- a movement block that tells the robot to stop or pause. In this block, ports B and C are used.

Block 5- a sound block tells the robot to say "watch out". The words "watch out" are a sound file. The robot says "watch out" at a volume of 75 decibels.

//Ms. Mc -very good, Marisa! 19/20//

Life on Mars
Life is possible on Mars because research has shown that our bodies are capable of surviving a wide aspect of environmental conditions. Also, when life on Earth began, scientists found that life (rather the conditions for life) was quite similar on Mars as it was on Earth. Another piece of evidence is that pieces of Mars have been found on Earth, just like pieces of Earth have been found on Mars. Now, isn’t that interesting? Refer to figure 1, to see what Mars put on Earth. Many space explorations have even supported this theory. Many observations have showed information about the planet’s geology, meteorology, etc. (Give specific examples. -1/2)

A microbe or micro-organism is a very small organism that is made of a single cell or multiple cells. The eight characteristics of life are crucial as to deciding whether organism is alive, dead, dormant, or non-living. The first characteristic, in no particular order, is that the organism must be made of cells. Humans, bacteria, and plants all have cells. Cells have many parts which are called organelles. The next characteristic of life is all organisms need materials. The type of materials that are needed is water, minerals, and air (oxygen) (not all organisms need oxygen). Also, organisms take what they need from the environment. Humans need calcium for bones and iron for their blood. Plants need CO2 and water for photosynthesis and plants get their minerals through their roots. The third characteristic an organism must be is homeostatic. Homeostasis is that internally living things stay about the same internally despite environmental changes. Also, living things expend a great deal of energy to maintain homeostasis. The fourth characteristic is that an organism must respond to stimuli in order to be called living. There are two types of response. There is the positive. The positive is when the organism moves towards the stimulus. The negative is when the organisms move away from the stimulus. Being locomotive is the ability of an animal to move on its own from place to place. Many plants grow towards sunlight. Usually plants react to a change in the environment and mimosa leaves close when they are toughed. The next characteristic is that the organism is able to reproduce. Reproduction is the process by which organisms produce offspring of their own kind. Plants and animals reproduce in a variety of ways. The sixth characteristic is that all organisms grow if they are alive. All things develop from a lower or simpler to a higher or more complex way. Like for a human first it is an embryo, then a newborn, soon after it is as child, then adolescent, then adult. Not all things grow at the same rate or reach the same size. In humans, the proportion of body parts to the total size of a person changes from embryo to adult. For a visual, please refer to figure 2.Several factors can affect the health and growth of organisms. They are moisture and temperature. The other form of grown is regeneration. The seventh characteristic is that organisms adapt. Adaptation is modification that makes an organism suited to its way of life. For example, birds have hollow bones so they can fly and fish have fins so they can swim effectively. Evolution is the process by which characteristics of species change through time. All organisms share the same characters of life because their ancestry can be traced back to the first cell or cells. Organisms are diverse because they are adapted to different ways of life.

//Ms. Mc - great discussion of the characteristics of life but you also were to discuss how you would classify a specimen from Mars as either living, dead, dormant or nonliving (-1/2). 9/10//