Cameron

Facts We Need to Know to get a Rover to Mars

 * The Shortest distance between Earth and Mars, called the perigee, occurs once every 2 years
 * The best time to launch a rover or spacecraft would be when the distance between earth and mars is at its perigee.
 * The best place to launch the spacecraft is where mars will be in 7 – 8 months
 * The force has to be great enough to get the rocket, and whatever is going to mars in it, off of earth.
 * Mar’s gravitational pull is about .379 m/s^2 of earths.
 * Mars has strong seasonal variability
 * Used to have a magnetic field
 * The polar caps may have water in them
 * Polar caps on mars and earth and very similar
 * The tallest mountain on Mars is Olympus Mons, which is 23 kilometers at its highest elevation and bigger than Mt. Everest by 14 kilometers
 * Large sand/dust storms can block sun so it may be hard using the solar panels, may also block out communications, and rover needs to be as dust proof as possible.
 * Need enough to get enough thrust to leave earth’s gravity
 * At its closest, mars is 35 million miles from earth
 * Temperature is cold (-125 to 25 degrees C)
 * Make rover sturdy to minimize repairs
 * Mars' surface is Hundreds of thousands of craters, large mountains, and the Largest canyon in system so need to choose a flat landing area
 * Mars has polar ice caps made out of frozen carbon dioxide and water so need to land away from these
 * Needs high traction wheels in order to move across rocky, sandy terrain.
 * Mars has 2 moons so want to steer away from them.

// Ms. Mc: Good facts about Mars and its conditions and additions from our class discussion. 10/10 //

A History of Rockets Summary One of the devices to successfully employ the principles necessary to Rocketry was the Hero Engine. It was made by Hero of Alexandria, which involves a vat of water over a fire. The resulting steam goes through 2 pipes and up into a metal sphere. It then goes out of two L shaped tubes on opposite sides to produce thrust in the sphere.

Progressing later on into the time line, the Early Chinese used rockets as fire arrows to defeat enemies, especially at the battle of Kai Keng, when they used them to destroy the Mongol forces advancing against them. Another thing they used them for was as fire works for celebration purposes.

Looking into the begginning of Modern age Rocketry, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed the idea of space exploration by rockets. He also set the idea of a liquid propellant duel which would greatly increase the range of the rocket. This was proved possible by Goddard’s achievement on March 16, 1926, when he made the first liquid propelled rocket fly through the air. This started the race to find the best use of Liquid propellants for a rocket.

Later on, the German’s developed the V-2 rocket for destructive purposes and used against London in World War 2. It could take down a whole city block by itself. Going into Present Day Rocketry, NASA is the main Rocketry program for the US. It is a civilian run program built to peacefully explore space for the benefit of all humankind. It has become the center for many rocket experiments over the years.

// Ms. Mc: Very good summary and drawings. Left out Sputnik (-1) and figure numbers are reversed (-1/2). Please refer to your diagrams in your text (i.e., "as seen in Figure 2"). Good job! 8.5/10 //

Scratch Rocket Flight Simulation
media type="custom" key="14045250" Instructions to run simulation - 1. Press green flag 2. Watch 3. HAVE FUN!!!!! If simulation does not appear, click on the Learn more about this Project to see the simulation

Esra- I liked the lift off location, it was very clean and clear where the rocket was and launch was very smooth. It would have been nice when the ejection was taking place if the rocket was over mars and not next to it. Though I really liked the flight and how effortless it looked, it was really smooth and the rover itself was pretty cool.

Natalie- I liked all the little extra things you put in there like "Houston ready for takeoff" it made the flight simulation more realistic. The simulation would have been better if you would have put the definition of landing before landing successful. I also really liked your sound effects at takeoff.

[[image:cascience7-2012/CPL_Rocket_Photo_top.JPG caption="Figure 1: Rocket Labels Top"]]
The nosecone is used to guide the rocket during flight. The body tube is the main body and holds the recovery system, device and the engine. The recovery system is used to safely land the rocket after flight and during descent.The Launch lug is used to guide the rocket at launch, and the Motor is used to provide the thrust. The motor mount is used to hold the motor in place so the rocket stays propelled. The recovery wadding is used to protect the recovery system from getting burned and destroyed when the motor starts. The fins are designed to keep the rocket traveling straight through mid-air.

//Ms. Mc. Good labels and definitions. Please make your uploaded files small enough that they can be seen on a a single screen. Also, please refer to them in your text. 10/10//

Rocket Facts about Curiosity and its Journey to Mars
The Rocket chosen for the Curiosity was the Atlas V 541, and here are some facts about it. What makes up the Atlas V rocket for stage one are fuel and Oxygen tanks that provide the power for lift off and to get into space. There are 4 solid rocket motors used to increase thrust. Stage 2, the Centaur, uses fuel, oxidizers and the rockets “brains.” It fires twice, once to insert itself into Earth’s orbit and another to get on the way to Mars. Stage two also has a Payload Faring, which is a thin composite or nose cone to protect the spacecraft during the journey through Earth’s orbit. The Atlas V 541 was chosen for this mission because it had the right liftoff capacity and had success in earlier experiments. The Height of the Atlas V 541 is 58 meters and about 531,000 kilograms. As seen below, there is a picture showing the rocket, its parts and its different functions.

[[image:cascience7-2012/CPL_Atlas_V_photo.JPG caption="Figure 1: The Atlas V 541"]]
//Ms. Mc: very good generl overview and diagram of the launch vehicle. 10/10//

Rocket Launch Summary
The purpose of this experiment was to find out if a lighter or heavier rocket flies higher. The forces acting on the rocket when it is standing still are gravity and the ground pushing up, which equal and opposite to gravity’s thrust. At liftoff, the Thrust is greater than the gravity acting on it so it moves upward. Powered flight is when the Rocket has thrust but is in the air. The forces acting on it are Thrust, Gravity and air resistance. It goes up so Thrust is greater than both Gravity and Air Resistance. During Coasting, Gravity and Air Resistance are pulling the rocket down but the rocket is moving upward due to inertia. Apogee is when the rocket stops but Gravity still pulls downward on it. Descent is when it is moving downward due to gravity and air resistance is trying to keep it up. It was hypothesized that a lighter rocket will go higher than a heavier rocket because the heavier rocket will require more thrust and not get enough speed in its inertia to go higher than the lighter one.

As seen in graph one,The Mass of the rockets ranged between 42.9 grams and 46.2 grams, and the Apogees were between 38.4 meters and 78.1 meters. The hypothesis believed it was an inverse relationship, but in reality, it was a no relationship best fit line. This was believed because the 38.4 and 78.1 were believed to be outliers because for the 38.4, the fins were on backwards and that slowed it down. The 78.1 was believed to have had been given a stronger thrust or the launch lug was very clean and didn’t cause as much friction as the other launches. Another thing that proves the Hypothesis wrong is that the Heaviest rocket, 62.5 g, got the same degree as one of the lighter rockets, 44.1 g. This proves the hypothesis wrong and that their is no relationship. Overall, the Hypothesis was wrong because the lighter rockets flew just as high the heavier rockets, and the second to heaviest rockets both got the highest and the lowest Apogee. Error could have entered the experiment because of the Fin design, wind blowing, angle gunners being changed, and getting only one angle on some of the launches.

Rocket Fin Re-design


Our Fin design, as seen in Figure #1, will help reduce drag of the rocket through the air, while at the same time the rocket will be piercing through the air like a bullet. It will also help stabilize the rocket in the air. '

For our second launch, our mass was 1.3 grams lighter than the first launch. Our first rocket's launch mass was 44.8, and our second was 43.5. Our first launch apogee was 38.4 meters high and our second was 25.9. Even though our mass was lighter, our fin design made our rocket go lower because it trapped the air in the fins pointing upward, instead of letting it pass. We also believe that the Center of Pressure was higher than our Center of Gravity, which made the flight path unstable.

//Ms. Mc: good diagram, initial thoughts, and conclusions. The CG most likely was still above the CP so the instability/tumbling likely was caused by the air going in to the space between the fins and the body tube. 5///5

History of Rockets
In ancient beginnings, the Chinese and other countries had myths and legends about Robots. Although these places were the first ideas of robots or artificial human beings, some people believe the first solid evidence was in China during the 6th century BC, when the first water clocks were made. In the 4th century BC, the first mechanical pigeon was made. It was created by Archytas of Tarentum and was propelled by steam. The Cosmic Engine, a 10 meter clock tower built by Su Song in Kaifeng, China. Al-Jazari Designed and constructed many devices such as Kitchen appliances, musical automata powered by water, and the first programmable robot. Leonardo Da Vinci even came up with the idea that there could be Mechanical knights that could do basic things.



During the 1500-1800's, many automatons were built including ones that were capable of acting, drawing, flying, and playing music. Some calculators were even built and Johannes Muller con Konigsberg created to automatons, an eagle and a fly capable to fly. A duck was made that could eat and digest food like a real duck. John Kay invented his "flying shuttle" and other inventions were made to increase production in weaving and spinning industries. Hisashige Tanaka, a Japanese craftsman, invented extremely complex toys that were able to serve, fire arrows, or even paint. In 1837, the story of Golem of Prague was a humanoid artificial intelligence turned on by inscribing Hebrew letters on its forehead. In 1921, the word robot was popularized by Karel Capek. The world's first robot was a humanoid named telebox. In the United Kingdom, the Robinson machine was created for the British during the wars to crack encoded messages sent by the enemy. The first American programmable computer was completed in 1944 by Howard Aiken. During 1951 to present times, many computers and robots were created. In 1951, A computer called LEO became operational in the UK. It was built to be the world's first software programmable digital electronic computer for the public. Unimate, created in 1961, was the first industrial robot ever created began to work on the assembly line. The Rancho arm, developed in 1962, was used to help handicapped patients. The Apple II was released in 1977, and movies were beginning to develop around the world like Star Wars. Eventually, Space exploration came with Voyagers 1 and 2 launching into space. Now, Robonaut 2, the latest generation of astronaut helpers, helps Scientists explore space. It is the first Humanoid robot in space. With this achievement, scientists hope that they can eventually make robots to help space walkers make repairs or additions to the space stations.

Ms. Mc: very good overview and I especially like how you included how robots are used in space exploration. Don't forget to specifically refer to your figures in your text (-1/2). 9.5/10

Curiosity's Assignment
Curiosity's similarities to past rovers include a six wheel drive, a rocket bogie suspense system, and cameras mounted on a mast to help the mission team select exploration targets and driving routes. Curiosity will be powered by a Radioisotope power generator. The scientists will communicate with Curiosity by radio relays via mars orbiters. The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) will analyse sample materials collected and delivered by rover's arms plus the gasses. The CheMin will also examine materials gathered by the robots arms, but identifies the minerals in the rocks. The Mars Hand Lens Imager will take extreme close up pictures of the rocks and minerals. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer will determine the relative abundance of in the soil and rocks. The Mast Camera will show the rover's surroundings in high definition video sequences. 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 Rover Environment Monitoring System will measure the atmospheric pressure, temerature, humidity, winds, and ultraviolet radiation levels. The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) will measure subsurface hydrogen up to three feet below the surface. The Sample Preparation and Handling System includes tools to remove dust from rock surfaces, scoop up soil, drill into rocks, and collect powdered samples from rock interiors.



//Ms. Mc: good summary of Curiosity's instruments. How is she different from past rovers? (-1/2) 9.5/10//

Robot Programming code "on the edge" challenge
media type="file" key="100_0153.AVI" width="300" height="300"

Caption? -1/2

The Challenge was to design a robot to detect the edge of a table and move forward until it detects the edge, then it stops and says Watch out! You could use a Light sensor or Ultrasonic sensor. The Light sensor detects the light reflected back and the Ultrasonic sensor detects distance. My group decided to go with the light sensor and below you will find the sequence. (Robot was supposed to start when you said 'go." -1/2) Caption? -1/2

Block 1: this block is a wait block, telling the robot when it hears a noise greater than 50 decimals (volume) to follow the following blocks. What port? Block 2: this block is a move block, telling the Robot to move the servitor motors C and B forward at 50 percent power forever. Block 3: this block is another wait block, but this time it waits until the light sensor detects a color less than 40. This will stop Block 2. Port? Block 4: when the Light sensor detects a color less than 40, it will activate this block. This block automatically stops the vehicle from moving and triggers the next block. Ports? Block 5: When the stop button is activated, This block makes the robot produce a sound (watch out!), and ends the challenge.

//Ms. Mc - good overall. -1 didn't indicate the ports. 18/20//

Possibility of Life on Mars.
Since the beginning of the space age, Mars has been the focus of planetary exploration for three main reasons:1) it is the most life-like of the planets. 2) it is the planet most likely to have developed life other than earth. 3) it is the most likely to be the first extraterrestrial planet to be visited by humans. It was the main focus of exploration between 1960 and 1980 by both the USA and Soviet Union. The first orbiter to orbit mars was placed around mars in November 1971 and operated for about a year. The central theme for the missions was to discover life on Mars or if there was a chance life could exist on Mars. Most of the spacecraft sent to Mars failed and were destroyed or stopped working. A wave of spacecraft went to mars in late 2003 and early 2004. Many rovers, landers, and orbiters have been launched since then with more technology than the previous ones allowing us to search mars for signs of life.

 From the beginnings of telescopic observations of Mars, people have speculated about whether life could have started on the planet and what that life might be like. Recently, rovers with advance technologies have looked for signs of micro-organisms and other signs of life that are very small. There are some negative results, but some are good. The first is recognizing life can survive in a far wider range of conditions than was thought possible. The second is that life started very quickly on earth. The third is the mounting evidence of conditions on early mars that were like earth. A fourth is that earth and mars exchange materials. In 1996, scientists shocked the world when they announced they had found evidence of life in a martian meteorite. They listed 4 things similar to earths life and resources. (This is disputed now though.) Despite setbacks, the exploration of mars still remains strong especially with the MSL rover, curiosity, being sent to mars right now.

A microorganism is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell, cell clusters, or multicellular relatively complex organisms. You can identify that an organism is alive because it has the 8 characteristics of life (Made of cells, Needs materials, Homeostatic, Responds to stimuli, reproduces, Grows and Develops, Adapts, and has Respiration) that still function. If it is dead, it had all the functions of life, but still don't work. If it isn't living, it has no characteristics of life and never will (there can be some, but not all). If it is dormant, then it has all the functions of life and they aren't fully functioning, but they can be fully functional.

// Ms. Mc - very good overview of the findings of the spacecraft exploration of Mars and how you would classify a Mars' specimen. You left out your figures (-2). 8/10 //