Rachel+B

4/9/12 Prompt 1 Things you have to know send a Rover to Mars
 * The gravity on mars is less than earth
 * You can only send a spacecraft to mars if the planets are at their closest points.
 * You need a lot of thrust to get off earth's surface.
 * Once your in space, you can just use inertia to move.
 * Mars has large sandstorms that can block out the sun, so if you send a rover, be sure to have it have some form of storing energy.
 * Mars' surface can be rocketry and dangerous.
 * Mars has two ice caps, that you should aim to explore or aim to avoid.
 * Mars has much cooler temperatures than earth.
 * Mars has lots of huge volcanos and mountains

// Ms. Mc: Good facts about Mars and its conditions, however, they all came from our class discussion. Where is your original work? (-3). Please capitalize Mars and Earth as they are proper nouns. 7/10. //

4/9/12 Prompt 2 The history of Rocketry

There were many discoveries that lead to the creation of rockets. Actually, no one can be sure when the first rocket was made. We do know though, that a certain discovery made it possible for the ideas of rocketry to flourish. This discovery was a machine that could turn by using steam. This machine was invented by Hero Alexander and inspired the basis of rocketry. Nobody can be sure when the first rocket was created; because there are many ways that rockets might have been created by accident. One of the first more official rockets came from the Chinese. To speed up and largen the trajectory of arrows, the Chinese would use steam and fire to propel the arrows.

The first idea of the modern rocket was thought of by Russian professor Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. He thought that it would be amazing if we could use rockets to travel to space. His ideas weren’t built upon though, until Robert Goddard came along. Goddard spent lots of time trying to create a rocket built on fuel that could move straight upwards. After years of work, he finally managed to create a working rocket. This rocket could only go 12.5 meters up and only for 2.5 seconds. This might not seem like a great accomplishment, but for the time this was amazing. Soon, rockets were built to be larger and larger and soon people used them in war to. Rockets like the V-2 were weapons of destruction the helped many nations discover the potential of rocketry. America soon created NASA, a, organization dedicated to peaceful exploration of space that would benefit mankind. Before we knew it, we were sending men to the moon and rovers to mars.

//Ms. Mc: Very good overall summary! You left out the first man-made satellite of Earth, Sputnik, (-1) and you also were to include 2 drawings that related to your summary (-4). Please come see me if you are having problems. 5/10//

4/9/12 Prompt 3 Scratch Rocket Simulation Instructions to run Simulation: 1.Turn on sound of your computer. 2. Click the green flag on the top right corner of the box media type="custom" key="16391358"

Doug - Well constructed at the beginning, the flower was a unique idea! After the rocket's launch and zoom in the sc reen, the scratch stopped and none of the rest of the project continued on. I would like to have seen the whole thing I like that the rocket had a silver paint job, which made it look very futuristic.

Prompt 4 Rocket Photos

Each part of the rocket has a specific job that is necessary for the rocket. To explain each of their importance, I'll talk about each part, top to bottom. The nose cone, is a cone that is used to contain the pieces inside the rocket and decrease air resistance. The recovery system is a parachute that will come out when the rocket falls, so that the rocket doesn’t slam into the earth and shatter into a thousand pieces. The launch lug's job is to provide stability for the rocket prior to lift off. The motor mount is what holds the motor in place. The body tube is the body of the rocket. Everything else in the rocket is attached to this body. The rocket motor is what propels the rocket to get it moving and off the ground. The fins are used to direct the rocket and keep it stable.

//Ms. Mc: Good general summary. The launch lug isn't labeled correctly. It was the little plastic straw-like piece on the outside of the rocket near the fins (-1/2). Also, you didn't label the recovery wadding or describe its function (-1.5). Also, please add a caption to your figures and refer to them in your writing (-1). 7/10.//


 * Prompt 5 **
 * The Atlas V 541 rocket **

Very recently, NASA sent a new rover yet to mars. Weighing the most and being the largest rover yet, the rocket that sent it to space had to be able to handle the rover's weight. That's why the Atlas V 541 was the chosen rocket for this mission. Not only is it specifically made to carry heavy objects far distances, but there are also records of similar rockets also succeeding in their missions. The height of the this rocket is 191 feet and the weight is 1.17 million pounds. The Atlas V 541 rocket has many parts that are required for it to work. The Payload is the part that will land on mars, including the rover and any landing equipment. The Payload fairing is the nose cone that coats and protects the payload when the rocket is leaving the earth's surface. The Centaur is the engine that is used to get off of earth's surface and through the atmosphere. The common core booster is the main engine used in the rocket. The solid rocket boosters are little engines that can boosts the rocket's speed.

// Ms. Mc - good overview of the launch vehicle. You also were to include a photo of the rocket and refer to it in your text though (-4). Please capitalize Mars as it is a proper noun. 6/10 //


 * Prompt 6 **
 * Rocket launch lab **

Rachel Blum Cary Academy
 * ROCKET LAUNCH LAB **

The purpose of this experiment was to discover if the mass of a rocket affected its apogee. Apogee is the peak of the flight of a rocket, right before it begins its decent. When a rocket takes off, air resistance and gravity are pushing it down. Due to this, the rocket needs lots of fuel to get enough thrust to overcome the forces holding it down. Thrust is a force propelling an object or stopping it. As the rocket moves upwards, the amount of fuel it has decreases and eventually runs out. Even though the fuel is no longer burning and pushing the rocket upwards, the rockets inertia will keep it moving for a little while. Inertia is the object need to stay as it is. Eventually, the gravity and air resistance will overcome this and the rocket will stop. At this point it has reached apogee and then it will arc over and descend. The gravity will pull it down until it lands again. The heavier an object is, the more gravity pulls on it. Due to this, it is hypothesized that a more massive rocket will need more fuel and thrust to get itself to the same apogee of a lighter and less massive rocket.
 * INTRODUCTION **

In this experiment, rockets of different masses were launched and their apogees were measured. The test’ dependent variables was the apogee. It was found that the data supported the hypothesis that the apogee decreased as the rockets were heavier and more massive. This implies that the graph has an indirect relationship. This was shown by the differences between the results.



The lightest rocket with the least weight of 42.9 g had an apogee of 67.5 m. The second lightest rocket was 43.6 g and had an apogee of 67.5 m. The third lightest rocket, with a mass of 44.1 g, had an apogee of 62.5 m. The fourth lightest rocket had a mass of 44.3 g and an apogee of 57.7 m. The 6th lightest rocket had a mass of 44.6 g and an apogee of 62.5 m. One of these rockets was an out lier. (I think that’s what it’s called.) This was the 7th lightest rocket. It had a mass of 44.8 g and an apogee of 78.1 m. The reason this heavier rocket had a higher apogee was due to the fact that there was only one angle measure, and the sun might have messed up their view of the rocket. It is believed that this number was a mistake made by the angle measure. There was another rocket that was the same mass, 44.8 g that had the lowest apogee, 38.4 m. This rocket had the heaviest masse and had the lowest apogee. The lightest rocket had one of the highest apogees. If you compared the difference in the height of their apogees, it was clear that the hypothesis was confirmed and the heavier more massive rockets had lower apogees than the lighter rockets due to the fact that gravity pulled the down more because of their weight.

Prompt 7 Rocket Re-design lab ==For the rocket re-design lab, each group change the number fins or fins placement on the rocket. The group I was in added one more fin at the bottom to add stability. The idea of this was to add more stability to our rocket, since last time it swerved and landed on the roof. Because we were only adding one, we wont be adding to much mass, so the apogee shouldn’t have been decreased due to an increase in mass. The stability should have made up for any extra mass we had and it should even have raised the apogee of our rocket. Since there were originally three fins, the position of the fins isn't suitable to accommodate another fin. So we ripped off the other fins and re-glued them so that they could still be balanced when we added the fourth.== ==When the rocket was launched, it launched before the count down was over. When it took off, some of the excess glue caused friction on the launch pad. Once the rocket took off though, it went straight up but it wobbled slightly. It managed to reach and apogee of 57.7 m before it toppled back down to the earth.== ==The original rocket's mass was 44.1 g and the new rocket had a mass of 47.1. The large mass difference might have been what caused the decrease of the height of the apogee of the rocket. The old rocket's apogee was 62.5 m and the new rocket's apogee is 57.7 m. Also the flight stability of the seconded rocket was very good, but the center of gravity was very far back. The results of each rockets launches shouldn’t be compared since they are actually two different rockets. The first rocket landed on the roof and washed down the gutter so the seconded rocket that had different fins was a completely different rocket. This almost definitely affected the results.==

//Ms. Mc - good original thoughts and conclusions, however, the main issue with your second rocket was the placement of the fins made the rocket stick on the guide wire. You were to include a diagram of your new rocket rin design (-1). 4/5//

The History of Robotics
==The long and complex history of robotics dates all the way back to medieval times. Even the ancient Roman and Greek automatons were making robots during their time. Most of these “robots” of the time were only toys or tools. Overtime, slightly more complex pieces could be made. Even so, they were still extremely simple. The Arab polymath Al-Jazari, left text describing a something that resembles a clock. He claimed it was an elephant statue that moved and sounded at the hour. The industrial Revolution in 1820 increased the number of mathematicians and engineers. There became a need to educate people in math and science due to the demand for more machines to make clothing, stamps, food, etc. The main use for robots was to make items such as cloths, stamps and food more efficiently and quickly.== ==The first industrial robot to ever go to work was made in 1950. It was a robotic arm used to transport die castings in New Jersey. Soon though, people discovered that robots could be used for more than just work. The use of robots in business, entertainment, military, toys, and information sources only added to booming industry of robots. The next huge step for robots was sending them into space. Already, we have rovers on mars and robots that will soon fly out of our solar system. Over time robots have gone from mere toys and tools, to clocks, to industrializing machines, to iPhones and computers, and even to rovers that explore space.== ==

//Ms. Mc - good general overview and figures. Don't forget to give your figures captions including a figure # and title when you upload them and refer to them and specifically discuss them in your text (-1). For example, "as seen in Fig. 1 . . .". 9/10//

On the Edge Rover Video 5/8/12 media type="file" key="100_0304.AVI" width="300" height="300"

On the Edge Rover Programming

===In class, we programmed a rover to drive forward until it reaches the edge of the table, and then stop. The purpose of this was to simulate the actions of a mars rover roaming around on the surface of mars until it reaches the edge of a cliff.===

Block 4: Block four is a sound block that plays the sound “watch out!” at the sound level 75.
Prompt 11

There are multiple reasons that it is believed that mars is the most likely planet to hold life. The first is that it is the most earth like of all the planets in our solar system. The second is that it is an extraterrestrial (Do you mean closest to Earth???) planet and third, that it is the most suitable (excluding earth) planet in our solar system. When NASA sent rovers and orbiters to mars, they made many interesting discoveries. At the south and north polls of the planet, there are ice caps. Soon, they discovered that underneath the ice, there is frozen water. They also discovered that there is salt left behind on mars' dusty surface that can only be created in water. In 1996, scientists announced that they had found evidence of life on mars from a meteorite. This meteorite from mars had fossilized bacteria like substances, showing clear evidence for life. (This is disputed now though.) A micro organism is what makes up single cells or complex living organism. What defines something as living is whether or not it has all eight specific features. These features are: reacts to stimuli, grows, has cells, repertory system (respiration - uses energy and produces waste), adapts, reproduces, ect (homeostatic and need materials; -1/2). If a sample form mars came back from a rover, the teams at NASA would have to identify if I were dormant, alive, or dead, or non-living. A non-living thing is something that hasn’t ever had all 8 of the characteristics. A dead thing is something that used to have all 8, but doesn’t anymore (may still have them but they aren't functioning any longer). Something that is dormant could have all 8 in future, but some aren't working properly at the moment. Something that is alive is something that has all 8 characteristics. (and all are fully functioning.)

//Ms. Mc - good summary and discussion of how you would classify a Mars' specimen. Left out a few of the Characteristics of Live, -1/2. Also forgot captions for your figures and to refer to them in your text, -1. 8.5/10//