Ellie


 * 4/9/12**

Facts that We Need to Know in Order to Get a Rover to Mars

 * Cold desert world
 * Has polar ice caps (dry ice) don’t land on ice
 * Very thin atmosphere
 * Large sand dunes
 * No liquid water on surface
 * Does have seasons
 * Has two small moons Phobos and Deimos
 * Rusted iron surface
 * No magnetic field
 * 1/3 the amount of gravity that Earth has
 * Need a lot of fuel (make it out of atmosphere)
 * Launch window to determine aim for Mars where it’s going to be in the future when rocket gets there: every 2 years Mars is close (need to calculate so we can use less fuel)
 * Mars has huge dust storms make rover as dust-proof as possible
 * 4th planet from the sun
 * Closest at 200,000,000 miles
 * Store energy for the winter
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Average air temp is -63˚ Celsius
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Craters, large mountains, huge canyon
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pick flat area for landing
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pressure is 1/100 of that on earth

//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ms. Mc: good facts about Mars and its conditions. You were to relate each fact to a possible concern about either getting a rover to Mars or having it work on its surface (-1). Good additions from class disucssion. 9/10 //

Rocket History
The invention of the rocket is one of the most major, and most advanced, inventions in the history of man. This invention enables us to see beyond our solar system and beyond our galaxy. This all started with the Hero Engine, invented around 100 B.C. and invented by a Greek inventor named the Hero of Alexandria. This old time rocket did not look like the space shuttles and the space rockets of today, in fact it didn’t look like an engine either. Hero first put a sphere filled with water on top of a fire. He then put L-shaped tubes on either side of the sphere so that the steam (from the evaporating water) would get pushed out of those tubes, making the sphere spin around. The next people to experiment with rockets were the Chinese. They mostly used it for religious ceremonies but sometimes for war. The Chinese tied gunpowder-mixture filled bamboo sticks to arrows and sticks and used them to create explosions during religious festivals. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky decided to try using liquid propellants in rockets in 1898. He said that using liquid propellants would have better results because how high and far the rocket goes depends on the velocity of the escaping gases. He also came up with the idea of sending people into space using liquid fuel. Robert Goddard was an American scientist who actually used liquid fuel in his rocket. The rocket only went 12.5 meters high and 56 meters far but, like the Wright brothers, he did get it to work. He used liquid oxygen mixed with gasoline for maximum velocity. Soon after there was V-2 rockets that were developed in Germany. They were developed purely for war and could destroy whole city blocks. They had a bomb at the tip of their nose and use liquid oxygen and alcohol at a rate of one ton every seven seconds. After this close call with Germany the U.S.A. decided to set up its own space research center. This is how NASA was formed. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a space race to get an orbiting satellite up there. Russia sent up it's first satellite in 1957 called Sputnik (satellite in Russian). These days rockets can fly to Mars and beyond, and can destroy whole countries. Hopefully, these huge powerful weapons will be used for peaceful exploration of space, not destroying other countries.

//Ms. Mc: Great summary and diagrams! Please refer to your figures in your writing (i.e., "as seen in Figure 1"). I share your desire for rockets to be soley used for peaceful purposes! 10/10//

Log #3
 * 4/9/12**

Scratch Rocket Flight Simulation
media type="custom" key="14043236"

Instruction for how to run simulation: 1. Turn on sound 2. Click green flag 3. Press red stop sign to stop simulation 4. Click 'Learn More about the Project' if simulation is not working

Mackenzie G- I liked your first three speech bubbles. I thought you could of found a different rover that you could see better and not have to put green around it. I liked how your rover got smaller as it got closer to mars.

Marisa B- I liked how the rocket moved how a real rocket would. You did a really good job on this and I can tell you worked very hard on this. Like Mackenzie said, if I would take out the green outline from around the rover. But, this is a great simulation. Keep up the good work!


 * 4/16/12**

Labeled Rocket Parts and Purposes
Parts of this model rocket are labeled above in Figure 3. At the top of the rocket there is a nosecone. A nosecone helps with air resistance by creating a sloping surface so that it is easier for the air to go around it and not hit it dead-on. The nosecone guides the airflow around the rocket. This way the rocket's aerodynamics are increased and the rocket can fly higher. The main body of the rocket is call the body tube. The body tube houses all of the recovery system and the engine. Then inside of the rocket there is the recovery system. This gets ejected out when the rocket reaches the apogee. Usually it is a parachute (and in this case it is) and floats the rocket, in one piece, to the ground. Then there is the wadding. The wadding is fireproof paper that is wadded up to go between the engine and the recovery system because otherwise the recovery system would get burnt up. The launch lug is a little hollow tube on the side of the body tube that is used to help steer the rocket when launching. The launch pole goes through it and directs at a 90 ˚ angle. The motor mount is where the motor is housed as to not burn up the other components. The motor mount holds the most important piece for lift off, the motor. The three fins' purpose is to direct the rocket up and keep it on a correct path. The rocket motor at the very bottom is used to power the rocket. It contains solid propellants that create gases. The gases have to escape out of the bottom, creating thrust, sending the rocket upward. All of the parts of a rocket are important, just some are more important than others.

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


 * 4/18/12**

====The Atlas V 541 rocket (Figure 1) is the rocket that is currently taking the new rover Curiosity to Mars. It's mass and weight are about 1.17 million pounds when fully fueled. The Atlas was chosen for this specific mission because in the past other rockets of its "family" have been used and have succeeded. The payload fairing has to meet the mission requirements as it protects the rocket's top where the rover is. The payload fairing encases the spacecraft so that the rover will be safe. The Centaur accelerates the rocket into Earth's orbit and then out again when it is time. The Solid Rocket Boosters provide extra thrust for the rocket at liftoff. The Common Core Booster is the main thrust provider on the rocket. The RD-180 main engine is the main engine that provides most of the electricity which signals the boosters to fire. The Atlas was launched in November of 2011 and will land in August of 2012, and everyone is hoping for a safe landing!====

//Ms. Mc: Very good overview and diagram. I'm hoping for a safe landing too! You don't need to include the word "diagram" in the title for the caption since it already says "figure." You were to include the height as well (-1/2). 9.5/10//

4/24/12

Log Entry #6
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The purpose of this experiment was to discover if there was a relationship between the mass and the height of the rocket’s apogee. During the experiment gravity (acting downwards for the whole experiment), and the launch pad (acting upwards) were equal in force so the rocket wasn’t moving. When the rocket lifted off there was gravity, air resistance (acting downwards the whole experiment), drag (acting downwards), and the thrust of the rocket boosters (acting upwards the whole experiment) acting on the rocket; the force of the thrust was greater than the force of gravity and air resistance together. During powered flight the boosters were still thrusting. Gravity, power of thrust, air resistance, and drag were all acting on the rocket. While the rocket was coasting (engines are off and rocket is soaring on its own inertia) gravity, air resistance, and drag were acting on it. When the rocket reached the apogee (the highest point in flight) just gravity was acting on it because the rocket is stopped for no more than a second. It was hypothesized that the mass will affect the height of the apogee because heavier rockets have more gravity and require more thrust to move (so if a lighter rocket and a heavier rocket had the same amount of fuel, the lighter rocket would travel higher because it needs less thrust to liftoff). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The six data points in Graph #1 represented the weight and the apogee of the rockets launched. The average weight of the rockets was 44.55 grams. The highest apogees ranged from 47.7-107.2 meters high. This is an inverse relationship (where the dependent variable does the opposite of the independent variable) because generally as the mass of the rocket went up as the apogee of the rocket went down. The hypothesis was confirmed for the most part because it stated that the mass would affect the apogee by causing more thrust needed to liftoff and more gravity pulling on it. The errors that could have affected the experiment were things such as different liftoff angles, different wind speeds, the overall weather (rainy as opposed to sunny), the placement and shape of the fins, and the glue placement. These errors could have affected the experiment by (the wind) blowing hard upwards (causing the rocket to go higher), or the fins being too close together (more air resistance and less balance), and the glue placement could causing balance problems as well. It is concluded that the mass affects the apogee for the most part because the heavier the mass, the more gravity, and the more thrust needed to liftoff (opposite for if the mass gets lighter).

4/30/12

Log Entry #7


The tapered fin (it will taper from the top, facing the nosecone, to the bottom) makes the air flow around it so that there is no air resistance. The curve (shown in Figure #1) also directs the air around it instead of the air hitting the flat edge straight on. And will be placed in the same place because it worked the last time.

NOTE: The first rocket could not be retrieved so a second rocket (same model) of approximate weight was used instead.

The rocket's mass on the first launch was exactly 44 grams, the rocket for the second launch was 44.1 grams. The first rocket's apogee was 107.2 meters high, and the second rocket's apogee was 98.3 meters high. The second rocket was 0.1 grams heavier than the first rocket and the fins were curved and tapered. The curved definitely affected the apogee because the air was supposed to go around it smoothly and not get caught up, but this was not the case because the rounded edges actually were too small and didn't keep it stable enough. If there are bigger fins then if the rocket goes off track the bigger fins pull it back in line. Though this rocket did not go as high, it was discovered what went wrong and it can be prevented from happening again.

5/1/12

====Robotics all began in 350 B.C. when Greek Mathematician Archytas (see in Figure #1) built a mechanical bird that was propelled by steam. This is one of the first studies of flight ever recorded. Although there were many other experiments with robots, the next most famous robot, was invented by Leonardo DaVinci in 1495. It was a mechanical knight that was made to move as if there was a real person inside of it. Robots have been dreamt of, planned, and even built ever since 200 B.C. From the Battlebots built in 2000, to the rovers which landed on Mars in 2004, to the Japanese HAL robot suit built in 2006, everyday robots are being used.====



====Today there are many robots in our everyday lives. Cars are robots, ovens are robots, even alarm clocks are robots! People generally think of robots as a futuristic machine that eventually takes over the earth because it becomes smarter than the human race, but this is not the case because robots are only as smart as the person who programmed it. There was a huge technology craze in the 1900s and robots were a popular technology topic. They were designed to do work for us, to take care of people, and for our amusement. Robots were invented for medical use, like the CyberKnife (as shown in Figure #2), invented in 1992 to be able to make precise cuts during surgery. Even though science has had many great technical achievements the search for a human-like, realistic, robot maid will be on the minds of engineers around the world for years to come.==== //Ms. Mc - good overview and figures. I like how you included how robots are all around us today. Don't forget that the Mars rovers are robots too. 9.5/10//

5/16/12

Log Entry #10
On the Edge In this challenge the objective was to start the program and then say "go!". After "go!" was said, then the robot was supposed to go forward. When the robot arrived at the black piece of tape, it was supposed to stop (using the light sensor) and then say "Watch Out!".

media type="file" key="emj_robot.AVI" width="300" height="300" Video 1: robot performing "On the Edge" challenge

Block 1- a sound block that enables the robot to hear your voice when you tell it to go. What port? How loud does the sound need to be? -1/2 Block 2- a movement block that makes the robot move forward after it hears your voice at 75% power with no stopping. What ports? -1/2 Block 3- a wait block that makes the robot keep moving until it senses a 29% reflective light. This mimics the way a rover on Mars would stop when it sensed light difference at the edge of a crater. What port? Block 4- a movement block that stops the robot when the light sensor senses 29% reflective light. Mimics when a rover stops at the edge of a crater. Ports? Block 5- a sound block that makes the robot say "Watch Out!" when it stops. How loudly? -1/2

Ms. Mc- good overall, just missing some details. 18.5/20

6/3/2012

Log Entry #11
The search for life on Mars has been an ongoing exploration since telescopes were invented. Life could possibly be sustained there as the Mariner 9 (shown in Figure 1) found while orbiting. There were ancient volcanoes (proof of a molten center) and old eroded canyons (possibly made by water). Many other signs of life were found as well. Permanently frozen water ice and carbon dioxide ice were both found at the south pole. Many attempts were made by the Viking missions to discover past or present life, but the landers and orbiters could not find any signs of microbial life or any other signs of life. Although negative responses from rovers and landers continued, the meteorites coming in from Mars showed some hope. Scientists found objects that looked like bacteria, they detected hydrocarbons (compound composed of hydrogen and carbon), and magnetic bits that were similar to those produced by terrestrial bacteria. (This is disputed now though.) Micro-organisms, or microbes, are microscopic organisms that make up cells (as shown in Figure 2). They were first discovered in 1675 by a Dutch scientist. Not all micro-organisms are alive, and not all are dead. To determine whether a microbe is alive, dead, dormant, or non-living the definitions need to be known first. To be alive means to have all 8 characteristics of life. The characteristics include: Made of Cells (made of many parts), Needs Materials (needs raw materials for energy), Homeostatic (trying to keep something the same. ex: temperature inside body), Respond to Stimuli (responds to changes in environment or other changes), Reproduce (create another of itself), Grow (grows in height and appearance), Adapt (can adapt to changes in environment), Respiration (releasing energy). To determine whether a microbe is alive, the microbe has to have all 8 characteristics (and all 8 must be fully functioning. -1/2). If it used to have all 8 then it is dead. If it used to have all and can be re-activated then it is dormant. If it doesn't have just 1 of the 8 then it is non-living.

//Ms. Mc - excellent summary of the findings of the spacecraft exploration of Mars and how you would classify a specimen from Mars. Good figures too! 9.5/10//