Patrick

4/9/12

Mars Fact Sheet
Things to know in order to send a rover to Mars
 * Mars has polar ice caps so may need to make rover able to roam on cold materials
 * Mars is about half the size of earth so we need to consider this for the trajectory
 * Mars has seasons like earth
 * Winter = The rover won't be able to recharge
 * Mars only gets 44% sunlight so need back-up generator
 * Takes 7-8 months to travel to Mars
 * Very, very cold and hot.

// Ms. Mc: Good points about Mars and its conditions from our class discussion but I don't see much original work (-3). Also were to relate each fact to how it would impact getting a rover to Mars and working there (-1/2). Please be sure to follow what's outlined in the prompt. 6.5/10 //

History of Rocketry
The Chinese used fire arrows in warfare. The Chinese used mini rockets in their celebrations without even knowing they were importance to the way we picture space today. They would attach the rockets to arrows and launch them at their enemies. This was not very effective, but had a great psychological importance for the Chinese.

If you think that is impressive, then check this out, Tsiolkovsky attempted to launch a liquid propellant rocket. He then observed that liquid propellant rockets were the best type of fuel source. His nickname was the Father of Modern Astronautics. Goddard achieved the first successful flight using liquid propellant. He also observed that the liquid propellants were the better fuel than solid propellants. These rockets were used in warfare as well. The V-2 rockets were used by Germany. They used them to bombard other nations during WW2.

I haven’t talked about how our nation began astronautics yet!!! N.A.S.A was created when the Soviets launched Sputnik into space. Their goal/motto was to “have peaceful exploration of space for the benefit of all mankind.” Now-a-days N.A.S.A is #1 in aeronautics.

//Ms. Mc: Good general overivew of the history of rockety. You left out the part about the Hero Engine even though you included a figure of it (-1). Please be sure to check the prompt to be sure you include all parts as you were to have a second figure (-2). Also you need a title for each figure (-1/2) and please refer to your figures in your writing (i.e., "as seen in Figure 1, . . ."). 6.5/10//

Scratch Rocket Flight Simulation
media type="custom" key="14053926"

Instructions for Running Simulation

Hit "learn more about this project" Hit the green flag to begin running SCRATCH scripts

TO MRS. McCoppin!!! (The Ejection was on the actual script but did not show up here) (i have spoken to you about this)

Michael C- I like the music in the background and how it asked for your name in the beginning. You could have added something about inertia on your coasting slide. Your definitions were overall very descriptive and were up long enough.

enita- I love the music in the background and how you could type in your name when your simulation started. You could have made the text stay on the screen a little longer and have a little more detail on your coasting text, but overall your simulation was great.

Rocket Parts and Descriptions
Please view Figure #1 to see an actual part listed in this paragraph. The Rocket's nose cone acts as a streamline (guides airflow around rocket). The Body Tube provides structure for the rocket's parachute, engine mount, and recovery wadding (see below). The recovery system is a device for returning the rocket back to launcher for next flight(s). The Recovery Wadding protects recovery system (see above) from the hot engine. The Launch Lug guides the rocket off of the launch pad. The Motor Mount holds the engine in place inside the rocket. The Rocket Motor is the actual engine/motor. These are the main parts of a rocket.



Ms. Mc: Good labels and descriptions. Missing motor label (-1/2) and didn't describe the motor's function (-1/2). Missing fins' role (-1/2). 8.5/10

Atlas V 541 Rocket (Curiosity's Mission to Mars)
The Atlas V 541 contains one Atlas V Rocket(Fuel and oxygen tanks that feed an engine for the ascent; powers spacecraft into Earth orbit.), 4 Solid Rocket Motors ( Used to increase engine thrust), one Centaur ( Fuel and oxidizer and the vehicle's "brains"; fires twice), and one Payload Fairing (Thin composite or nose cone to protect the spacecraft during the ascent through Earth's atmosphere). You can see the Atlas V 541 being launched in Figure #1. The Atlas V-541 vehicle was selected for the Mars Science Laboratory mission because it has the right liftoff capability for the heavy weight requirements. The Atlas V 541 is 191 meters tall, and 1.17 million pounds.

//Ms. Mc: Very good overview and picture of the launch vehicle. Don't forget to include a title in your caption (-1/2). 9.5/10//

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Rocket Flights
The purpose of this experiment was to see if the mass of a affected the rocket’s apogee. The forces that acted on the rocket were gravity, thrust, air resistance, and inertia. When the rocket lifted off, the forces that acted on it were gravity and thrust. When the rocket was in its powered flight stage, the forces that acted on it were gravity, air resistance, and thrust. When the rocket was coasting, the forces that acted on the rocket were air resistance and gravity (no thrust anymore). When the rocket reached the apogee of its flight, the force acting on the rocket was nothingness. It was hypothesized that the rocket’s mass would affect the apogee of the flight because gravity pulls down harder on objects with more mass than it pulls down on lighter objects. The thrust of the rocket was greater when the mass for the rocket was less because the fuel that was burned on the lighter rocket was conserved more causing a longer powered flight.



As seen in figure #1the data for the apogee showed that the mass of a rocket does indeed affect the rocket’s apogee. The data of group 6 was an outlier because the rocket’s recovery system did not activate. The heaviest rocket only went 100 meters into the sky while the lightest rocket went a whopping 142.8 meters up. This is an inverse relationship he heavier the rocket the lower it would fly. The hypothesis was proved because the heaviest rocket went the least distance into the air and the lightest rocket went the furthest into the air. There may have been some variables that were not accounted for in this experiment. They were air resistance, angle gunners (apogee was affected by the angle guns), angle of launch (the tilt of flight would have affected apogee), weather, day launched, where the rocket was launched (what terrain would affect the thrust), what engine was in the rocket (amount of fuel), and did anything happen to the rocket that was unusual during flight? ==

Log Entry #7 ==

Rocket Fin Design


As seen in Figure #1, the blue angel fin has a different design than the other fins. The actual blue angels are very fast and balanced, so we figured that the rocket would be too. The 2nd fin design made the rocket heavier, so we thought that may affect apogee. The first fin design launched the rocket 148 m into the air while this fin design launched the rocket 0 m into the air. The reason for this may have been that the rocket's fins were too close to the launch lug. Also, if the rocket had launched the Center of Pressure would have been greater than the Center of Gravity because the placement of the fins caused this.

Log Entry #8 5/9/2012 History of Robotics

In around 350 B.C there was a mechanical bird (called “The Pigeon”) that was powered by steam. This is probably one of the first mechanical contraptions ever. Along with the Pigeon, Leonardo DaVinci designed a mechanical device that looks like an armored knight. The mechanisms inside "Leonardo's robot" are designed to make the knight move as if there was a real person inside. Inventors in medieval times often built machines like "Leonardo's robot" to amuse royalty. Later in time, Joseph Jacquard built an automated loom that is controlled with punched cards. Punch cards are later used as an input method for some of the 20th century’s earliest computers. Issac Asimov then created a few rules of robotics once the robots became more complex. The rules were…
 * 1) 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.


 * 1) 2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.


 * 1) 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In 1962, the first robotic arm was invented and performed tasks at GE… tasks such as maintenance and generating energy. You may think that robots come in solid form, but some robots (Artificial Intelligence or A.Is) take the data you say to it and create responses back. For example, people have used cleverbot in this class. (cleverbot.com) Cleverbot is an artificial Intelligence that creates a sort-of “conversation” with you. All of these events have lead up to today’s most modern invention in the terms of robotics, the rover Curiosity that will touch down on Mars in 93 days! Go ROBOTS!!!

// Ms. Mc - good general overview and I like how you tied in Curiosity. How do we primarily use robots today? You were to include 2 figures and refer to them in your text (-4). -1 pt. late. 5/10 //

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Log Entry #9
5/20/2012

Title?



The mission is to have Curiosity (the rover) go to mars and use its various instruments to see if there is life on mars, if there was life at one point, or if life can be sustained on mars. Curiosity will land on mars and analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores further than any other rover that has ever touched down on mars.

Some differences of curiosity from the other rovers is that curiosity is about 5 times as big as Spirit and Opportunity. This allows the rover to go further and over higher elevation of land. Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), like the successful Viking 1 and Viking 2 Mars landers in 1976. Radioisotope power systems are generators that produce electricity from the natural decay of plutonium, which is a non-fissile isotope of plutonium. Heat given off by the natural decay of this isotope is then converted into electricity. Curiosity is using the latest and greatest RTG built by Boeing! Its minimum lifetime is 14 years. The two on-board rover computers, called "Rover Compute Element", contain radiation hardened memory.

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) - The SAM instrument set will analyze organics and gases from atmospheric and solid samples.

CheMin - CheMin is the Chemistry and Mineralogy X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence instrument

Mars Hand Lens Imager - This system consists of a camera mounted to a arm on the rover, it is made to take microscopic images of rock and soil.

Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer -

Mast Camera - This system will provide lots of true color imaging with two cameras. (the cameras of the “head” of the rover)

ChemCam - ChemCam is a set of sensing instruments, including the first laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy Radiation Assessment Detector -

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rover Environment Monitoring System - Meteorological package and an ultraviolet sensor

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) – A pulsar that detects hydrogen or water.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sample Acquisition/Sample Preparation and Handling System – This device will illuminate samples with alpha particles and map the “spectra of X-Rays”

//Ms. Mc - excellent overview and figures of Curiosity and her instruments. Don't forget to include a title for your entry and each figure as well as to specifically refer to your figures in your text. 9/10//

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Log Entry #10
5/20/2012 Robot Code

media type="file" key="pws_ontheedge.AVI" width="300" height="300" Caption: Video #1 Title: On The Edge



<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The challenge was to make the rover begin moving when we said “GO” and to make it stop when it sensed the edge of the table. On the edge of the table there was a piece of Black tape and when the rover sensed the black tape it would have to stop. (and say? -1/2)

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As seen in Figure #1, the following will be a description of the blocks in the code. Good! (+1/2)

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">BLOCK 1 – the wait for <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> sound block was connected to port 2 and would tell the robot to wait until it detected a sound louder than __; -1. Then, it <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> would trigger the servomotors C & B causing the rover to move forward when a sound was picked up. (unlimited times and at power 75%)

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">BLOCK 2 – the 2nd block (a movement block) <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is just telling the servomotors to move forward, unlimited times, and at power 75%.

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">BLOCK 3 – the 3rd block tells the robot to not stop moving until it reaches a certain reflection of light. (How much light and what port? -1)

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">BLOCK 4 – the 4th block tells the robot to stop its servomotors C & B (by braking or coasting?)

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">BLOCK 5 – the 5th (and last) sound <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Century Gothic',sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">block tells the robot to say “GOOD JOB!” once all of the oter blocks have been executed. (Should have said, "watch out!" What port, how loud, and how many times? -1)

Ms. Mc - good overall but left out a few details. 17/20

Log Entry #11
6/4/2012 Mars

Mars has been a focus of planetary exploration for three main reasons, (1) it is the most Earth-like of the planets; (2) other than Earth, it is the planet most likely to have developed indigenous life; (3) it will probably be the first extraterrestrial planet to be visited by humans.

Some 7,330 pictures sent back my mariner 9 covered 80 percent of the surface demonstrated a history of volcanism, erosion by water, and reshaping of extensive areas of the surface by internal forces. One of the characteristics of life is that water is needed for life. Mars Odyssey landed and sent back records of near-surface ice. If mars can get hot enough to melt the ice, then water may once flow again. In 2008 the U.S. probe Phoenix landed in the polar region of Mars. It brought a chemical laboratory to study the soil. It found water ice underneath the surface of Mars and alkaline soil.

From the beginning observations of Mars, people have thought about whether life could have started on the planet’s surface. They were mostly concerned of intelligent life, but the focus now is on life’s origin, microbial communities, and limits to their survival. Who knows, Mars might have once (or still is) supporting life. <span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: 0px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 7130px; width: 1px;"> Mars has been a focus of planetary exploration for three main reasons, (1) it is the most Earth-like of the planets; (2) other than Earth, it is the planet most likely to have developed indigenous life; (3) it will probably be the first extraterrestrial planet to be visited by humans. Some 7,330 pictures sent back my mariner 9 covered 80 percent of the surface demonstrated a history of volcanism, erosion by water, and reshaping of extensive areas of the surface by internal forces. One of the characteristics of life is that water is needed for life. Mars Odyssey landed and sent back records of near-surface ice. If mars can get hot enough to melt the ice, then water may once flow again. In 2008 the U.S. probe Phoenix landed in the polar region of Mars. It brought a chemical laboratory to study the soil. It found water ice underneath the surface of Mars and alkaline soil. From the beginning observations of Mars, people have thought about whether life could have started on the planet’s surface. They were mostly concerned of intelligent life, but the focus now is on life’s origin, microbial communities, and limits to their survival. Who knows, Mars might have once (or still is) supporting life.