Humans to Mars
Students plan a human mission to Mars, from long-duration practice on the space station and the Moon to the voyage, the landing, using Martian resources and building a small closed ecosystem that cycles matter to keep a crew alive.
Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops7 stops
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What students will see and do
Students fly from Earth to the International Space Station and the Moon, then through four Mars stops covering the voyage, the landing and surface conditions, living off the land, and a sealed ecosystem. Aetherion pauses for discussion at Earth (why explore), the space station (crew rules for a three-year mission) and the Moon (testing equipment closer to home).
Learning objectives
- Explain why a round-trip human mission to Mars would last about two and a half to three years.
- Describe at least four hazards of the Martian environment and a design solution for each.
- Model how matter (oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients) cycles among plants, people and decomposers in a closed habitat.
- Evaluate why the space station and the Moon are useful testing grounds before a Mars mission.
NGSS connections
| MS-LS2-3 | Students model the cycling of matter and flow of energy among producers, consumers and decomposers in a sealed Mars habitat, using Biosphere 2 as a real example. |
|---|---|
| MS-LS2-5 | Students evaluate design solutions for maintaining a balanced habitat ecosystem and protecting crew health. |
| MS-ETS1-1 | Students define criteria and constraints for a crewed Mars mission: launch windows, mass, radiation, landing weight and communication delay. |
| MS-ETS1-2 | Students compare approaches such as carrying supplies versus making oxygen and water on Mars. |
Stops on this journey
- Why Go So Far? (discussion stop)
- Practice in Orbit (discussion stop)
- The Proving Ground (discussion stop)
- The Long Voyage
- Landing on a Hostile World
- Living Off the Land
- A Tiny Ecosystem
Vocabulary
- launch window
- radiation
- habitat
- ecosystem
- decomposer
- in-situ resources
- perchlorate
- closed loop