An exciting industry simulation game for Houston-area high school
students — the fourth annual Mars Settlement Design Competition – will
be hosted by NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) Feb. 22-24, 2002. The
competition is designed to teach students in grades 10, 11 and 12 about
Mars, space science, the space environment, engineering careers,
organizing and integrating complex activities, teamwork, management, and
effective communication in an exciting and unusual context. It’s part of
JSC’s recognition of National Engineers Week.

An opportunity for news
media representatives to witness the competition and speak with
organizers and participating students will be offered from 2 to 3 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23. Media planning to attend must contact the Johnson
Space Center newsroom, (281) 483-5111, by noon CST Thursday, Feb. 21, to
arrange credentials. Transportation on site at JSC will be provided and
media should plan to arrive at the JSC main gate no later than 1:30 p.m.
CST Saturday, Feb. 23. The game scenario is set in the middle of the
21st century, when The Foundation Society, a fictitious private
organization that promotes human exploration and colonization of space,
issues an urgent call to industry to propose a design and operating plan
for a new Mars base. Up to 140 students will portray analysts, planners,
artists, writers, organizers and managers with a variety of skills, and
be teamed to form four competing companies. Guided by a professional
NASA or industry manager acting as their company’s Chief Executive
Officer, the students will emulate the experience of working as a member
of an aerospace company team, developing a proposal for the new Mars
base.

The base requirements will be complex, challenging, and exciting,
and will require imaginative and innovative approaches and solutions.
The Competition will conclude with each student company presenting its
proposal to a panel of NASA and industry judges, who will select a
winning proposal.

For more information about the Mars Settlement Design
competition, including photos of participants in previous competitions,
visit its web site at: http://marsbase.jsc.nasa.gov

For more information
about National Engineers Week, visit its web site at:
http://www.eweek.org