For those of you who participated in our three webcasts regarding Space Day, here’s some additional programming that may interest you. We received it from the folks organizing Space Day and pass it on to you.

-NASA Quest

Dear Educator,

With the recent discoveries from the Mars Odyssey mission that Mars may hold

vast stores of water ice right near the surface and away from the frozen

polar ice caps, there is a lot of excitement about the Red Planet. This

year’s theme, Adventure to Mars!, was chosen based on this mission and the

overwhelming fascination with the planet Mars. Several national polls

reveal that Mars is the planet that most captivates kids’ interest – both

for its mystique and because it is the only other planet in the solar system

that has the potential for human inhabitance. This year’s Webcast will

focus on the Adventure to Mars! theme. We would like to know what topics

you want us to cover on the upcoming Cyber Space Day Webcast, which will be

broadcast on Space Day, May 2, 2002.

The Cyber Space Day Webcast is meant to inspire the students in your classes

who love studying about Mars. There are many educational programs in

schools that focus on Mars such as NASA’s Robotics Education Project or

Challenger Center’s Marsville program. We would like to create a Webcast
0Some of possible webcast topics include: getting to Mars, living and working

on Mars, communicating back to Earth and further study of our solar system

from Mars. In what order of importance would you rate the following topics

as they apply to you and your students’ studies of Mars? Please rate these

topics in order of importance, 1 – least important and 5 – most important.

We appreciate your assistance in this matter.

  • Travelling to Mars (e.g. – Long duration flight and its effects on the

    human body)

  • What do we need to take to Mars? (e.g. – Can we bring enough food,

    clothing and water for a three year mission?)

  • Travelling on Mars (e.g. – Exploring beyond a landing site)
  • Mars Geography, Geology and Weather (e.g. – Would we be able to adapt to

    the environment?)

  • Mars and Earth (compare and contrast the planets)

    Additional topics that relate specifically to the Design Challenges include:

  • Tools for Living and Working on Mars (e.g. – rovers, robots, etc.) Design

    Challenge # 1 – Inventors Wanted

  • Communication (Would we be able to tell Earth what is really happening on

    Mars effectively and how wou?Qhat be accomplished?) Design Challenge # 3 –

    Space Day Star

  • Using Mars to Explore the Solar System (e.g. – What other parts of the

    galaxy would we study, and why and how?) Design Challenge # 2 – Mission:

    Explore

    Please email your responses to us at: info@spaceday.com.