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Mission to Mars
Challenger Learning Center Job Overview
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Mission Storyline
In Earth years, it is February 2076. Just 100
years ago, Viking made the first robotic landings
on Mars. Since then, manned missions have
successfully landed and settled on Mars. This
mission begins with a new crew of astronauts in
approaching Martian orbit. This crew has been
sent to replace the existing crew that has manned
Mars Control for the past two years. Control of
the incoming flight has been transferred from
Mission Control in Houston, Texas to Mars Control
at Chryse Station. Mars Control will have as its
objective the selection of entry and departure
trajectories before the landing and subsequent
lift-off can occur. The Mars spacecraft, called
Mars Transport, will have as its objective to
bring the replacement crew to Mars, and following
the lift-off, to launch a probe to either Phobos
or Deimos (Marss moons).
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The Plot
In Earth years, it is February 2076. Just 100
years ago, the Viking made the first robotic
landings on Mars. Also, humans first landed over
50 years ago at Dao Vallis on Mars, and over 100
years ago, man first stepped onto the Moon at
Tranquility Base. The three consecutive Mars
missions (called Antares, Arcturus, and
Aldebaran) transported enough hardware to the Dao
Vallis area to build a permanent research base.
That base has been inhabited continuously since
that time. The success of this base has
convinced those on Earth to fund a
self-sustaining permanent Mars Base. A site
called Chryse Station in the Northern Hemisphere
was selected. As the site of the first Viking
landing, this location has the longest timeline
of weather data and a history of mild climate
conditions (by Mars standards). The current Mars
port of entry and departure is Chryse Station.
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The PlotContinued
The Mars Transport has been in transit from Earth
for 6 months, and it has just entered the Mars
Flight Zone. Control of the incoming flight has
been transferred from Houston Mission Control to
Mars Control at Chryse Station. Mars Control
must select the entry and departure trajectories
before any landing or lift-off can occur. Thus
far, the astronauts have experienced a nominal
approach, but events on Mars may soon make this
particular mission very special
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Crew Duties

• As part of the Mars Crew you will be working one
  of the following jobs. As the overview of the
  jobs is presented to you, you will want to take
  note of the ones that seem interesting to you.
  Pick your top three. This will come in handy when
  it comes time to fill out your application for a
  job. Happy job hunting

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Life Support Team

• The Life Support team has been checking the
  oxygen and water systems aboard the Mars
  Transport (MT) as well as the air pressure,
  temperature, and humidity in the cabin. They
  will also be checking some gases that have been
  collected from the Martian atmosphere, and they
  will be polling the incoming crew as to their
  favorite food crops. This information and
  research done by the Mars Control LS team will be
  used to determine which seeds to grow once the
  crew is settled at Chryse Station

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Life Support Team

• Astronauts cannot survive in space without a
  spacecraft to provide them with an Earth-like
  environment. The Life Support team is
  responsible for monitoring this environment. The
  LS-MT team monitors the temperature, air
  pressure, humidity levels, LiOH filter, oxygen
  system, solar panels, and water sources. Four
  water sources are tested for pH and for the total
  amount of dissolved solids (TDS). The LS-MC
  officers record and analyze this data to
  determine if the results are within acceptable
  levels.

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Remote Team

• The Remote team will be researching types of
  growing media (soil and artificial soil called
  hydrogel) on the way to Mars. They will
  determine which medium would work best for
  growing crops en route and on Mars. They will
  also be performing plant chromatography on some
  plants growing in the spacecraft, checking the
  type(s) of chlorophyll they contain. REM will
  look at volcanic ejecta from Mars volcanoes, and
  they will compare Earth and Mars minerals. The
  object is to see how similar Mars and Earth
  minerals are. If they are close in composition,
  the MT may need to deliver fewer building
  materials to Mars to expand the settlement.

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Remote Team

• The Mars Transport REM team (REM-MT) is
  responsible for conducting tests types of growing
  media within the Mars Transport glovebox. REM
  will perform plant chromatography experiments,
  examine volcanic ejectas, and compare Earth and
  Mars minerals. The information is sent to REM-MC
  to analyze. REM-MC will determine which soil/
  minerals may be of use to the crew.

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Isolation Team

• The Isolation team is divided into 3 sections.
• A. ISO-1 is in charge of hazardous chemicals
  carried on board the MT. The chemicals are
  stored in flasks inside the isolation chamber at
  the ISO-MT station. They must be massed and
  volumes taken to determine whether any have
  leaked.
• B. ISO-2 is checking meteoroid shields, stored
  in the isolation chamber aboard the MT. These
  shields must protect the solar array from harmful
  levels of damage from micrometeoroid impacts.
  The ISO- 2 team also is responsible for checking
  the ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels within the
  MT. Low levels of UV radiation are common. High
  levels can be hazardous to the astronauts.
• C. ISO-3 is responsible for checking radiation
  detectors on board the MT during the trip to Mars
  and again before and during the return trip to
  Earth. These checking procedures are critical to
  be certain the crew is protected from any
  radiation leaks. Radiation detectors have been
  taken from five areas within the MT and placed in
  the isolation chamber.

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Isolation Team

• The Isolation team uses robots to manipulate
  hazardous materials at three isolated stations
  aboard the Mars Transport. The ISO teams in
  Mission Control (ISO-MC) have a video monitor to
  view experiments within the isolation chambers.
• ISO 1 Mars Transport ISO 1 team (ISO1-MT)
  determines if any of the five chemicals stored in
  the Isolation 1 chamber are leaking. The
  chemicals must be checked daily. The ISO1-MT
  astronaut determines the mass of an empty flask
  and the five chemical flasks, and this data is
  sent to Mars Control for analysis. The Mars
  Control team compares the current mass of the
  chemical to most recent mass to determine if the
  chemical is leaking.

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Isolation Team

• ISO 2 The ISO 2 team in the Mars Transport
  (ISO2-MT) is responsible for monitoring the solar
  array. A damaged solar array could indicate a
  meteoroid shower is in progress, decreasing the
  Mars Transports solar power supply. Meteoroid
  test panels near the solar array must be checked
  frequently to see how many impacts have occurred.
  The Mars Control team records, researches, and
  analyzes the data provided by the Mars Transport
  astronauts to determine if a shield must be
  placed over the solar array to protect it from an
  impending meteoroid shower. In addition,
  ISO2-MT checks the UV (ultraviolet) Detectors to
  determine how much harmful UV radiation the Mars
  Transport crew is exposed to.

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Isolation Team

• ISO3 The ISO 3 team in the Mars Transport
  (ISO3-MT) uses a Geiger counter to check for
  normal levels of radiation in five recently
  collected Radiation Detectors. A small level of
  radioactivity is normal. A large level could
  create a hazardous environment for the astronauts
  aboard the Mars Transport. The team in Mars
  Control will record, average, and analyze the
  data collected by the Mars Transport astronauts
  to determine if the radiation level is safe.

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Medical Team

• The MED team is responsible for the health of the
  crew. They must conduct medical tests such as
  visual reaction and auditory reaction tests, grip
  strength, and blood pressure/pulse readings. The
  crews health must be at its peak to insure a
  healthy stay on Mars.

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Medical Team

• The Mars Transport MED team (MED-MT) is
  responsible for monitoring the health of the
  crew. They will conduct four different medical
  tests 1) visual reaction time 2) auditory
  reaction time 3) heart rate/blood pressure and
  4) grip strength. MED- MC is able to view the
  results of the tests as they are being conducted
  and entered into the computer. MED-MC then
  records and analyzes this data to determine if
  the test results are within acceptable levels for
  that crewmember.

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Navigation Team

• The NAV team is working constantly to bring the
  MT down to Chryse Station safely. They must
  achieve low Mars orbit, triangulate the position
  of the MT in relation to the position of the Sun,
  Earth and Mars, and land the vessel. Prior to
  lift-off, NAV must assure a safe lift-off, dock
  the MT with the mothercraft, the Ares, and turn
  the Ares toward Earth.

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Navigation Team

• The NAV team is responsible for navigating the
  Mars Transport. The NAV team must triangulate on
  the crafts position based on the position of the
  Earth, Mars, and the sun, and then put the Mars
  Transport into a low Martian orbit. Next, they
  must plot the exact path of the Mars Transport as
  it seeks to land at Chryse Station. The NAV team
  is also responsible for getting the Mars
  Transport off the Mars surface once the new team
  arrives on Mars. They must ultimately guide the
  Mars Transport out of Martian orbit and head it
  back to Earth

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As more incentive to do this

• Mrs. Noelle was the Navigator when she went to
  the Challenger Center!

Mrs. Noelle the Navigator!
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Probe Team

• The PROBE team must determine to which of Mars
  moons, Phobos or Deimos, to send a pre-built
  probe. In addition, they must mass the parts of
  another probe that will be built during the
  second half of the mission. Near the end of the
  first half, the first probe launch occurs.
  During the second half, PROBE officers are
  working together to build a probe to land on the
  other moon. (Teacher note At a critical point
  in the second half, Mars Transport may receive an
  SOS from some geologists who are exploring
  Olympus Mons, and are threatened by an impending
  dust storm. They need a transceiver to
  re-establish communication. So the PROBE team
  must decide whether to rescue the explorers and
  send the instrument package to them, or continue
  the research and send the probe to Phobos or
  Deimos.)

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Probe Team

• The Probe team for researching which of Mars two
  moons, Phobos and Deimos, is the most favorable
  site to send a probe to gather data. Once the
  decision is made, they inform the Mission
  Commander, and the probe is launched to the
  chosen moon. They must also mass probe parts
  that will be used during the missions second
  half to build a second probe. Once built, the
  second probe will be launched to the remaining
  Martian moon. Any dust on the assembled probe
  could cause a malfunction when it is launched, so
  in order to prevent any contamination, all work
  on the probe will be done inside the sterile
  environment of the Clean Room. Instructions for
  assembling the probe will come from PROBE-MC over
  a headset. PROBE-MC has a video monitor that
  allows them to view the assembly of the probe
  motherboard and to see the indicator lights as
  they turn on. The PROBE team is very important in
  gathering new information for scientists both on
  Mars and on Earth.

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Communication Team

• The COM team is in charge of sending verbal
  messages. They must observe NASA protocol at all
  times, organize their work carefully, and keep
  calm in all situations.

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Communication Team

• The Communication team is responsible for all
  verbal messages between the Mars Transport and
  Mars Control. Communication through COM includes
  short messages, emergency messages, and messages
  without numerical data. COM is also responsible
  for prioritizing messages so that the most vital
  messages are sent first and special messages are
  sent when instructed by the Mission Commander or
  Flight Director.

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DATA Team

• The DATA team sends messages by emailing. They
  must carefully type any message handed to them to
  be sure that it is accurate. They also will be
  showing images to various teams to help them
  understand the work that their teammates are
  doing.

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Data Team

• The Data team is responsible for all written
  communication between the Mars Transport and Mars
  Control. Communication through DATA includes long
  messages and messages with numerical data. DATA
  is also responsible for prioritizing messages so
  that the most vital messages are sent first. All
  messages are received as a printed copy and
  stored in the computer database for future
  reference. The Mars Control team can access an
  image library and show images to various teams in
  Mars Control.

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Complications

• To further complicate all the above, an
  unexpected dust storm is developing in the
  southern hemisphere and may push northward. This
  storm may rush the lift-off of the MT and
  threaten a group of geologists on Olympus Mons.
  This situation could become critical in the
  second half of the mission.