Our Trip to Mars

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Our Trip to Mars

• Presented by
• The Second Grade from Outer Space
• The Greek American Institute of New York

March 30, 2006
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The Mission

• February 9, 2006, was the birthday of our alien
  teacher, Mr. Smith (also known as Broxholm on
  Mars)
• He took us on a bus from our safe surroundings in
  the Bronx, NY
• To add to the deception, the third and fourth
  grade came with us
• We went to the IMAX Theater in Nyack, NY, to see

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Roving Mars
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Our Heroes The Rovers
There are two Rovers Spirit and Opportunity
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Were on our Way!
Three ... Two ... One ... Blast-off!
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Time to Do Some Work
After all, Mars is a pretty big place!
Boy, were a long way from home! See the planet
by the point of the arrow? Thats what Earth
looks like from Mars! (Actually thats
magnified. It really looks like the small dot
inside this circle )
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Mars Really Is a Cool Place!
You think winters are cold where you live? Can
you imagine how cold -120 Celsius is? If there
was water on Mars, you could ice skate to school
all year long.
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Look at What We Found!
Salty Deposits!
Lava!
Rocks with lava!
This is Neat!
Water Erosion!
More Erosion!
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So Many Places to Go!
Mars is a great planet!
Look! My Tracks!
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What Did We Learn?
Bob Caffrey, an engineer from NASA, sent us good
information about Mars and the Rovers. He was
very helpful and nice.
We emailed our ten best questions to Bob. We
received answers back from Dr. Paul Mahaffy, a
scientist studying Mars and leading an
investigation in 2009.
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Question 1
Michael Pr. asked, What would have happened if
the rovers didnt land on Mars or they didnt
work?
Michael T. said, They would explode.
Nicole said, We would try our best to fix them.
Michael Pr. said, NASA would not know anything
about Mars.
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Question 1
Michael Pr. asked, What would have happened if
the rovers didnt land on Mars or they didnt
work?
Dr. Mahaffy said NASA ENGINEERS WORK VERY HARD
TO MAKE THE ROVERS LAND SAFELY AND WORK ON THE
SURFACE, BUT WHENEVER THERE IS A FAILURE WE TRY
TO LEARN WHAT HAPPENED SO WE CAN DO BETTER NEXT
TIME.
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Question 2
Phoenix asked, What have the rovers discovered
on Mars?
Michael T. said, It had water and lava.
Elias said, They have discovered rocks and lava.
Foula said, The rocks and water that melted on
Mars.
Chris said, Water.
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Question 2
Phoenix asked, What have the rovers discovered
on Mars?
Dr. Mahaffy said THE TWO ROVERS ON MARS
(SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY) HAVE DISCOVERED THAT
THERE WAS MUCH MORE WATER ON THE SURFACE OF MARS
IN THE PAST. THESE DAYS, MARS IS VERY COLD AND
DRY.
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Question 3
Maria asked, Why do the rocks on Mars have lava?
Angelica said, Because of a volcano.
Liza said, Because they have hot rocks.
Peter said, Because that is what soil is made
of.
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Question 3
Maria asked, Why do the rocks on Mars have lava?
Dr. Mahaffy said JUST LIKE ON EARTH THERE HAVE
BEEN VOLCANOES ON MARS THAT PRODUCE LAVA.
Hey! We made volcanoes in class that erupted and
made lava. The lava wasnt real just baking
soda, dish soap and vinegar.
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Question 4
Nia asked, How do rovers test rocks? How do we
know what they learn?
Daniella said, With a camera and a special
machine.
Maria said, They have a needle and stick in the
rock.
Michael P. said, With the camera.
Justin said, Rovers test rocks on Mars with its
arms. We know what they learn by the pictures
they sent us.
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Question 4
Nia asked, How do rovers test rocks? How do we
know what they learn?
Dr. Mahaffy said THE ROVERS TEST ROCK WITH
SMALL INSTRUMENTS THAT ARE PLACED RIGHT NEXT TO
THE ROCKS. THAT INFORMATION IS THEN SENT BY RADIO
TO ANOTHER SPACECRAFT ORBITING MARS AND THEN SENT
TO EARTH. SCIENTISTS INTERPRET THIS DATA TO LEARN
WHAT KIND OF ROCKS THE ROVERS ARE LOOKING AT.
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Question 5
Liza asked, How much did each of the rovers
cost?
Kosta 5,000
Phoenix said, Over 100.
Foula said, That is a hard question!
Ourania said, I think the pieces cost a lot of
money.
Maria said, They dont cost anything. They are
made.
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Question 5
Liza asked, How much did each of the rovers
cost?
Dr. Mahaffy said MORE THAN 400 MILLION DOLLARS
EACH.
A smart kid could buy a lot of pizza with that
kind of money! Thats about 20 million
pizzas! Thats 54,795 pizzas a day!
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Question 6
Justin asked, How far is Mars from the Sun?
Elias 10,000 miles
Kosta 30,000 miles
Ileana said, Lets just say it is bigger than a
football field.
Michael Pr. Said, 10,000,000 miles
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Question 6
Justin asked, How far is Mars from the Sun?
Dr. Mahaffy said MARS IS ABOUT 1 AND ONE HALF
TIME FURTHER FROM THE SUN THAN EARTH. THAT IS
ABOUT 228 MILLION KILOMETERS. (Thats about 179
million miles)
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Question 7
Michael P. asked, How fast are the rovers? How
fast do they go on Mars?
Nicole said, It goes 142 miles per hour. Its
fast.
Phoenix, said, Not very fast.
Daniella said, About 2 or 3 miles.
Peter said, The rovers move slowly.
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Question 7
Michael P. asked, How fast are the rovers? How
fast do they go on Mars?
Dr. Mahaffy said THE ROVERS ARE REALLY SLOW.
THEY NORMALLY DONT TRAVEL MORE THAN ABOUT THE
LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD IN ONE DAY. (Thats
about 100 yards per day)
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Question 8
Peter asked, How do the rovers move?
Kosta said, Wheels that can go on rocks.
Michael Pr. said, They move slowly.
Broxholm said, They are solar powered and they
move around on six wheels.
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Question 8
Peter asked, How do the rovers move?
Dr. Mahaffy said THE ROVERS EACH HAVE 6 WHEELS
AND A CAMERA THAT HELPS FIND ROCKS TO STEER
AROUND.
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Question 9
Foula asked, Why is going to Mars so important?
Elias said, So Mars does not explode.
Ourania said, To discover things.
Angelica said, Because we want to know if it has
life on it.
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Question 9
Foula asked, Why is going to Mars so important?
Dr. Mahaffy said WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY
OF MARS AND IF THERE WAS EVER A CHANCE FOR
MICROBES TO LIVE ON ITS SURFACE.
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Question 10
Chris asked, Could Mars be a place for people to
live?
What G.A.I. Second Graders Think
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Question 10
Chris asked, Could Mars be a place for people to
live?
Dr. Mahaffy said PEOPLE COULD LIVE ON MARS IF
THEY BROUGHT ALONG OR MADE THEIR OWN OXYGEN AND
BUILT SPECIAL HOUSES TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM
RADIATION ON THE SURFACE OF MARS. BECAUSE OF
RADIATION, PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY JUST VISIT AND
THEN COME BACK TO FRIENDLY EARTH.
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Wed Like to Thank

• Our parents for this great trip
• Mr. Smith, Miss Nee and Ms. Thrapsimis for taking
  us to the IMAX
• Miss Maria for helping us answer the questions
  using Microsoft Word
• Bob Caffrey and NASA for helping us with our
  project
• Dr. Paul Mahaffy for answering our questions

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How to Write Us

• You can write us care of Mr. Smith at
• Vernon.John.Smith_at_drexel.edu
• or
• The Greek American Institute of New York
• 3573 Bruckner Blvd.
• Bronx, NY 10461