NASA JPL/NSTA Web Seminars:

Robotic Exploration of the Red Planet

This Web Seminar was developed in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Arizona State University’s (ASU) Mars Education Program. The event took place on May 14, 2008, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. The presenter was Greg Mehall, Research Specialist at the Arizona State University. Mr. Mehall provided a “behind the scenes” look of what it takes to build complex robots, like the twin rovers that are still driving across the surface of Mars. He also provided an update regarding the Phoenix mission to Mars which is expected to land on Mars at the end of the month.

• See this Web Seminar's Archive
• PowerPoint Presentation (16.9 MB)
• Presentation - PDF version (6.10 MB)
• Mars Exploration Program Multimedia page
• Phoenix Mars Lander: Entry Descent and Landing Movie (32.8 MB)

The Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, arrived at Mars in 2004. While at Mars, the robots have traveled over 4 miles (each), exploring the Red planet and unveiling information for scientists to analyze. Years of work took place to design and develop these machines, including some failures with the parachute and the airbags designed for landing on Mars. The web seminar was designed for teachers of grades 5-12.

Thirty-three (33) participants were present at the live Web Seminar in addition to the presenters and the NSTA staff. Participating educators represented the states of Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. All participants received a one-year subscription to one of NSTA’s SciGuides for completing the evaluation at the end of the program.

Here are some comments provided by the participants at the end of the Web Seminar:

• "It improved my understanding of the MER... their size, capabilities, etc.
  I enjoyed hearing about the engineering dilemmas."



• "This was very professionally done. Thanks!"



• "Greg was very knowledgeable and informative. Kids are going to love
  this one."



• "I enjoyed the entire presentation! Great information and very useful for
  "in the classroom" use."

Thanks to the participants and the presenter for the learning opportunity, the interactions, and a job well done!

• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
• Arizona State University Mars Education Program
  http://marsed.asu.edu
• Mars Exploration Rovers
  http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
• NASA’s Mars Exploration Program
  http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/

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For more information contact webseminars@nsta.org

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Underwritten by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory