Mars
A compilation of resources for engaging the public in the Mars and Mars rovers.
Activities
Exploring the Solar System: Mars Rovers
In this activity, learners must work together to navigate a large obstacle course, similar to how scientists and engineers communicate with rovers to explore distant worlds.
Explore Mars! A Rover Game
In this cooperative board game, players work together to program a rover on Mars to successfully complete its mission. Players must collect all four data samples before the treacherous environment damages the rover beyond repair!
Exploring the Universe: Space Guess Quest Game
In this activity, learners play a yes-or-no question guessing game that identifies the many types of objects in space, from human-made spacecraft to nebulas, galaxies, stars, and worlds.
Exploring the Solar System: Pocket Solar System
In this activity, learners make a scale model of the distances between objects in our solar system.
Explore Science: Earth & Space Toolkits
Hands-on STEM public engagement activities and professional development resources about Earth and space science.
Voyage through the Solar System: Build a Moon Base Camp
In this activity, learners use building blocks to design and construct a base on the moon that allows explorers to survive and thrive!
Exhibits
Build a Human Habitat on Mars Exhibit Host Resources
Build a Human Habitat on Mars is a hands-on exhibit designed to inspire, engage, and educate the next generation of explorers about human exploration on Mars. The exhibit is designed to be integrated into the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition.
Build a Human Habitat on Mars exhibit shipped to 52 locations throughout the United States
June 28, 2023
Catherine McCarthy, Arizona State University
Build a Human Habitat on Mars is a hands-on exhibit designed to inspire, engage, and educate the next generation of explorers about human exploration on Mars. Designed as an addition to the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition, 52 copies of this new exhibit have been fabricated and distributed by the Science Museum of Minnesota to accompany 52 copies of the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition located throughout the United States.
NASA Mars Resources
- NASA Mars exploration program
https://mars.nasa.gov
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/resources/resource-packages/mars-resources/#Activities - NASA Mission to Mars Student Challenge
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/mission-to-mars-student-challenge/ - NASA JPL activities - including Mars helicopter and rover activities
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/
NASA Multimedia and Interactive Resources
- MarsTrek - Explore all the details of the Martian surface
https://trek.nasa.gov/mars/ - Use NASA Eyes to see where the rover and Mars orbiters are right now
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/orrery/#/sc_perseverance - NASA Space Place - Explore Mars: a Mars Rover Game
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/explore-mars/en/ - NASA Space Place - Learn about Mars
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/search/MARS/ - Sounds of Mars
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/sounds/
https://www.nasa.gov/mediacast/sounds-of-mars - Mars high resolution interactive images
Global CTX Mosaic of Mars https://murray-lab.caltech.edu/CTX/V01/SceneView/intro_c.html
Learn more about this resource
NASA Posters and Printable Materials
- NASA Mars posters
https://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/resources/mars-posters-explorers-wanted/ - NASA Mars Perseverance launch Posters, stickers, fact sheets, mission patches and more
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/resources/
NASA Videos
- Mission Overview: NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/mission-overview-nasas-perseverance-mars-rover/ - NASA Mars in a Minute video series
https://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/videos/?category=53%3A199 - NASA eClips videos
https://nasaeclips.arc.nasa.gov/search/?terms=mars
NASA 3D Printing Resources
- 3D printable Mars models
https://nasa3d.arc.nasa.gov/search/mars - Custom 3D print files can be generated using the NASA Mars Trek
https://trek.nasa.gov/mars/
Users can draw bounding boxes around any areas of interest to generate output files for 3D printing of desired surface features, instructions: https://trek.nasa.gov (choose "3D printing" from menu at the bottom of the screen
Mars Perseverance Resources
- Perseverance mission page for the latest news and images
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 - NASA Perseverance Images and Videos
- The View from Mission Control: See the exciting moment when Perseverance landed successfully on February 18th, 2021 https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25608/nasas-perseverance-rover-lands-successfully-on-mars/
- Perseverance Rover's Descent and Touchdown on Mars: View from the Onboard Camera
https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25628/perseverance-rovers-descent-and-touchdown-on-mars-onboard-camera-views/ - Zoom into the first high-definition panoramic view of Perseverance's landing site
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-gives-high-definition-panoramic-view-of-landing-site - Watch a simulation of Perseverance's entry, decent, and landing with NASA Eyes
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/mars2020/#/home
- Dig into all the NASA Mars exploration missions using NASA Eyes.
https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/orrery/#/sc_perseverance
Mars Perseverance Professional Development Workshops
- Recorded NISE Network Online Workshop - Preparing for NASA Perseverance's landing on Mars
On February 18, 2021, after a seven-month journey, NASA’s Perseverance Rover will land on Mars and begin its mission to study Mars’ habitability. In this NISE Net online workshop, Jim Bell, a planetary scientist and author in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, talked about the science behind this mission and the Perseverance Rover and what it takes to land on Mars. NISE Net developers also shared new and existing resources featuring Mars rover content you can use to engage your audiences. - Recorded workshop: How are You Celebrating Perseverance’s Landing?
NASA Museum & Informal Education Alliance resources (log in to Museum & Informal Education Alliance website required)
Slides and recording available for download
https://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum/Conversations/how-are-you-celebrating-perseverance’s-landing
Finding STEM Experts
- Finding and Collaborating with STEM Experts: see the "Space and Earth Science" section of the Working with STEM Experts: A Guide for Educators in Museums and Other Informal Learning Settings
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z stereo imaging system to capture this panorama at Van Zyl Overlook, where the rover was parked for 13 days as the Ingenuity helicopter performed its first flights.
PHOTO CREDIT: NASA