Decorating Mars With Tinsel

Decorating Mars with Tinsel

"As seen on the Yule edition 1999 of Acorns Magazine"

Around here, married to a nuclear physicist, not a day goes by without some talk of space, robotics, inventions etc. So when NASA announced that the Mars Polar Lander would be touching down on the red planet's surface on December 3rd our family, as well as our homeschooling held it's breath in wonder and anticipation. To my dismay and that of my children; not to mention the resident Absent Minded Professor, the Lander sputtered and wheezed and never sent us new treasures of information. When my kids asked what was going on, I told them that NASA gave Mars a holiday gift...they decorated it with a big silver ball...much like decorating a holiday tree.

If it had worked it would have been great. The Polar Lander was launched last January along with the Mars Climate Orbiter. The two space crafts were scheduled to study the climate and weather of the Martian surface. More specifically, the Lander was to arrive on the southern pole of the planet while it studied the south pole's ice caps which are thought to be comprised of carbon dioxide. If the initial study would have gone well, NASA planned to keep it there until spring where it would have gathered information on climate ice fog, frost and wind. It would have checked for levels of carbon dioxide and water. Best of all, it would have given us our first look at soil samples of Mars over the changing seasons and examined the contents of the surrounding terrain. Robotics were to be highly used, especially one robotic arm that had an attached camera at the end. Technology, although it was a U.S. mission had been integrated with Russian devices including the Laser Ranger that was to analyze gas and dust in the atmosphere of Mars.

If you would like to gear your homeschool lessons around Mars and technology itself there are several web sites that I recommend. The first is a visit for all ages to the Robotics Institute. They are known for bringing the latest robotic technology to the public. Visit them at http://www.ri.cmu.edu. If you would like a set curriculum on the topic of robotics I recommend a visit to http://www.worldchat.com/public/sullivan/robot. I used it myself as a prep lesson with my own kids before we were to focus on current event science and the Lander. We also had found some nice photographs of Mars that we printed and hung up from http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html. Today, I guess that will have to suffice. I guess I shouldn't begrudge NASA, it takes a whole lot of precise work and practice to get such an undertaking to work smoothly. Much like homeschooling parents teaching multiple grades, right? Nonetheless, my kids were still interested in the whole space topic and the robots really peaked their interest. Just in time for Yule! If the space and robotic bug has bitten at your house there is a robot out there. Not the one located on Mars. No, not that far (besides you want one that works!). And there is a price range to fit every budget. Visit your local science or toy store or check out http://www.toysrus.com.

For $9.99 K'nex had the "K'nex World Copter Bot". The child builds their own robot with this 23 piece kit and color coded instructional manual. Recommended for ages 8 and up.

Next up, I found that Lego does make "Robot's Revenge" for kids aged 9-12. A 224 piece kit that builds several robots at once and where the child can have them mobile at the same time. This is a happy medium in value vs. price in my opinion as it runs for $29.99.

Finally, there's the one that the Absent Minded Professor wanted. Get ready parents, this one does everything save cook your breakfast. Lego has come out this year with the "Robotic Discovery Kit". It makes three mobile robots with just one set. Suggested robots are: "The Bug", a robotic insect with the ability to explore in the dark; "The Intruder Alarm" that can catch spring loaded rockets and finally "The Hoop-o-Bot", a basket ball hoop/robot that plays basketball related games. Each robot has a micro-computer interface capability and thus this luxury brings the price to $149.00.

The Absent Minded Professor thinks it's worth the money though. The micro-computer, called "Scout" allows the child to program different behaviors for their creations...over 3,000 different creations!

If we, as a computer society have learned anything, it's that a program can always fail and at the most crucial time, it probably will. Too bad though.

We were all looking forward to seeing the first surface samples of Mars here at our house. Whether NASA ever works out the bugs of the Lander or not, Yule here, will be filled with imagination and maybe a little robot for the kids to build. Sorry Professor, no computer interfacing robot for you this year...not unless you program it to do the laundry! But personally, as a true life graduate from the NASA Space Camp (Spring 1985), I'll never stop dreaming of space and the stars. No matter how many set backs we, as a techno planet must endure. And as for Yule robots, don't forget the batteries....Did anyone call NASA about that?