Exploring Moon & Mars Geology

Robert S. Smith
Aerospace Education Mentor

Last Updated: January 23rd, 2008

Exploring Moon and Mars Geology

The Aerospace Education Mentor (AEM) program was established by the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI) to plan, implement, and evaluate professional development activities with K-12 teachers in support of the Florida Aerospace Workforce Pilot Project. This program provided mentoring, modeling, coaching, professional development, and technical assistance to improve classroom instruction in mathematics, science, and technology education. Robert S. Smith (Bo) was the AEM for Duval, Nassau, and St Johns counties in northeast Florida for the school year 2005-2006. This one year grant was supported by the Department of Sponsored Research and the College of Education and Human Services at the University of North Florida (UNF).
Dr. Marianne Barnes was the Principal Investigator for the program at UNF.

Workshops: Part of the AEM program was to conduct workshops with K-12 teachers. One workshop was a two day Earth Systems and Space Science workshop for Duval County Elementary Teachers during the Fall of 2005. Day One consisted of activities and instruction on geosphere and atmosphere topics. Day Two connsisted of hydrosphere and space science topics. Click on Workshops to see details concerning these workshops. A one day workshop was also developed called 'Exploring Planetary Geology'. This was first conducted in February, 2006 as a part of Brevard County's Science Day at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Rocklidge, Florida on February 20th, 2006. This workshop was also conducted for Duval County Middle School teachers April 1st, 2006. Check the Workshops for more information about these workshops. The final workshop for the school year was a workshop/tour conducted at the Kennedy Space Education Center for 22 Duval County elementary and middle school teachers on Friday, May 26th, 2006. Although the AEM program is no longer funded for northeast Florida, the Planetary Geology workshop is available. For more information about this program and to request the Plaentary Geology one day workshop, contact Bo Smith.

Presentations: A presentation was conducted at the Florida Association of Science Teachers Annual Conference in Orlando entitled 'Exploring Moon and Mars Geology' in November, 2005. This presentation not only updated attendees on the status of NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, 'The Earth, Moon, Mars, and Beyond', but also included several inquiry activities involving Lunar and Mars geology.

Science Fair Project: Part of the program was and continues to be to provide mentoring for student science fair projects when requested.
Click on Science Fair Project to see an expample of one of these science fair projects.

The Constellation Program
Constellation is the term used to describe NASA's program for manned missions to first the Moon and then to Mars. This program will use two Aeres rocket variants to put various components into Earth orbit. Orion is the new crew exploration vehicle (cev) which is in development. Orion will be used to fly International Space Station service missions beginning about 2014 and as the crew capsule for manned lunar missions beginning between 2015 and 2020. Lessons learned from the Apollo Program are being used to develop the concept and hardware for the Constellation program. The concept is for an Aeres 1 rocket to take an Orion into an Earth orbit and dock with an Altair lunar lander and an 'Earth departure module' which have been previously put into orbit using an Aeres V rocket. The Orion will arrive at the Moon mated to the Altair lunar lander. Once in orbit, the Orion will separate from Altair. Altair will descend to the lunar surface with all four Orion crewmembers. Altair will land and provide a base for surface operations. Once the lunar science missions are completed, the four crew mwembers will be returned to Orion in lunar orbit using Altair's ascent module. Orion will return to earth and conduct a parachute assisted terrestrial landing.
To see images of the Constellation component click on Exploring the Moon.

First the Moon and then on to Mars

Concept and Timeline

Space Shuttle and International Space Station

2008- Continue space shuttle missions to the International Space Station.
Complete construction of the ISS through 2010
2010- Retire the Space Shuttle

Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) (Orion)

2014- First CEV delivered to NASA. Begin to use Ares 1 launch vehicle to launch Orion (CEV) for space station support missions.

Mars Robotic Missions

2006- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began operations in Mars orbit
2007 (Delayed)- Mars Lander Phoenix is launched Website
2009- Mars Science Laboratory Website for Mars Future Missions

Returning to the Moon

2008- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Mission
2010- Lunar Lander Mission
2015- 2020- Resume human lunar missions using the Aeres V launch
vehicle, the Orion CEV, and the Altar lunar lander

Mars Crewed Missions

TBA- Conduct human missions to Mars after demonstrating the
ability to conduct sustained exploration of the Moon

Current Missions

Spirit and Opportunity Mars Rovers

The 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity' rovers have been on the Mars surface for several years now. Originally designed for six months of operations on the surface of Mars, they have exceeded all expectations. Spirit is operating in the vicinity of the Gusev crater and Opportunity is operating on the plateau Meridiani. Check out http://marsrover.nasa.gov/ for current information.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched on Friday, August 12th, 2005. After a voyage of seven months, MRO will enter a temporary elliptical orbit around Mars (March 2006). After that, MRO will use friction from the Mars atmosphere for about six months to achieve a more circular orbit and begin reconnaissance of Mars (about September 2006). NASA's MRO Website

The New Horizons (Pluto-Kuiper Belt) Mission launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V rocket
afternon of Thursday, January 19th, 2006.
NASA's New Horizon Website

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