Ethan+W+SFLOM

Curiosity and its Geology Tests on Mars

Tests How do you identify Minerals? Well identify minerals and rocks geologists do a series of tests. One test is called the streak test. The streak test is when you rubb a rock or mineral against a white tile and compare the color of the strak. Scientists also do Magnetism tests. Magnetism tests are when you see if a material is magnetic or not this narrows the search area a lot. Another test people due is call ed the transparency test. This is where a light is shined on a material and see how far the light goes through it. these are only a few of the many tests used to identify materials. This is an image of a streak test. Curiosity on Mars The robot Curiosity was sent to Mars to discover and explore the planets surface. While on Mars the robot will test rocks and minerals. To do this curiosity drills a hole in something and collects the dust. Once the dust is collected it is moved into the heart of the robot wear it is tested. Once it is tested the substance is gotten rid of and Curiosity moves on.

This is Curiosity.

Mindstorm Motor

The mindstorm robots would be pretty much useless without Its motor. The motor enables the robot to be mobile. The motor doesn't just allow the robot to move forward but it also moves the robot backwards, left, and Right. The can be programed to move in certain ways from the mind storms program on the computer. For example you can program the so it can use more power or less power when it moves. You can also tell it which way to turn and how many degrees to turn.

This is a Mindstorm Robot

Mindstorm Sensor

There are many different sensors that can be programmed to the mindstorm robots so they can detect several different things. The touch sensor can be programmed to detect a blockage in front of the robot. The touch sensor goes in front of the robot and when something touches it it reacts and does whatever its programmed to do. The sound sensor works when the robot is completing a task and a sound is made. The robot reacts by doing what it is programmed to do. The ultra sonic sensor is used to find how far away something is. The light sensor is used to tell the value of something's color.

This is a Mindstorm Robot touch sensor

Early Robot concepts A robot is defined as "a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer". Some Of the earliest concepts of robots or artificial companions date back to Ancient Greek Mythology. Hephaestus the Greek god of craftsmen had three legged tables that would walk around and help him on their own. He also built a bronze man called Talos to defend the city of Crete.Later in history we see the first use of remote control vehicles.Remotely operated vehicles were demonstrated in the late 19th century in the form of several types of remotely controlled torpedoes.

The First Humanoid Robots

Many robots were constructed before the dawn of computer-controlled machines, for purposes in major firms. These were machines that could perform a few stunts, like the automatons of the 18th century. In 1928, one of the first humanoid robots was exhibited at the exhibition of the Model Engineers Society in London. Invented by W. H. Richards, the robot Eric's frame consisted of a body of aluminum armor with eleven electromagnets and one motor powered by a twelve-volt power source. This robot could move its hands and head and could be controlled through remote control or voice control.

Rover Drop Vehicle

Our mars drop vehicle was made out of a Ziploc bag 12 popsicle sticks 2 air filled balloons one sheet of bubble wrap and one paper cup. We first put the egg in the paper cup. Then we put 6 popsicle sticks on top of the cup and 6 under it. Then we wrapped the popsicle sticks and cup. We put this in the bag and filled the bag with air and sealed it. we then taped two air filled balloons to the bag. The Ziploc bag and the bubble wrap were both to cushion the impact of the drop vehicle. The two balloons were to slow the descent of the drop vehicle. If I could redo this experiment I would put balloons in the bag so that they would help cushion the impact instead of slowing it down.

This picture shows the drop vehicle being constructed.

Rocket Experiment

We Conducted a rocket experiment in science class. For this experiment we constructed and then launched rockets. The kind of rockets we built were called A-87 rockets. After we launched our 9 total rockets we came to this conclusion. The Greater the mass of the rocket the higher altitude it could reach.

T his graph shows the altitude versus the mass of the rocket

Our rocket did not perform as well as some of the other rockets. It did not perform as well as some of the others for two reasons. the first reason is that it weighed too much. When it was being painted it too much paint was painted on it and weighed it down. The second reason the rocket didn't fly as well as the others is because it was missing a fin. with out the third fin the rocket was less aerodynamic and was harder for the engine to propel the rocket upwards.

This picture shows the rocket and all its pieces.

History of Rockets

One of the first rocket like devices was the aeolopile or The Hero Engine. The aeolopile used steam as a propulsion gas and was invented by a Greek inventor called homer in around 100 B.C. . When the first rockets were invented is not known. Some rocket like devices were created by the Chinese by filling bamboo with gun powder and lighting it on fire. After this the Chinese began experimenting by puting the tubes on arrows and shooting them. This lead to the Chinese advancing this technology which then made fireworks. In 1898 the Russians came up with the idea to explore space with rockets. In the early 20th century an American Robert H. Goddard started conducting practical expirements with rockets. In 1915, he began to try various types of solid fuels and to measure the exhaust velocities of the burning gases. While working on solid-propellant rockets, Goddard became convinced that a rocket could be propelled better by liquid fuel. In world war Germany used the v2 rocket to destroy city blocks. Thankfully this rocket was invented too late into the war to change the outcome. United States and the Soviet Union realized the potential of rocketry as a military weapon and began a variety of experimental programs. With this start of technology came the start of the space race to see which program could reach the moon faster. This Is the V2 Rocket This is a drawing of the hero engine or aeolopile.

The Universe

The universe began 15 billion years ago. It exploded out of nothing in an event called the big bang. The universe went from the size of an atom to the size of the earth in a fraction of a second. The galaxy grew at a steady pace from then on. The temperature also fell at a steady rate from then on. After 1 second the has fallen to 10 billion degrees. After 3 minutes a quarter of the protons and electrons have combined to make helium nuclei. Our galaxy formed when our universe was 3 billion years old. Back then galaxy's were much closer together and collisions and merges were much more common. The three types of galaxies are spiral, irregular, and elliptical galaxy's.

The Milky Way The milky way Galaxy is made of millions of stars, dark patches of made of clouds of opaque dust. The milky way is made up of a flat disc of stars 100,000 light years across and 1-2 light years thick. At the center there is a large flattened bulge, 20,000 light years across. The sun lies in the disc about half way from the galactic center. On the other side of the galaxy a dwarf galaxy has merged with the milky way. The milky way is a spiral galaxy it has 4 arms that spiral out from the center of the galaxy. In the central bulge stars are mostly orange and yellow. At the heart of the bulge there ist the nucleus of the galaxy. The nucleus is probably a black hole but we aren't completely sure.

Stars Stars form in cold dark clouds of opaque dust. As the star grows its temperature gets hot enough for there to be nuclear reaction in its core. Everything about a star, everything that happens to it depends on its mass. The smallest stars are red and the most massive stars are bluish white. 5 billion years ago the sun formed from a interstellar cloud. As a star ages it blows off material then shrinks for a short time. For a short amount of time the outer layers of the star pulsate and blow off into space. After pulsating for a period the outer layers blow off into spaces until the core is exposed. The core becomes a light dwarf star.

The Sun The sun is a star. Every second 4 million tons of hydrogen vanish to generate the suns energy. The energy from the hydrogen vanishing goes outwards from the core. Sometimes solar flares come from the sun. Solar flares blast atomic particles as far away as the earth. The particles crash into the earths magnetic field and become the Aurora.

Solar Systems Solar systems are originally made out of clumps of particles a few kilometers across known as planetessimals. planetessimals either crash into each other and brake apart or for larger ones and clump together. At the start of our solar system four large masses formed in the outer solar system. These became the four giant planets Neptune Uranus Saturn and Jupiter. About half way out in the solar system earth formed so did the other terrestrial planets Earth Venus Mercury and Mars. Our moon was believed to have been formed by a planet the size of Mars colliding with Earth. If planetessimals don’t form planets they get pulled into a gravitational field and turn into comets.

Electricity, and Its Uses in the Search For Life On Mars!

 Electricity is defined as ”a fundamental entity of nature consisting of negative and positive kinds, observable in the attractions and repulsions of bodies [|electrified] by friction and in natural phenomena (as lightning or the aurora borealis), and usually utilized in the form of [|electric] currents”. There are three different types of electricity. The first type of electricity is called electric discharge. Electric discharge is when electrons build up then suddenly release when they reach a certain point. The second type of electricity is called static electricity. A static electric charge is an imbalance of electric charge due to rubbing two objects together causing the removal of electrons. The third and final type of electricity is called electric current. Electric current is the movement of an electric charge in a controlled manner. These are all the types of electricity and how they are defined.

In the search for life on mars I personally would use electricity in many ways. First, I would use electricity to power the space ship that lands on mars. Second, I would use electricity to power my mars rover that I would use to get around. I would use electricity to power the rover instead of a combustion engine because there is no air on mars therefore the fire in the engine could not com-bust. Third and finally I would use electricity to power the many appliances and tools on the space ship its self. These are some of the ways I would use electricity on the search for life on mars.

Magnetism is defined as a physical phenomenon produced by the motion of electric charge, resulting in attractive and repulsive forces between objects.The atoms behave like magnets because, the atoms that make up magnets have their electrons arranged so that each atom is like a small magnet. All magnets have a North and South pole. North and South are opposites so are the North and South poles on a magnet. If you have two magnets the North pole of magnet A will attract to the South pole of magnet B. This happens because opposites attract. These are some basic facts about magnetism.

In the search for life on mars I would magnetism in several ways. First, I would use magnetism to connect the different parts of the space shuttle. When one part of the spaceship was no longer needed or was not being used I would simply disconnect the magnet and let the useless part drift off into space. Second, I would use magnets to fasten various tools to walls and inside cabinets so that the zero gravity wouldn't make them fly around my spaceship out of control. Third and finally I would use a compass so I could find the north and south poles on Mars. These are some of the ways I would use magnetism in the search for life on mars.