Sarah+Sw

= dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd __Search for life on Mars Project __ = = ﻿ddd = = d = = __**Electronics for Mission to Mars**__ = By: Sarah Sw.

On the mission to Mars, electronic devices will be needed for a lot of things. Two types of electronic signals will be used, analog signals and digital signals along with analog and digital devices. The difference between the two is how the signals change into electrical current. Analog signals vary smoothly in time and in an analog signal that has been changed into an electric signal, also called and analog electronic signal, the current flows smoothly. This can be used for things that require a smooth signal like a clock with a hand. Digital signals do not vary smoothly but in jumps. While a clock hand moves slowly and steadily, a digital clock flashes in jumps. These signals are useful for different types of devices that will be needed on the mission to Mars. Semiconductors are very useful in electronic devices because they don’t always conduct electricity and they are not insulators. Semiconductors can be controlled by adding impurities. A Diode is a solid-state component that only allows electric current to flow in one direction. Transistors are solid-state component that are used to amplify signals in electric currents. They are also used as an electric switch, which can allow electricity to flow through and stop the current from flowing through. Integrated circuits are used in computers and other electronics devices. They are large numbers of interconnected solid-state components. All of these circuits, signals, and devices are needed for the mission to Mars.

On the mission to Mars, all of those electrical things will be a necessity for the machines. We will need ways to communicate with Earth, machines for every type of things, and much more. Some type of machines that will be required are exercise machines to stay fit, oxygen machines to breathe, landing gear, rockets to change direction, and everything like that. I will use my learning of analog signals, digital signals, semiconductors, diodes, transistors, and intergrated circuits to create and/or build all of the necesities for the machines needed to get to Mars.

=__History of Rockets__=

=== Rockets started out with steam engines and evolved into these big machines that can make it to and from space. In the earlier years, about 100 B.C., Hero of Alexandria, a greek inventor, used steam as a gas. The “Hero engine” that he created use fire to heat up the water and use the steam to move the sphere. The gas would rise up into the sphere and be pushed out of two opposite sided L-shaped tubes. And thus, the beginning of rocketry was born. In the first century A.D., the Chinese started experimenting with gunpowder-filled tubes. They would use these as arrows and the discovered that the tubes could launch themselves into the air with the power created from the escaping gas. This was when true flight was created. === === In 1898, Konstantin Tsiolkovsk came up with the idea of space exploration by rocket. He published a report suggesting the use of liquid propellants for rockets so that it could get further. Tsiolkovsk said that the speed and range of a rocket were limited by the velocity of escaping gases. Because of his ideas, he has been called father of modern astronautics. In the 20th century, Robert Goddard experimented in rocketry. On March 5, 1926 Goddard was the first person to achieve a successful flight with a liquid-propellant rocket. The V-2 rocket was created by the Verein fur Raumschiffahrt. It was used against London during World War 2. NASA was made to be a formally organized space program of the USA. ===

=__Rocket Stages Animation__= media type="custom" key="9003894"

= __Parts of the Rocket__ = = = =__﻿The Experiment__=

This experiment was designed to see if the mass of a rocket affects the height of the flight. Overall, the groups painted and designed 8 different rockets. The weight's were all different because everyone painted their rocket differently. The paint helped protect the rocket from nature, like the sun and wind. The groups took their rockets and went outside to launch them. The group before the one launching would move 100m away and find the angle that the rocket flew. We used a launch pad to make sure that the rocket flew straight up in the air instead of all around near the ground. Then, we used electricity to light the motor in the rocket.

Looking at the data, it is known that the lighter the rockets, the higher they flew and the heavier the rockets, the lower the flew. Tylor's rocket weighed 47.6g and flew 64.94m high. That was the heaviest rocket of them all. Sindhoor's rocket weighed 43.5g and flew 100m high. Her rocket was one of the lighter rocket's. My rocket weighed 35g and flew 93.25m high. The data was more inverse than anything, meaning that the heavier the rocket, the lower it flew and the lighter the rocket, the higher it flew. My rocket flew straight up and left a trail of smoke then the parachute didn't open and it plummeted into the baseball field that my group was launching near.



Every rocket flew at different heights and different ways. After the experiment, my group concluded that the heaver the rocket, the lower it flew, and the lighter the rocket the higher it would fly. We averaged this off of the one's weighing 43.1g, 43.5g, 44.5g, 44.8g, and 47.6. The lower one's, such as 43.1g and 43.5g, flew higher than those weighing 44.8g and 47.8g. My hypothesis was that if the rocket is heavier, it would not go as high because the mass would weigh it down and if it was to light, the wind would knock it all around. This was proved correct and incorrect because it was true the heavier rockets did not fly as high but the light one's flew high, even though they were very light.

Our group's rocket was painted lightly and it weighed 43g. It flew 93.25m high. When launched up into the air, it flew straight. If changed I would place the fins more evenly apart.

=__The ﻿Importance of Astronomy in the Search for Life on Mars__= My thoughts on the importance of Astronomy.

When I go to Mars, Astronomy will be very important to know. I need to know about the gravity, how mars formed, comets that I could be hit by on my way to Mars, and much more. Astronomy helps me with all of those things and also how Mars orbits and where it orbits. With that information I can figure out how hot it will be or if it has a chance of hitting anything. Astronomy tells me how everything started. It would also be nice to look up at the stars and know what they are on Mars.

To read more about astronomy, click on the link below. Extra Astronomy

= ﻿__History of Robotics__ = Robotics has helped us explore the moon, the stars, and the galaxy, but don’t you ever wonder where it all started at? It started in 350 B.C, with a mathematician names Archytas of Tarentum. He built a mechanical bird that was propelled by steam. In 200 B.C, Ctesibus of Alexandria designed water clocks that have moving figures on them. Robotics slows down then until 1495 when Leardo Davincia designed a device that allowed a knights armor to move around like a person. Again, robotic creation slows down again until 1738 when Jacques de Vaucanson built a flute player, a flute, drum and tambourine player, and a duck. This duck could move, quack, flapped its wings and ate and digested food. This was the first attempt of modeling animal anatomy with mechanics. In 1770, Pierre Jaquet-Droz started making dolls. He made 3 dolls, one could play music, another could write, and the last want could draw pictures. The dolls were used to entertain royalty. It’s amazing how society started with a mechanical bird with steam to dolls that can mimic human talents. Robotics started getting more and more popular with more inventions being created. Stories, chess programs, and robots that mimic human activity get better. In 1977, Voyagers 1 and 2 were launched into space. Robotics has improved so much since 350 B.C., but we couldn’t have gotten where we are today without those little things and improvement along the way.

__ Programming Robots __ Motors can be programmed in many different ways to move a robot in a lot of different directions and movements. Robots can move forward, back, left, and right. With combinations of these, they can go diagonal, do 180 degree turns, and left to right. A challenge of using motors with robots is getting the program to fit the robot. For example, a robot may have a left wheel messed up that makes it turn to the left a little bit when it goes forward. In this case, you would have to interperate that when programming the motor. A motor may also run faster than the robot. A sensor is an attachment to a robot that can be used to sense things. There are touch sensors, light sensors, sound sensors, and ultrasonic sensors. If my robot where to go to Mars, it would need to know when it hit something, where everything was, and when it changed surfaces. It could do that with those sensors. If the robot were to be going straight and a huge rock was in front of it, the ultrasonic sensor could detect it and move the robot another way. These sensors prevent the robot from falling into dangerous situations on Mars.

=__Life__= ====There are eight characteristics of life. All living things, that we know of, are made of cells, need materials, are homeostatic, respond to stimuli, reproduce, grow, adapt, and respirate. A living thing has to be made of cells. Cells are the fundamental units of living things. There are three main types of cells, animal cells, plant cells, and bacteria cells. Animal cells tend to be circular for movement while plant cells are more of a square shape so that they can stack up and build sturdier structures like leaves and stems. Bacteria cells are a mix between those to, they look like messed up circles. Living things also need materials. They need materials like air, water, and minerals. All living things need those materials and also sugar. They also take what they need from the environment. For example, plants need CO2 and water for photosynthesis. All living things have to be homeostatic which means they have to have something internally that stays the same despite environmental changes. To do this, living things expend a great deal of energy. We humans use 95% of our energy to keep our temperature the same. Living things must respond to stimuli meaning that they must have a response to a stimulus. There are positive and negative responses. Positive responses are when a living thing moves forward and negative responses are when a living thing moves away. For example, plants grow towards the sun which would be a positive response. If someone screamed in a quiet room all of the sudden, humans tend to move away from the noise. Animals have locomotion which means they have the ability to move on its own from place to place. Plants react to a change in environment. For example, mimosa leaves close when touched and sunflowers follow the sun during the day. All living things, with the exception of Mules, Ligers, Wolphins and such, reproduce. Reproduction is the process by which organisms produce offspring of their own kind. There are two ways to reproduce. There is sexual reproduction which involves two living things, and asexual reproduction which involves one parent. An example of asexual reproduction is in some trees where they only need themselves to produce a seed. Another characteristic that a living thing must have is the ability to grow. They must start as something lower and develop into something more complex or higher. There are many factors that can affect the growth and health of organisms such as moisture and temperature. They must regenerate, or grow back body parts. The 7th characteristic of life is adaption. All living things must be able to adapt. This means they must be able to make modifications that make an organism suited to its way of life. An example of this is birds. Birds have adapted over many years to have feathers, hollow bones, and pointed beaks. These things allow birds to fly. Evolution is another type of adaption. It’s the process by which the characteristic of species change through time. The 8th and final characteristic of life that a living thing must possess is respiration. Respiration is the releasing of energy stored in the chemical bonds of sugars. There must be the consumers which is an organism that must take food in order to sustain life and the producers which creates their own food. A consumer would be an animal or bacteria and a producer would be plants. These are the eight characteristics of life.==== ========

====On other planets, we will use the characteristics of life to help us determine what is living. First, we will see if we can detect movement or an object at all on the planet. Then, we go to the object that has been found and observe it over a period of time to see if it does anything a living thing would do. We could take a sample of the dirt on the planet and put it under a microscope to see if anything moves. Of course, observations would have to be made over a long period of time to see if it grows or respirates and such.====