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**__What is Electricity and Why do We Need it? __**
Electricity is a kind of entity that is made up of positives and negatives. Electricity can be observed by it’s attractions and repulsion's which is like its own friction. There are three types of electricity. Static electricity involves the lack of movement of electrons on an insulator. An insulator is a material that is non-conductive so the electrons are unable to move from the spot in which they are placed. For example you can rub a balloon on your head and stick it to a wall because the electrons all stay in on place on the rubber balloon. Current electricity involves the controlled movement of electricity on a conductor. This means a metal is used to make a path so that the electricity can be controlled. If a wire is plugged into a socket and the electricity flows in the wire to a light bulb and out the other, this is an example of current electricity. Discharge is a dangerous type of electricity because it had no set path so can travel anywhere there is a conductor. An example of this would be something like the inside of a plasma ball because the electricity flows uncontrolled inside the glass.

On a trip to mars the first things you will need just to get there are an engine for the rocket, lights for inside the rocket, a control panel which must have chips that send signals to the engine and other parts of the rocket. You also need something for food, either a microwave or a fridge, both require electricity to work. Inside the rocket, you would need temperature control for heating or cooling which also requires electricity. There are plenty more things but you haven’t even gotten there yet. Once on mars, a rover would be sent out which needs electricity for many things: The engine that makes it move, a controller for the movement in different directions, a camera which also needs to be able to send footage to a computer, and a tracking device so the location can be found at any point. There are many more things that have yet to be named that would be needed but the point is that electricity is necessary for many things and is essential for a trip to mars.

What is Magnetism and How Would it be Used on a Trip to Mars?
Magnetism is the attraction and repulsion between two objects. There are only three atoms that are magnetic: iron, cobalt, and nickel. Those three metals each have a north and south pole which are the strongest parts of the magnet. Opposite poles attract and same poles repel. The Earth has a north and south pole too which is used for compasses. The earths north pole is in the north and the needle on a compass is always attracted to it which means thatthe needle's south pole is always pointing to the north(opposites attract). Magnetism is also used everyday when you drive, there is a magnet under the rode that can feel the pull which lets the light know to turn green. The most important the magnetic field repels the charges particles coming from the sun also known as the aurora lights.

Some ways magnetism could be used on a trip to Mars would be something for a GPS to send out signals and reflect them back to know the location of the rocket. When the rocket takes off, it splits into smaller and smaller pieces to make it more aerodynamic. The way that the pieces would be disconnected would be from electromagnets because they can be turned on and off. Electromagnets might also be used because then you can hold things together at some times and then let go of them later. Anyways magnetism would be very useful and really necessary on a trip to mars.

The Big Bang
Astronomers today know pretty much what happened in the beginning of our universe starting with the Bing Bang. The Big Bang happened 15 billion years ago when the universe started from nothing and exploded. The temperature was extremely hot but slowly decreased as the particles rapidly expanded. The first particles were energy, quarks, and antiquarks. Then Neutrons, protons, and anti protons were starting to be formed. Matter and antimatter can create pure energy when they collide vise versa.

History of the Solar System The solar system wasn't started with huge planets already formed with its own moons, everything was combined. The solar system was created by tiny particles (planetesimals) combining together when the collide. The circular motion is caused by the gravitational pull between the sun and other planets. The extreme temperatures of the planets causes the rock to rise to the top for a solid surface. Large rocks that aren't planets go around in a chain; when it hits the earth it is usually deflected by the magnetic field but the extinction of dinosaurs was caused by one of those rocks hitting the earth.

Lives of Stars

Stars are created by gases coming together in the beginning with a center point in which rotates. Wind gusts allow the excess gases to go away leaving the large rotating ball of gas. The hydrogen and helium atoms give the start enormous amounts of energy. The largest stars are up to 40,000 degrees, 20 times bigger than the sun, and 10,000 times brighter than the sun. The lives of stars are very long however towards the end of the life of the star, the size will dramatically change before eventually exploding. During the size changes, the sun (a star) will consume the earth.

The Milky way Galaxy

Our galaxy is about 100,000 light years across and 1-2,000 light years thick. There is a center bulge in which our solar system is about 1/2 from the outside to the center. The center bulge contains old stars. The Milky Way consists of around 100 billion stars. Each star has its own orbit around the center which takes 125 million years to get around.

The Sun
The sun is the star in which our solar system revolves around. The sun is made up of hydrogen and helium. The core of the sun is 15 million degrees and the gases are 20 denser than iron on earth. The suns energy comes from the 4 million tons of hydrogen that is given off every second. Solar flares which are winds given off by the sun, crash into the magnetic field of earth creating the aurora lights. Unlike contrary beliefs, the sun is not perfect and does have spots near the equator that evolve over periods of 11 years at a time.

= = = History of Rockets = = = = = Rockets have innovated a lot over the years with the works from many fantastic scientists. With the first rocket starting in 1232 from the Chinese, there has been a lot of time for innovation. Tsiolkovsky, a Russian school teacher published a report in 1903 suggesting that the use of liquid propellants would allow great range. This was a starting point for scientist Robert H. Goddard. America's Goddard experimented and evolved the use of liquid propellants throughout the years. Goddard was able to come up with parachute technology which allowed for the safe return of the scientific materials. All of these innovations led up to the work that Soviets, Germany and the US did in recent years. = = = = The soviets and the US worked together to realize the possibility of rocketry as a military weapon. The invention of missiles lead to the start of space program for the US also known as NASA. Missiles were used for firing at enemies from planes. Eventually these kinds of missiles would enable the ability to launch people into space. The first satellite sent into space was by the Soviets. Not too long after, the US sent one of their own satellites. That was the year in which NASA was created so that in the years to follow, more satellites, humans and robots can be sent up to explore space.



= Rocket Altitude Experiment =

Nose Cone- Guides airflow around the rocket Body Tube- Main structural part, usually a strong paper tube Recovery System- Device for getting rocket back safely, and intact for repeat use Recovery Wadding- Protects recovery system from hot ejection charge gases Launch Lug- Guides rocket straight off of launch pad Fins- Keeps rocket traveling straight Motor Mount- Holds rocket motor in place Rocket Motor- Safe, non-reusable device. A new motor is needed for each flight Purpose, Method, and Results The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the lighter mass of the rocket would make for a higher or lower apogee. To find this, nine rockets were made the same but with slightly different masses. The masses were changes when different amounts of glue and paint were applied to the rocket. It was found that rockets with a lighter mass have a higher apogee than more massive rockets. How my Rocket Flew When we flew the rocket, it was found that more massive rockets did not fly as high as lighter rockets. Rockets that weighed 45g and it flew 100m high while rockets weighing 48g only flew around 40m. My rocket weighed 46.2 g and flew 91.6m. When we ignited the rocket it took about three seconds before it took off. At the apogee the nose cone and parachute came out. The recovery system was a little faulty because the parachute never unraveled. This made the landing of our rocket pretty hard causing one of the fins on the rocket to come off. Other than the parachute, everything on the rocket worked as it was supposed to which worked together for a smooth flight.

Egg Drop Vehicle

My egg drop vehicle was created to represent the landing of a rover on mars. We used household materials to make devices to hold an egg so that it does not break after being thrown off a high structure. My vehicle consisted of a balloon held up by Popsicle sticks to keep it up right with the cup on top holding the egg wrapped in bubble wrap. Next to the cup there was another balloon to block the egg from directly hitting the ground. There was paper placed horizontally to make the craft less aerodynamic. There was also a gallon sized Ziploc bag used as a parachute to increase the impacted time. When the vehicle was thrown the parachute did not come out and when it landed the craft fell on its side, not right side up. This caused the impact to be harder causing the egg to crack. There was a 45 second time limit to get the egg out which represents the rover being able to get out of the landing device so its not stuck in there forever. Our egg was able to get out in the right amount of time. If we were able to use the balloons to push up on the force of gravity, it would be able to increase the impact time by a lot reducing the changes of the egg breaking.

Robot History Robots commonly used today seem like brand new but the ideas and concepts used in robotics today have been around for quite some time. In 1495 Leonardo da Vinci created a humanoid robot, reminiscent of a knight in armor containing parts made to move on their own. Today, a functional version of Da Vinci's robot has been manufactured by NASA. The idea Leonardo da Vinci had was to have the robot do human like tasks with out man labor. This idea is used today and in robots is that the robots perform tasks humans don’t like to do. In 1801 Joseph Jacquard created a loom that could do different things based on what was put in the punch card. Punch cards were the next used in creating computers. The early computers in the 20th century contained and worked around these punch cards. Modern day robots are used so that the robot can think for itself making its own commands. The first of this theory was tested in 1950 by Alan Turning. The test was published and in honor of it, every year there is a convention in which software developers compete in who can find the true turning machine.

Mindstorms Programming Robots are able to operate by the motors and the instructions that are given by the way in which it is programmed. The way that the computers communicates so it knows what actions to take is through the programming language. The robot is able to go forwards, in reverse, in a square, curve, and point turn. Some of the challenges that there are that just in completing simple tasks such as moving forwards can be difficult because of the unbalance of each side. If there is more weight on one side, it will naturally turn in that direction. That will also effect the way that other tasks are completed such as if you wanted to turn depend on which way the robot is naturally leaning, it might not make the exact degree or length of the turn. That also might be effected by the distance in which the wheels are from the center of the robot. For the robot to move and have more than one possible outcome of ways to move, there are sensors. The sensors are kind of like the senses we have as humans. There are light, ultrasonic, touch, and sound sensors that the robot can use. Depending on which sensor you use, you can make the robot stop, go backwards or whatever you want it to do by the positition the robot is in detected by the sensors. The ultrasonic sensor sends high sound waves and measured the time it takes to get back to tell the distance that the robot is from a surface. If you wanted your robot to stop 20 cm away from something, the ultrasonic would send waves until it measures that it is 20 cm away and then it would stop. Another thing you could do would be if you wanted to follow a line between a dark and light surface by working with the light sensor. The light sensor measures the brightness of the reflective light shining on the ground and is able to follow the line that it makes. The sensors are amazing and enable the robot to do far much more than it is already able to do.



Geology on Mars = = There are countless rocks and minerals on our planet and it is important to know which ones are which. There are several ways in which you can decipher the differences between the rocks and minerals including: Color, luster, streak, magnetism, light refraction, hardness, and first identifying if it is a rock or mineral. Testing these things can decipher one rock and mineral from another. A streak test can be performed by rubbing a rock onto a unglazed porcelain tile. Depending by the color of the streak you get, you can tell what kind of rock it is. A good example of using a streak test would be gold and pyrite. While they might look the same from color and luster, they are not the same. The test will show the different colors of the streak, the different mineral and rock. All of these methods are helpful in determining rocks and minerals. While building Curiosity, scientists had to think about everything, including the terrain it would have to cross. The wheels would have to be able to keep moving through no matter what kind of land it is on. Once on mars, Curiosity will probably encounter some rocks and minerals that are on earth, and some that aren't. The materials in which we are not familiar with, Curiosity will be able to pull it inside and do its own tests i.e. streak, color and luster, reflective light, and magnetism. By doing this, we will be able to know more rocks and minerals some of which we don't even have on earth. This is important for scientists because if humans were to ever live on mars, we don’t want radioactive material right under our living areas. Knowing the terrain and rocks and minerals is important everywhere. Especially on another planet that we are looking forward to forward to moving to.