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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN)

Weekend Workshop

08 March 2014

The Chicago Astronomer will attend a very interesting workshop over the weekend on the new upcoming mission to Mars called MAVEN....

This will be a great educational opportunity to better understand and share with Chicago Astronomer visitors and fans all about this mission in studying the Martian atmosphere and what ever happened to all that Martian water...

As of this post, MAVEN is at a distance of 21.2 million kilometers (13.2 million miles) from Earth and 103.7 million kilometers (64.4 million miles) from Mars. The current velocity is 29.44 kilometers per second (65,855 mph) as it moves around the sun.  

Meals, study literature, materials and a nice book is included in the all day workshop...

(By the time I delayed in registering, (unknown future schedule), the acceptance of participants was close.  I contacted the organizer of the event and she slipped me in and anxious to meet.  I will report on this workshop with extensive pics and story.)




Let the learning begin...!

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Full Day of MAVEN Workshop Activities
08 March 2014

The MAVEN workshop was held at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico U.N.A.M facilities in Chicago near north side.

Marina LaGrave, Erin wood, Ruth Paglierani were our instructors for the day...

We start out with introductions and our interest in participating in the workshop...

...and take a pre-test on our knowledge about Mars.  We also list what we know about Mars and the MAVEN mission and what we wish to learn by the end of the workshop....

Our first activity was matching card images of geographical landmarks to those of Martian landscapes...

We also play a counting game, with Mayan numerical symbols...

We discussed the area of being culturally aware and sensitive when educating the public about this mission, 

To better understand cosmic timelines, we all were presented with cards that had different images, such as the Sun, War of the Worlds book and other space related images.  We were then set-free to place the cards along a wall - representing a 6 billion year timeline...as we saw fit...

....(I got my two right on the nose...)

We then discussed the MAVEN mission itself...

We had a special Skype talk with a MAVEN project manager, Sandra Cauffman...

Sandra has worked on several NASA missions...

...and shared her life experience with workshop participants, working her way up and landing her dream job at NASA...

In a question and answer segment, the group asked questions about the MAVEN spacecraft and it's one year mission - possibly extended to 10 if the funding get's secured.  The spacecraft will "Sniff" the Martian atmosphere, detecting and measuring elements - with the goal of better understanding what ever happened to the thick atmosphere Mars once had and with that....the huge amount of liquid surface water that once flowed.

In discussing Martian conditions, we did an exercise on the thin Martian air and what would happen if we would find ourselves outside of our protected shelter.  Using Peeps, Erin demonstrates  what happens to that sugary treat when air is pumped out and thinned...

Expanding, a similar phenomenon would occur to our bodies, perhaps smoothing out our wrinkles!

But, most likely, a smaller organism could survive nicely in the harsh Martian conditions, adapting and thriving - such as the hardy and tough Tardigrade...

This little guy can survive urber extreme conditions, freeze-dried and can lay dormant for years....and continue where it left off just nicely.  Something like the Tardigrade could possibly be found on Mars.

 

Using Chia seeds, due to their quick germination cycle, Ruth brought several days old seedling - each one subjected to different conditions and media - such as Microwaving the seeds and soaking them in various harsh liquids....most sprouted and grew nicely.  Mars could easily host such plant growth.

We participated in a another group activity, where we are the slated crew for a stay on Mars and listed down what we needed and what we wanted on our mission.  Things like Fuel cells, Shekter, self-sustaining gardens and communication equipment.  One team went pretty wild, bringing cigars, Birth control, booze and guns....!

As the workshop wound down, we took a post quiz, compared with what we answered at the start of the workshop.  (My answers remained the same before and after.)  And compared our group list of what was learned at this fine workshop.

And...

We take the Chicago Astronomer group shot....