Mars Lander Contest

Mission:

Your group is attempting to win the contract from NASA for landing a rover vehicle safely on Mars. To win you must demonstrate the effectiveness of your design. The winning group will have the design that is successful in getting the vehicle safely on the ground in the proper orientation in the most economical manner. It's hard to drive away when it's upside down! The best design will have the ability to successfully land from a great height as well as keep the vehicle "upright".

For your design, you will use only materials from the list below to build a lander that will land a raw egg pointy end up and unbroken after falling from a height of 2 meters or more. "Unbroken" is defined as not leaking fluid from a crack in the shell. The egg must be positioned so it can be inspected easily by the judges upon completion of each landing.

Winners:

Winners are decided by the team that earns the greatest number of points (dollars?) using a formula that includes three factors: maximum height dropped without breaking the egg, correct orientation upon landing and "cost" of the lander. As groups pick up materials, they will be "charged" for them by the event staff. Of course the charge is only on paper.

The Teacher Steering Committee is still working on the final scoring details. Use the following equation as a guideline while you practice before coming to the park. The final scoring rubric will be posted on the physicsday.org website, hopefully by the end of February.

Score = Max Height in meters x $3,000 + Correct Orientation x $3,000 - Cost

We will begin by dropping the landers from a height of 2 meters. In order to continue in the contest, the egg must survive (not leak) and be oriented properly. If the lander fails in either category, the score will be zero (0) and removed to the side.

After passing at the 2-meter level, landers will carry their previous maximum score with them as the height is raised. Failing on either of the criteria will lead to removal from the contest, however. It is possible that a lander that fails at a lower height could be the overall winner based on the scoring formula.

In order to receive an "Orientation" score, the egg must be within 15° of vertical. Judges' ruling is final.Sheet plus how many pennies you floated.

Price List for Materials:

This Price List reflects the launch cost of sending your lander into space. Of course NASA's cost per pound is a great deal higher than this. We are modelling the high launch cost with this list.

* Balloons: $500 ea (normal dime store round balloons)

* Straws: $200 ea (drinking straws, not flexible)

* Masking tape: $100/meter. NOTE: Tape may only be purchased in increments of 0.5 m.

* Sand: $250/gram. Sand will be dispensed in small pre-measured cups

Scissors will be provided to the contestants by the park. No other materials or tools may be used in the construction of the lander under penalty of immediate disqualification.

Notes:

We recommend that you prototype this at home before coming to the park because you will have only a limited time to actually construct your lander. With a limited number of entries per school, teachers may wish to have their own local contests and choose the best entries to submit at Physics/Science/Math Days.

Prizes will be awarded in grade levels, 5-8 and 9-12.

A limited number of on-site entries will be available. Pre-register your team and guarantee their participation by sending this entry form to Great America before April 24, 2009. Each school is allowed a maximum of 2 teams during preregistration.

Location:

Celebration Plaza in Hometown Square

Time:

To be posted here soon

Posted 10/23/2009