Mission brief. Member. R a n k. O t h e r c r e w m e m b e r s

Transcription

1 Mission brief Beagle 2 probe was due to land on Mars on 25th December The spacecraft was successfully ejected from Mars Express on 19th December Nothing has been heard from Beagle 2 since. This mission investigates the chance of survival of the Beagle 2 and explores possible ways to return to Mars to search for life. Member R a n k O t h e r c r e w m e m b e r s S c i e n c e e x p e r t Yo u w i l l i n v e s t i g a t e w h a t c o u l d h a v e m a d e th e B e a g le 2 fa i l to r e s p o n d? D i d i t e v e r l a n d s a f e l y? I s i t s t i l l o u t t h e r e? Y o u w i l l t h e n b u i l d a p a r a c h u t e t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e f a c t o r s t h a t a f f e c t t h e r a t e o f d e s c e n t o f t h e B e a g l e 2 i n t h e M a r s a t m o s p h e r e. M a t h e m a t i c s e x p e r t Y o u m u s t p r e p a r e a r e p o r t f o r t h e E u r o p e a n S p a c e A g e n c y t o h e l p t h e m d e c i d e w h i c h m a t e r i a l t o u s e f o r t h e r i g g in g o n t h e m a in B e a g le 2 p a r a c h u t e. T e c h n o lo g y e x p e r t Y o u w i l l n e e d t o r e s e a r c h l a n d e r s u s e d in o t h e r s p a c e m i s s i o n s a n d t h e n d e v e lo p a d e s i g n f o r a n e w M a r s l a n d e r.

2 Mission tasks Science task Start date End date Notes S1 : Write and present a short drama scene about the plight of the Beagle 2. Carry out some back ground research on your character. Work as a team t o prepare your script. Present your scene to the class. S 2 : Investingate the chances of Beagle 2 surviving. Play the board game to try to land the probe successfully on Mars. Identify the problems that could have led to the loss of the Beagle and select the 'most likely ' factor. Prepare a presentation 'Future Mission to Mars ' S 3 : Build and test a Mars lander parachute. Design, build and test a parachute. Write a report about a parachute for Mars. Use a computer simulation to test your ideas about parachutes on Earth and on Mars.

3 Mission tasks Mathematics task Start date End date Notes M 1. How long is a parachute string? Calculate the length of rigging string needed to attach a parachute to the Beagle 2 probe. Calculate the total weight of the parachute rigging in a range of materials. Select the most appropriate material to use in a future mission to Mars. Write a report for the European Space Agency. Technology task Start date End date Notes T 1. Design a model of a lander for Mars Gather information on space landers. Brainstorm your ideas as a group. Decide on your final design. Make a final neat drawing of your lander showing how it is going to operate or u sing a suitable CAD package.

4 Mission briefing S1 I blame the weather - the atmosphere was thinner than expected because of the dust storms. The probe had no chance to slow down. BEAGLE 2 PROBE SPOTTED ON MARS? B e a g le 2 m is s io n s c ie n t is t s a y s t h e c r a f t m a y h a v e b e e n f o u n d in p ic t u r e s o f t h e M a r t ia n s u r f a c e. If the parachute failed, you can kiss goodbye to the onboard instruments. No chance of a call home! Let's think this through logically. Was it the weather, the parachute, overheating or maybe it was snatched by aliens? What scientific evidence have we got? " My nightmare is that Beagle is sat there on the surface of Mars still trying to talk to us and, for the sake of a broken cable, it's not. Dr Mark Sims "

5 The beagle parachute S3 How a parachute works If a person jumps out of a plane - she starts to fall downwards faster and faster due to a force from gravity (her weight). But air gets in the way of her movement. A force called drag slows down the movement. As she falls faster, the drag gets bigger and bigger. Eventually the weight and the drag balance out and she falls at a steady speed (terminal velocity). A parachute is designed to give lots of friction with the air. A body falling with a parachute has a much higher drag, so they reach terminal velocity sooner and fall at a smaller speed.

6 WHAT happened to beagle 2? S2 Aim: to investigate the chances of Beagle 2 lander failure. Start the game with your Beagle 2 on square 1. Roll the di and move that number of squares. The factors that could have caused the loss of the Beagle is represented by the lives lost at each square of the board game. 1 Play in pairs. One rolls the di, the other keeps count of the lives lost. 2 How many 'landing attempts' will it take before your B e a g l e 2 gets safely down and responds to Earth s radio signal? 3 After you have played the game a few times, use the discussion notes to think about what might have caused the problem for the real B e a g l e 2. equipment A d i a n d a l i t t l e 'B e a g l e 2 m o d e l t o m o v e ( p la s t i c e n e ). 9 c o u n t e r s to r e p r e s e n t t h e 9 c h a n c e s o f s u r v iv a l ( 9 l i v e s ) t h a t B e a g l e 2 h a d. Count out the lives lost and put them to one side. Roll the di and move again. When you have run out of "lives," landing 1 is over. Go back to square one and start playing for landing 2. Keep playing until you have a successful landing and a signal had been received.

7 BEAGLE board game discussion S2 Discussion From playing the board game what caused your imaginary Beagle 2 to fail most often? Do you think it is fair to use a game to try to work out what happened in this way? 1 List all the factors that caused failure. You might want to add some of your own as well. 2 Select the five most likely factors. You need to have reasons for your choice because you will be discussing this in a group. 3 In a group, put forward your five most likely factors and choose one as the most likely. The group needs to decide which reason to put forward. Prepare a presentation Future Missions to Mars for the next lesson to answer these key questions. How could you find out what really happened to Beagle 2? What evidence would you need? How could we get the e v id e n c e? Is th e r e a n y e v id e n c e a v a ila b le n o w? How could the next Beagle 2 be redesigned to overcome this p r o b le m? Why are we exploring Mars anyway? What do we hope to find o u t?

8 BEAGLE board game S2 24 BEAGLE SIGNAL RECEIVED! 13 Component fails in transmitter circuit Lose 4 lives 23 Signal from Earth not recognised - no response Beagle 2 still waiting Lose 2 lives Aliens capture and destroy Beagle 2 Lose 1 life 21 Smashed to pieces - parachutes do not open Lose 8 lives Power supply fails and storage batteries are flat Lose 6 lives 19 Beagle 2 gets overheated in free fall and wiring melts Lose 5 lives Radio aerial snaps off on landing Lose 5 lives 10 9 Bouncy bag system does not inflate enough Lose 4 lives 8 7 Beagle 2 hits sharp rock on landing - split open Lose 2 lives 1 BEAGLE STARTS DESCENT! 2 3 Sensor systems fail Lose 3 lives 4 5 buried in dust - all systems clogged up Lose 3 lives 6

9 Mars lander parachute /1 S3 D is c u s s io n The Beagle 2 probe will enter the Martian atmosphere at 20,000 kilometres per hour! The probe needs to be slowed down to less than 60 kph. Would a parachute do it? But the atmosphere on Mars is much thinner ( less dense ) than on Earth. What extra problems might this cause? 1 Make a list of the factors that affect how fast a parachute falls. 2 Plan and carry out an investigation into the best type o f parachute for the Mars lander. We have got to rethink the parachute design. There is often a hole at the top of a circular parachute to stabilises it. Maybe we should modify that to increase target precision? The bigger parachute the better I say! That will create loads of friction! Remember that the atmosphere on Mars is different. The is density is around kg/m 3. So if we simply calculate mass times the acceleration due to gravity, then work out the drag coefficient and modify the diameter of the parachute that should work. Wouldn't you agree Stan? Uh yeah too right, like I said, let's just build a big parachute!

10 Mars lander parachute / 2 M1 Aim : To recommend which material is best for the Beagle 2 probe parachute rigging and lanyard for the European Space Agency. Canopy rigging 28 panel lines from centre to edge of the canopy 1 Look at these pictures of the parachute of Beagle 2. Make sure you know what the different lines securing the parachute to the probe are called. 2 You will need to work out the total length of string needed, the cost and weight of three different types of string. Rigging lines 28 lines attached to the edge of the parachute canopy. Each rigging line is 11.4m long. Canopy Parachute canopy has a diameter of 10m Lanyard This line attaches the rigging line to the probe.

11 Mars lander parachute / 3 M1 1 What is the total length of riggings string needed? Remember to show all of your calculations. You will need to calculate: R ig g in g t y p e P r ic e p e r m e tre W e ig h t p e r m e tre The total length of string for the 28 rigging lines from the edge of the canopy to the point where they join the lanyard. The lanyard is made from a different material. Do not include this. The length of the string for the 28 canopy lines. S p e c tr a S in ta S payon 2 2 p e r m e tr e 3 0 e u ro s p e r m e tr e $ 4 0 p e r m e tr e 1.6 g p e r m e tr e 1.9 g p e r m e tr e 2.1 g p e r m e tr e 2 Calculate the cost and weight for each type of string given in the data table. The 20 m lanyard is made from a thicker fabric called Zylon. Zylon weighs 4 g per metre. 3 The total weight allowed for the parachute and lanyard is 100 kg. Write a report for the European Space Agency giving the options for the parachute rigging and lanyard. Remember to ensure that the total weight is below the required limit and that you get the best cheapest possible setup. Use the official form attached for your report. Use a currency converter like xe.com to help you compare costs

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13 Mission to Mars M1 Mission Team. Crew member. a4 Nam e T eam R e c o m m e n d e d m a te r ia l fo r p a r a c h u te r ig g in g R e a s o n s fo r r e c o m m e n d a tio n O th e r fa c to r s to c o n s id e r S ig n e d D a te

14 Mars lander specification / 1 T1 Aim: To design a lander for Mars. 1 Find out as much as you can about space landers. You can gather information from books, magazines and the internet. 2 Next, find out about the environment on Mars where the device will land. Remember you are designing something that should be able to cope with anything the environment throws at it! 3 Now consider what the lander is supposed to do. What scientific equipment will it need? What is the maximum payload and size? Is the shape important? When you've done this you're ready for the next stage - brainstorming! The diagram on the right shows the packing of the robotic arm, PAW and other instruments. The diameter of the lander base is 64cm. BEAGLE 2 SPECIFICATION 1 Damien Hirst calibration target 2 Inlet port to sample handling and distribution system 3 Gas analysis package 4 Robotic arm 5 Mole sampling tip 6 Wide angles mirror 7 Stereoscopic camera 8 Corer / grinder 9 Mossbauer mineral spectrometer 10 MicroscopeX-ray fluorescence chemical spectrometer 11Electronics module and battery below the solar absorber unit (12)

15 Mars lander specification / 2 T1 Aim : To design a lander for Mars. 4 You know what the lander must do, you know the conditions where it will land and you have some ideas about sizes and shapes used before. Now is the time to put down your ideas. We need lots of them! 5 Using a large sheet of paper, work in a group to produce ideas that might be useful to design the lander. Don't reject anything at this stage! 6 Once you've listed as many ideas as possible you can start designing your lander. You can use paper and pencil to draw it out, or card to build a model or even a computer and a CAD package to design one on screen. The important thing is to make sure your design is labelled to show other people why you have designed it in that way. The view from Viking 2 the First lander on Mars. Could your lander survive here?