Touching Down NASA excited to visit Mars
WASHINGTON, D.C. — NASA will descend on the one-square-mile borough that shares a name with it's most ambitious project yet.
David Steitz, NASA's public affairs officer for human exploration, said a number of NASA employees and experts will attend the Mars New Year June 19 to 20 in downtown Mars.
The keynote speaker, Steitz said, will be Jim Green, NASA's director of planetary science. He said Green is an expert on the Red Planet, and served as a consultant for the upcoming movie “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon.
Green will give a presentation at 8 p.m. June 19 on Mars exploration and NASA's plan to visit Mars in the 2030s. He may also give the presentation on Saturday, Steitz said.
He said a question-and-answer period will be included in both presentations.
Steitz said Green will talk about getting to Mars, living there and getting home.
“We need new propulsion systems, a spacecraft tough enough to protect our astronauts, new systems for braking so we can land on the Red Planet and habitats and life support systems to live on Mars,” Steitz said. “Then we need to launch back off Mars and come home.”
Steitz explained NASA can only launch items or people to Mars every 26 months from Earth because that is when the two planets are closest. He said NASA launches something to Mars — orbiters, rovers or satellites — every two years.As of today, Steitz said it would take nine months to travel to Mars. So if an astronaut were to travel to Mars, he would travel for nine months, stay for 13 months, and travel back home for another nine months.He said NASA hopes to have the technology in place by the 2030s that will shorten the trip to six months to and from Mars, which would help the astronauts stay on the planet for two years at a time.“That's why STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) curriculum is so important,” Steitz said. “It's the 10-year-olds of today who are going to make the Mars missions in the 2030s.”Also attending Mars New Year will be scientists with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is NASA's lead center for Mars exploration, Steitz said.
He said the scientists will man booths on Saturday with fun, interactive demonstrations for children and adults. They will include:• An eight-wheeled, radio-controlled NASA rover vehicle• A Panorama panel and three-dimensional glasses that will allow the public to view the surface of Mars• An inflatable model of the rover Curiosity• Several tabletop demonstrations“We want to engage everyone in America in the excitement behind our exploration of the Red Planet,” Steitz said.“That's our goal, to show up to any venue promising to engage young learners and say 'The sky isn't the limit. The sky's the beginning to the high frontier.'”He said NASA scientists are excited to visit the borough of Mars and participate in its Mars New Year.“It's the first time a community like Mars has reached out to us and asked 'Would you like to join us in STEAM activities?'” Steitz said. “It's going to be a lot of fun.”The Mars School District will also participate in the Mars New Year in various ways, including the high school's art club. Club members will do face painting and help youngsters complete a paint-by-numbers sort of portrait of the planet Mars.Mars High School art teacher Erin Sloane said the project will be a good lesson for the students.“We are working together and learning to collaborate with adults on service projects that benefit the community,” Sloane said.Teacher Darcy Silbaugh said about 30 students from the district's Summer Leadership Academy will work at the festival, attending to any needs that NASA or event coordinators have.“I think it's going to be so cool to have this much attention on our little town,” Silbaugh said of the Mars New Year.More information on the Mars New Year is available at www.marsnewyear.com.
