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The brainchild of Robert Morgan, a science teacher in Ohio, the "Mars Project" marks the most ambitious space simulation ever organized to date. More than 30 schools around the globe are participating in the ongoing, online journey. According to Chris Rowan, a teacher at Morningside Elementary in Brownsville, Texas, the project has completely reversed a downward trend of math and science interest among the students participating on the "Mars Project" team. "Before I had trouble getting my kids to walk in the classroom door. Now I can't get them to leave at the end of the day," says Chris.
The project includes some impressive technical resources from NASA, such as shuttle launch-and-docking software and tapes from flight logs on which the would-be astronauts based working scripts. But the real secrets behind the project's success has been the creativity and enthusiasm generated among the students. Asked to comment on what her class thought of their "Mars Project" work on February 8, Wendy Bates, a teacher in Exeter, England, replied,"My class is convinced that they did NO work that day, and yet, they all remember the activities very clearly!"
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In Siberia, a student at the Cosmonautic School readies a model rocket. (Photograph by Nikolai Ignatiev )
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ow do you prepare for a year long journey to Mars? Everyone on the "Mars Project" student teams (where ages ranged from seven to 17) had a different, compelling answer: In Siberia, students made plans for contact with extraterrestrials. In Argentina, they readied a computer-controlled greenhouse for food supplies. Young American students built command modules and prepared a CU-SeeMe Internet video connection so they could see their far-flung space mates. Finally, at 00:01 Greenwich Mean Time on February 8, the journey began.