Students discover Mars in Albuquerque

  • Published
  • By Eva Blaylock
  • Air Force Research Laboratory
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  An estimated 1,040 students from 27 New Mexico schools are expected here April 13 to construct inflatable shelters that they will link together to form a simulated Mars colony.

The event will take place at the Albuquerque Convention Center, in the over 100,000-square-foot Fran Hill Exhibit Hall.

The name for this year's event is the Mars Metamaterial Research Mission, which will put the student's three months of study about the "red" planet to use.

This includes demonstrations by five-to-seven-person student teams on life support systems they developed for Mars. These support systems include air and water supply, waste management, temperature control, food production, communications, transportation and recreation.

Formerly the Air Force Research Laboratory's Mars Missions project, the STARBASE® La Luz Mars Missions Project is in its 13th year, and a total of close to 2,200 New Mexico students and 41 schools are participating in four regional events.

The first one took place March 30 in Las Cruces. Other Link-Up Days will be in Farmington April 19 and at Cannon AFB April 27.

The project is based on the Challenger Center's Marsville Program and is designed as a learning experience to teach students about teamwork and problem solving, and to enhance the study of math, science and engineering. Students are exposed to technological and environmental space exploration issues.

The students will construct their habitats during this five-hour meeting,, undergo a "uniform" inspection, brief each other on the life support systems they have built and complete a mission log. They will also weigh their bag lunches because every cargopound must be accounted for as though they were actually rocketing to Mars.

During the course of this project, the student teams have stayed in touch with each other with computers, fax machines and on the telephone, but this event will be the first time they will meet each other face to face.

Participating elementary and intermediate schools are Albuquerque Christian School, Armijo Elementary School, Comanche Elementary School, Cuba Elementary School, Edward Gonzales Elementary School, Governor Bent Elementary School, Hope Christian Elementary School, Kaune Elementary School, La Promesa Elementary School, Mesa View Elementary School, Montessori of the Rio Grande, Montezuma Elementary School, Mountainair Elementary School, Petroglyph Elementary School, Prince of Peace Lutheran School, Queen of Heaven School, Raymond Gabaldon Intermediate School, Rio Grande Elementary School, San Felipe de Neri School, San Rafael Elementary School, Solomon Schechter Day School, South Mountain Elementary School, Tesuque Elementary School, Washington Avenue Elementary School, Wherry Elementary School, Yarbro Elementary School and Zuni Intermediate School.

Also participating are sixth-grade mentors from several middle schools, consisting of former Mars colonists, on hand to help as mission control members.