Mars Lander Challenge

Objectives

Participants will:

  • Design a Lander that will safely hold a raw egg when launched from a predetermined vertical height (h) and land without damage at a distant target (d) from the launch point.
  • Understand practical applications with the principle of conservation of energy and energy conversions.
  • Collect and analyze data.

Vocabulary

Potential energy, kinetic energy, projectile motion, velocity, mass, volume

Materials

1 raw egg (per group)

Recycled materials to build Lander (per group)

Three Man Sling Shot

Rules and Constraints

  1. You are going to be given the challenge of building a Lander that will safely launch a raw egg onto a specified Martian landscape.
  2. Rules of the Lander:
  • The Lander must be easily opened to accommodate a raw egg
  • The Lander will be launched by a catapult launcher at an angle and pulled back at a constant distance.
  • The Lander must have totally ballistic flight characteristics ( wings, propellers, and rockets, etc. are not permitted)
  • The Lander must be designed to allow for easy verification of the payload’s ( raw egg) survival after the landing

Some typical lander designs:

  1. Students will accurately determine the mass (in kilograms) of their projectile (egg).
  1. Scoring the Challenge

The challenge will be scored according to the following formula

Score=(am) + (bv) +(ct) + (kd)

Where

m= mass of the lander without the raw egg (grams)

v=volume envelope of the lander (cubic cm)

t=flight time (from launch to rest state at the target) (seconds)

and

d=final distance from the target (centimeters)

a.Landers in which the eggs do not survive the landing ( ie: broken) are automatically disqualified

b.Method of Measurement

  1. Mass is determined by using a balance
  2. Volume is calculated by setting the Lander on a flat stable surface and then measuring its maximum dimensions in the x,y, and z directions. Volume is the product xyz
  3. Time is calculated using digital stop watches ( to the nearest second)
  4. A tape measure is used to measure the Lander’s final distance from the target, d
  5. An egg is broken if it “runs” out of the Lander when the Lander in inverted

Tips and Hints:

  • The best score is obtained when the volume, mass and flight time are minimized. Therefore, it is best to build your lander with the smallest mass and smallest volume possible.
  • The accuracy d of your lander is measured from the point at which the lander stops moving, not the point at which it hit the target. Therefore, you must take any potential bouncing or rolling into account.
  • It should be emphasized that the shortest flight time, from the time the lander is launched until it stops moving, is important to achieving a good score.
  • The lowest score wins!