aeroengineer: race to mars developed in partnership between project lead the way and wisdom tools,...

AeroEngineer: Race To MarsDeveloped in Partnership between

Project Lead the Way and Wisdom Tools, Inc.Funded, in part, by National Science Foundation (Grant No. NSF IIP-1047122)

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AeroEngineer: Race to Mars

• This serious game and curriculum package engages high school students in aerospace engineering and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

• In the game, you’ll bid for various types of contracts that need a space vehicle to go to Mars. Then you’ll design and test your own space vehicle to meet mission requirements.

Project Lead The Way, Inc. Copyright 2012 AE – AeroEngineer: Race to Mars – Game Introduction 1.0


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AeroEngineer: Race to Mars

• By choosing from various parts, you will design the propulsion, vehicle, and lander. Then you’ll send it to Mars to see how well your design holds up and meets real world challenges.

• There is no one perfect design solution. Instead, you’ll decide on a variety of design and structure choices. You’ll examine frame factors, design trade offs, and use the systems approaches to engineering.


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AeroEngineer: Five Game Modules

• Introduction & Contract Selection • Module 1: Propulsion• Module 2: Vehicle Design• Module 3: Lander Design• Module 4: Bidding• Module 5: Take on Roles & Flight• Performance Review


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Introduction


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Contract Selection

• You will be given a choice of contracts to “bid” for to fund your vehicle for the Race to Mars.

• You will want to build a vehicle that achieves the mission’s requirements with the lowest financial and resource investment. This will enable you to complete your contract and make a profit.


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Instruction Screens


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Types of Contracts Contract Goals

Defense The end goal of this contract is to set up surveillance on Mars. Given the source, funding resources are quite large.

Green The goal of this contract is conservation of the Martian environment. But the types of materials and fuels you can use are limited.

Tourism While this contract may be motivated by profit, it is also concerned with preserving aspects of the “Martian experience.”

Research This contract has less funding, but there is access to the newest technologies. While you can use the most experimental methods to get to Mars, you need to get samples back to Earth.


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Contract Selection


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Hire Team

• You will hire crewmembers, each of which will provide design input in later stages of the game.

• From the list, you will choose a team of three. • The combination of these three crewmembers

will determine options provided to you within the game.


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Hire Team

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Engineering Design Process

Adapted from: (2007). Standards for technological literacy: Content for the study of technology. Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology. Retrieved from http://www.iteea.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf


http://www.iteea.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf

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Module 1: Propulsion

• You will design and test a propulsion system for getting from the Moon to Mars.

• The propulsion system consists of engine, fuel, and exhaust parts.

• Throughout the game, you will have to make cost-benefit decisions.

Example: Fuel is limited, but any added weight reduces the efficiency of the system.



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Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation

• M0: is the initial total mass, including propellant.

• M1: is the final total mass.

• Ve : is the effective exhaust velocity .• Δ v – Delta-v : The maximum change of speed of

the vehicle (with no external forces acting).


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Module 1: Propulsion


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ΔV vs. Mass Ratio Graph


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Module 1: Propulsion Debrief• WHAT TYPE OF CONTRACT DID YOU CHOOSE, AND WHAT WERE THE

REQUIREMENTS OF THAT CONTRACT? – Example: The Green Contract is eco-friendly. This means the types of

materials and fuels that can be used should not harm the environment (Including space and Martian environments).

• TO MEET CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS, WHAT DESIGN CHOICES AND TRADE-OFFS DID YOU MAKE? – What types of design criteria and constraints did you consider when choosing:

• Different types of engines? • Different types of fuel? (If required) • Different nozzles?

– Did you make any trade-offs with your choices?– How did your design choices help or hurt you chances of reaching your

contract requirements?


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Module 2: Vehicle Design

• You will choose and test a ship structure.• Each of the hired crewmembers that were

selected to be part of the team will suggest a different ship structure template.

• This template reflects your crewmembers’ characteristics and areas of expertise.


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Module 2: Vehicle Design


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Module 2: Vehicle Design Debrief

• WHEN CHOOSING YOUR VEHICLE, DID YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT KINDS OF LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE CONTRACT YOU SELECTED?– What systems are needed to keep humans alive and comfortable in space? – What differences in life support systems are required for different contracts? – What are the challenges with taking a crew and passengers to Mars? Please explain.– How did your propulsion design choices affect what choices you could make later in

the design process?

• HOW ARE MASS AND COST RELATED TO THE RELIABILITY OF THE VEHICLE?– Are the most expensive parts always the most reliable? – Do lighter materials tend to be cheaper or more expensive?– Do you remember which materials were most reliable? – Which materials did you consider as part of your solution?

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Module 3: Lander Design

• You will choose your lander for this mission. • Each of the hired crewmembers you selected

will suggest a different lander template that reflects their characteristics and areas of expertise.

• The templates describe different countermeasures that the lander can deploy during the descent to the Martian surface (i.e., retrothrusters, parachutes).



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• Countermeasure Definition: A measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. For example, the use of a parachute when falling.

• 5 levels of ideal MACH speeds: hypersonic, supersonic, transonic, and subsonic.


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Module 3: Lander Design Debrief

• MARS AND EARTH ARE VERY DIFFERENT PLANETS. WHAT ARE THESE DIFFERENCES AND HOW DO THEY AFFECT THE DESIGN OF A LANDER?

If possible use the following website during discussion of this question.Helpful website: http://www.universetoday.com/22603/mars-compared-to-earth/ – Do Mars and Earth have the same gravity? Please explain.– How would differences in gravity affect the design of a lander? – Do Mars and Earth have the same type of atmosphere? How would atmosphere affect

your lander design, especially with parachutes? Would the drag be different?

• HOW DOES CARRYING PEOPLE IN THE LANDER AFFECT YOUR DESIGN (COMPARED TO LANDING AN UNMANNED ROVER)?

– Did safety concerns affect your design? Why or why not?– Are certain types of countermeasures better for manned landing vehicles? Please

explain.– What sort of impact systems did you end up using and why?– How was that system related to safety?

http://www.universetoday.com/22603/mars-compared-to-earth/


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Module 4: Bidding

• You make a bid on your chosen contract based on the completed design work. You will be able to add additional cargo, passengers, and fuel if you wish using cost sliders across categories. You can also add in additional cost for your engine, ship, and lander. These costs will add to the actual cost of the ship as built and become the bid offer to the contract company. The company will reject bids that are too high.


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Module 4: Bidding


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Module 4: Bidding Debrief• WHY IS DEVELOPING AN OPTIMAL BID BETTER THAN AN

ACCEPTED BID?– How can you optimize your outcomes during bidding? – What trade-offs did you make in order to optimize your outcomes?– Bringing more food or less food?– Bringing more fuel or less fuel?– Bringing more crew or less crew?

• EXPLAIN COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS IN TERMS OF SPACE TRAVEL.– What were the intended or unintended consequences based on the

decisions you made during the bidding process?– To succeed in the game, why can’t you simply buy the most expensive

parts? Why not just buy the cheapest parts?


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Module 5: Taking Roles & Flight

Once the vehicle has been designed, tested, and built within the game environment, you will launch and fly your creations and payloads to Mars. You will control two of your crewmember NPCs who must keep the ship flying by repairing and restoring systems as they fail.

Once the ship has reached Mars, you will deploy your landers to the surface. As your lander speeds toward the surface, the quality of your chosen lander will be tested in addition to the types of countermeasures available.


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Module 5: Taking Roles & Flight Debrief

• WHAT PROBLEMS DID YOU NEED TO SOLVE TO MAKE YOUR JOURNEY SUCCESSFUL?– Were you able to solve the problems to your satisfaction? – Did you have to retry your flight several times? – Did you have to go back to the “drawing board”?

• WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THERE ARE SEPARATE VEHICLES FOR SPACEFLIGHT AND LANDING?– What are some of the different design criteria for a space vehicle and a

landing vehicle? – What is required for a landing vehicle as opposed to a space vehicle? – Why do you think there are separate vehicles for landing and spaceflight

at all?


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After Action Review: Debrief

• How did you do?• Did you make or lose money?• What kind of feedback did you receive?• What could you have done better?• What affected your decisions most?


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Homework Review

• Assignment 1: Cost of Exploration– For the Apollo budget, what was the largest part

of the budget in 1963? In 1966? – In 1963, what percentage of the budget went to

life support?– What were the total costs of rocket development

in 1966? How much more was the cost in 1966?– What factors could have contributed to the

change in rocket development costs between 1963 and 1966?


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Homework Review

• Assignment 2: Rocket Math– What is the Δv for the Rocket 1 (Fuse) and Rocket 3

(Helicat)? Which one is greater?– What did you learn from plotting all five rockets on a

graph?– Will the Fuse or Helicat go higher? Explain.– For both the Estes B6-4 and Estes C11-5 engines, what

are their maximum thrusts? – The price of the C11-5 rocket is $10.99, while the price

for the B6-4 is $9.79. Which one gets the most thrust for the cost?


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Homework Review

• Assignment 3: Breathe Easy– The exercise room on the spaceship is 14.5 m3. If three people

were in the room, doing Normal Work, how long (in hours) would it take for the sensors to set off an alarm at 5% CO2

concentration? – You are designing a safe, sleeping habitat for your four

crewmembers. Due to your budget, you can only afford a CO2

scrubber that removes CO2 at a rate of 0.05 m3/h. What is the smallest the habitat room can be in order to ensure the CO2

concentration stays below 5%? – Normal indoor conditions have a CO2 concentration of 0.06%.

Would it be a good idea to have no CO2 at all? Explain.


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Homework Review

• Assignment 4: It’s a Drag– Find the force of drag for the parachutes on the Pathfinder and

Phoenix landing crafts.– For putting a fragile cargo on the lander:

• Which lander would fulfill this requirement, as well as provide the slowest landing?

• Which one of these would fulfill the Mach requirement and provide the smallest parachute?

– Instead of a parachute, you want to put two retrothrusters on your lander. Using the drag that you found for the Phoenix lander’s parachute in question 1, what force would each retrothruster have to produce in order to provide the same force as the parachute?

– What are the areas for Viking 1&2 and Pathfinder in ft2?


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Homework Review

• Assignment 5: Stopping for Directions– What are the areas for Viking 1&2 and Pathfinder now in ft2? – If NASA scientists decided to start the cruise at a higher orbit

because of instrument testing. This orbit has an altitude of 3200 km. What speed is the spacecraft going at this orbit?

– When going to Mars, any probes or vehicles must reach an “orbital insertion” or reach a stable orbit that “catches” Mars’s gravity. For Mars Odyssey, this capture orbit was 400 km above Mars’s surface. What was the energy of the craft at capture orbit?

– Was the energy higher or lower for the Mars capture orbit? Explain.

aeroengineer: race to mars developed in partnership between project lead the way and wisdom tools,...

Documents

mars game introduction

ae aeroengineer

introduction project

serious game

youll design

vehicle design module

contract selection project

lander design module