C2C project: Mars rover

Group 4Tom, Rheanne, Daniel and Jackson

• This is a photo of our original idea. The rovers’ body would be sitting in the middle of the wheels so if the rover ever flipped over it would not be stuck flat on its back but it would be able to keep moving.

• This was not the actual model but a test run or the main idea of what our actual model would look like.

• We ended up changing our idea as it was too popular.

Our original idea

Our model

• This is a photo of the idea that we are researching. This model is a model of a rover that will manage to dig a trench in order to plant seeds and then there will be blades to push the dirt back over the trench.

• The atmosphere of the Red Planet is ideal for farming, due to its low gravity. The low-g environment would mean crops need less water and fertilizer than they do on Earth.Soil-based agriculture can use settlers’ waste for fertilizer; it can confiscate carbon and produce oxygen; and it’s a reliable way to biologically filter water, for instance.

• The problem is that Mars is not Earth, gravitationally speaking. Gravity affects the rate at which water and nutrients flow through soil, and plants have evolved to these constraints.

• Martian gravity is about one-third as strong as Earth’s, meaning water would flow at a slower rate. This could lead to suffocation of microorganisms and roots, along with emissions of toxic gases. IT was realized slower water transport is a good thing. Soil under Martian gravity is able to hold more water, so less of it leaches through and is lost. This increased efficiency means you could use a whopping 90 percent less water for Martian irrigation than what you’d need on Earth; you could also use fewer fertilizers. On the flip side, Martian soil allows for faster consumption of oxygen and dissolved organic carbon, which resulted in a 10 percent increase in CO2 emissions.