Traveling to Mars

Developed by A. Titus

Easy JavaScript Simulation version by Fremont Teng and Loo Kang Wee

In a contemporary, yet classic survival story, The Martian documents the struggle of astronaut Mark Watney to withstand the barrage of life-ending threats thrown by Mars. Although science fiction, author Andy Weir weaves physics, astronomy, botany, engineering, and chemistry into the book. One of the topics Weir deftly describes is the challenge imposed by traveling to Mars.

This set of activities focuses on the rocket’s orbit around the Sun, the “ideal” time to launch a rocket, and the initial conditions needed for the rocket to arrive at Mars. Students will determine the time between possible launches to Mars and the time required for the rocket to travel to Mars after launched.

Subject Area | Mechanics
Levels | First Year and Beyond the First Year
Available Implementation | Glowscript and Easy JavaScript Simulation
Learning Objectives | Students will be able to: obtain Cartesian coordinates for Earth and Mars (relative to the Sun) on a given date. (Exercise 1) use Newton’s Second Law to compute the orbits of Earth and Mars. (Exercise 1) demonstrate why NASA waits approximately 26 months between launches to Mars. (Exercise 1) use the Energy Principle to compute the speed of the rocket at a given distance from Earth. (Exercise 2) compute the orbit of the rocket using an initial velocity of the rocket when it is already well above Earth’s atmosphere. (Exercise 3) find initial conditions that takes a rocket to Mars and measure the time of travel for the rocket. (Exercises 3 - 4)
Time to Complete | 120 min