Code your mission to Mars: from simulation to reality

Teach with Space Online Training

Date: two opportunities on either 23 March or 4 May 2022
Level: Primary and Secondary school teachers 
Time: 16h30 - 18h30 CET
Language: English
Pre-requisites: No previous programming experience required
Certification: a certification of participation will be provided to attendees.
Registration: 

• open until 16 March (midday, 12:00 CET) for the 23 March course, apply here. 
• open until 27 April (midday, 12:00 CEST) for the 4 May course, apply here. 

This training focusses on classroom activities that use the context of a rover mission to Mars. By using challenges and a game-based learning approach, the activities aim at developing  pupils’ problem solving and critical thinking skills, and at reinforcing their subject knowledge in science and programming.

In 2022 the first European rover will be launched for its journey to explore the surface of planet Mars and search for traces of past life. In this training, you will be introduced to the secrets of a mission to the Red Planet. How do scientists operate a planetary exploration vehicle on planet Mars? What are the challenges that programmers must overcome for a successful mission?

You will use satellite images of the Martian surface to analyse its characteristics and select a landing site for your rover. Then, you will program a number of missions, using the Open Roberta Lab online simulation tool. The tool utilises a block-based programming language and supports connectivity to a wide variety of educational robotic kits.

Mars is more than 50 million km away from us, which means that a communication signal will need more than 2,5 minutes to reach its destination! You will experience a similar situation, as your code will be uploaded on an educational robot in our e-technology lab, in the ESA/ESEC facilities, to actually drive on the Martian Terrain simulation table.

More information, including Overview, coming soon!