Overview
Perseverance is the continued effort to achieve in the face of opposition. Join us as we celebrate the landing of the aptly-named Perseverance Rover on Mars on Thursday, February 18th, a culmination of years of human effort and tenacity. “The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover will search for signs of ancient microbial life, which will advance NASA's quest to explore the past habitability of Mars. The rover has a drill to collect core samples of Martian rock and soil, then store them in sealed tubes for pickup by a future mission that would ferry them back to Earth for detailed analysis. Perseverance will also test technologies to help pave the way for future human exploration of Mars.”- NASA – Mars 2020 Mission Overview
We will explore the science, engineering, technology and human story behind this grand endeavor. This cosmic day of events, hosted by DSST GVR HS teacher and NASA Solar System Ambassador Jennie King, will include live footage from NASA surrounding the landing (scheduled for approximately 1:55 PM MST). The days’ schedule will also include opportunities for in-classroom discussion and extension activities facilitated by Jennie King.
How to Join
All DSST Students, teachers, staff, and families are welcome to attend this live event through Microsoft TEAMS using the link here. The TEAMS event will be live, so participants will be muted upon entry, but can submit questions via our facilitated Q&A chat. Participants can join for as much or little time as works with their schedules.
Schedule - Thursday, February 18th
If you are looking for ideas of activities to do with your students (teachers and families) before next Thursday, February 18, please check out these resources below!
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Targeted Grades |
Activity Description |
Resource Link |
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All Grades |
This is the main site for the Perseverance mission- read on for more information about the mission. |
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All Grades |
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover,, will carry the first helicopter to the surface of Mars! This helicopter has to be super lightweight to fly on Mars. It also needs large blades that can rotate really fast so it can generate enough lift to overcome the gravity of the Red Planet and lift off the ground. In this project, you will build a paper helicopter. |
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All Grades |
In this challenge, use what you know and what you can investigate about gravity, motion, forces and a target of your choosing (the Moon, Mars or beyond!) to design and build a lander that will protect two "astronauts" when they touch down. |
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K-5 |
NASA’s site for kids, including on trading card images that show what we’ve learned from each Mars rover. |
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K-5 |
Cut out and use shapes to build your own rover design! |
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6-12 |
At NASA, the process we call entry, descent, and landing, or EDL, is the series of events that occurs from the time a spacecraft encounters the top of the Martian atmosphere until it safely touches down on the surface. You can model this process using coding languages, such as Python! In this activity, you will program several features of EDL, such as determining your spacecraft's proximity from the surface once it arrives at Mars. |