It’s that time again!   My first day back is Monday, and the students join us the following Monday.  The project this year is Mission to Mars- Cultivating Our Future from Wyoming to Mars

For the last seven years, ARFCOM has been an essential part of the adventure my students experience with the building of permanent large installation projects here at our high school.   I know that this year will be no different, and our success will be attributable to the incredible help that so many of you provide.
My Art classes will again work with CAD students, Welding students, Woodworking students, and Robotic students to try to create our next display.  I’m hoping with our subject this year, we can get some agronomy students also involved.   For those new to our adventures, roughly 60-80 students from grades 9-12 will work the entire school year to build from scratch a permanent 3D display in an area roughly 13.5’x18.5’.  Some students might only spend an hour working on this, some three weeks,  and some might spend several hours every day the entire year.  This will roughly (some will remember last year’s prediction of $1200, and how off I was by the end, $2700) cost around $2000.   Yeah, let’s try to stay there this year.  The generosity in both funds, equipment, and advice last year made all the difference in being able to spend that much money on such a project.    We will again have to have a t-shirt sale to celebrate the adventure and raise the funds needed.  

Our new build area is the breakout room next to the Agriculture and Robotics rooms.    They came to me last spring, knowing we had few areas left to work in, and asked if we would do something in their area, oriented towards their disciplines.   I will admit, that building a tractor was not at the top of my list of “fun” ideas, but many students were excited about this idea, and once ARFCOM started throwing out ideas(Rover wheels on the tractor-Thanks @Frank_B ), my fun meter spiked substantially.  I’m hoping students will be inspired with the idea of linking cultivating fields in WY, to the eventual cultivating fields on Mars.  

So here is what I’m envisioning right now:
Our new home for this year.  The trophies and banners will all come down.-
13.5ft x 18.5 ft.  Same size as the locomotive area




-Martian and Wyoming landscapes blended across the room-Heart Mountain, fields, desert, to Martian landscape, envirodomes

Our school is on the left in front of the water tower.  








-Probably a 1/3rd scale???? John Deere EV tractor altered adding moving “Rover” wheels.  We need some diagrams for the tractor.



-3D environment with rocks, fields, envirodomes, possible live agronomy display






-Drones scanning fields-one of the Robotics old platforms will/could be used also.




-Rover movement-move across the wall?  




-14 foot tall? SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket/launch surrounding the support beam (bottom portion lit up with clear lights simulating launch?).



As with past years, I’m sure this will be altered a bit as the adventure proceeds, and ARFCOM adds to ideas.   Our team of students has changed of course, and we will be missing our lead Robotics student who went so far above and beyond what was expected last year.   Hopefully we find someone to fill his shoes.   I should have back several of my lead builders again.  I ran the idea by them a week ago, and they were excited to get started.  

Please share any ideas you might come up with!   Even if we don’t use it, the ideas can spur discussion, and lead to new thoughts.    The brainstorming ARFCOM provides is always one of the most interesting and important aspects of this process.

Here is last year’s thread:

https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/1-3rd-Scale-17ft-Marine-One-Helicopter-Project-ThreadUpdate-6-17pg54-magazine-article-/5-2133113/



Previous adventure....
https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/ALL-ABOARD-1-3rd-scale-Baldwin-4-4-0-Locomotive-Update-5-24pg29-The-End-is-here-Video-/5-2025503/

In!

Love following these.

Tweet Elon and see if he'll lend you anything.

Woohoo! Looking forward to this one!

These threads are always awesome! Your students are truly lucky to have you.
In on page 1.

Subscribed! Cant wait!

Subscribed.  Looking forward to another awesome build thread.

In for another great school year.

@stryker
can we get fundraising approved so we can get ahead of the curve?

I might have passed school if you were my teacher.

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In for more awesome!

Tag

Tag

The greenhouse buildings are wrong.
Mars atmosphere is 1% of Earth. Living spaces (even ones humans only visit rarely) must hold in the air, and that means holding in 99% of that pressure.
Also, greenhouses would let in nearly all the radiation hitting the surface. The plants may survive it, but people will not want to accumulate radiation damage while "farming".
And the Sun provides only about 60% of the sunlight that Earth gets. Again, the plants may survive, but they (and us) will be safer and healthier indoors.

Tunnel farming for the win!

In on 1!   This gonna be good!

Subscribed

Tag, this and NOLO threads are the best on Arfcom.

real Sunset on Mars.



During sunset the path of the sun light passes through more of the thin atmosphere and resulting in blue sky for the same reason our sky is blue here on Earth.

In one one! Looking forward to the build Ive been following along since the Viking ship, well, right after it. RIP Nordic ship, it has been H1B’d for other projects

Here's what I'm thinking on the SpaceX Heavy.  The structural pillar would be surrounded by PVC pipe to form the rocket body.  The PVC would be durable and resist damage from people bumping into it.  I was also thinking putting a clear tube at the bottom and filling it with roundish balls, filled with lights to simulate a launch?  Not sure that's possible, but we can look into it.  

Good notes to remember.  I wonder if the greenhouse style is more for the people and their mental health rather than for the plants.  Maybe a more tinted glass would be appropriate?

You could use cotton,  LED lights, fiber optics to look like ignition.


How to make fire simulation

I'm moist!

In on 1!!

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I'll be more than happy to donate for this. Can we get a staff approved status for fund raising?

Any plans for a Martian movie marathon for inspiration? A Mars attacks or Carrie Ann Moss shower scene diorama would be nice.

There you go!  Perfect.  Now I just need to find a big enough clear strong tube for the base.

This will be awesome as usual!

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IN! Awesome OP!

You are teaching these kids way more than what they get in other classes

That is a cool photo!  Might have to see about incorporating that into the display.

Radiation protection.

The main concern is Ionizing radiation.  Materials high in Hydrogen are good at blocking such radiation.  That's things like Water and polyethylene plastic.  Rock also works but you need about 10-11 yards thick and water only needs about 1 yard of thickness.  I don't know about the thickness of the plastic needed.

I think plants could be grown on the surface with a "green house" designed with "Medium" radiation protection in mind... and maybe a little supplemental lighting. Something like these tanks Cody is messing around with.



As for human habitation... those would likely be buried by rock or be surrounded by or even embedded within water storage tanks.

OST.

I think it would be cool if @ORARGB, @SCW, and @Mech2007 posted here with some ideas perhaps?

Sorry in advance but, I just have to do it.

IN

What's best about Arfcom, is that we will get excellent data to work with and make our display as realistic as possible.  I'd much rather be able to explain to students why the greenhouses won't be clear, than have the display not be realistic.

So, tunnel entrances in cliffs.

Plastic tubes for "greenhouses".  

In for the T-shirt.

I'll read it over when I get home from work.

I MAY even have some spare parts from the Curiosity Rover laying around home. Not sure. I gave a lot of them away as paperweights.

Thanks for the mention, this could be a cool one.  I have access to a lot of stuff, so I’ll keep up to date and see if I can contribute at all.

In!

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IN

OP, any plans to include the Opportunity Rover?

Working in the designs should be fun.  Lots of ways we can go with it.


Hopefully you will have enough room in your drawer for one more.

I noticed mine was getting kind of full.  

Tag for amazing awesomeness.

Yup, definitely a possibility.  I'm hoping we could make that move across the wall, then back?  Much depends on how much the Robotics dept can do for us this year.

Tag

These threads are epic.