Bulletin

Issue: October 2004

News

Student mission to Mars

Victorian school children can take part in a Mariner or Viking space mission to Mars following the development of simulation software by La Trobe University's Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering.

Four La Trobe computer students, Patrick Oppenlander, Ashley Mallia, Lorien Dunn and Daniel Delaney developed the package for the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) at Strathmore Secondary College.

Their supervisor, senior lecturer Dr John Rankin, said there are two separate simulations, one for Mariner and the other for Viking and each takes half a day. Students play the role of six astronauts and six operators in the mission control space centre.

Mr Phillip Spencer, VSSEC Project Director, said the students work in teams on experiments to determine whether there is, or has been, life on Mars. The software also tests students' problem solving abilities when they encounter a variety of situations including dust storms and radiation exposure.

'The package provides simulated data, and an interface for real data that shows the astronauts' biological functions - heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory functioning - as well as other physiological factors as they complete their tasks,' he said.

'The program allows us to develop a range of different scenarios so that each mission can be different. The anomalies can be pre-programmed or can be left up to the educator in charge.'

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