🪐 M6 Space Machines

Cogworks Space Agency is planning a Mars mission. They need models of the solar system, navigation tools and a rover that won’t tip over.

Engineers, Advanced. Engineer Stamp: Mission Specialist.

Lessons

1. The Sun–Earth orrery: Why do we have day and night, and seasons? A machine can show it.
2. The south-pointing chariot: Chinese engineers built a compass without magnets 1,800 years ago. With gears!
3. Orrery ratio lab: Can we fix the model so a year is closer to 365 days?
4. The rocker-bogie rover: NASA rovers climb rocks twice as tall as their wheels. The secret is the suspension.
5. Design Day: Crater crossing: The sample from Mars is precious. Don’t spill a single grain!
6. Showcase: Mission Control Day: Countdown, launch, drive. Mission control (the class) tracks each rover on a map.

Design challenge

Build a rover that crosses a “crater field” (books and rocks) and carries a sample cup without spilling rice.

Engineering ideas

• Sun & Planet Gears
• The Differential
• Suspension & Springs
• Gear Ratio: Fast or Slow

Standards: MS-ESS1-1, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2