| Event ID: | 4409 |
| Contact Name: | Lee Pullen |
| Contact Email: | lee.pullen@at-bristol.org.uk |
| Contact Phone: | 0117 9157 221 |
| Organization: | At-Bristol |
| Event Web Site: | http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/1875.html |
| Dates: | 4th October 2013 to 14th October 2013 |
| Physical Event: | |
| Type: | Public |
| Start/End Type: | |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| State/Province: | Bristol |
| City: | Bristol |
| Address: | |
| Location: | |
| Event Name: | World Space Week: Mars Lab |
| Event Description: | 10am to 4pm week days 10am to 5pm weekends Celebrate World Space Week with a mission to Mars! Drive over the surface of Mars with your remote control buggy. Gather rock samples and analyse them in our Lab. What will you discover about the Red Planet? World Space Week: Mars Lab is supported by The Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) and The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). |
| Promotional Image: | No Image. |
| Report on the Results: | World Space Week 2013 saw At-Bristol’s practical science space, Live Lab, transformed into Mars Lab. Visitors became mission leaders by designing and constructing their own Mars rover, controlling it across a Martian surface to collect rock samples, analysing their samples in the lab and drawing conclusions from what they found. During their time in Mars Lab they drew inspiration from Mars Express and Exo Mars, found out about current Mars news stories on our news bulletin board, and took a photograph of their own rover to access electronically at home and remember their experience in Mars Lab. Their first task was to equip their Mars rover with all the devices they need for power supply, communication, navigation, and observations. Giving consideration to some of the challenges faced when designing a rover, visitors needed to select options that would reliably power their vehicle and allow it to gather the information they require, while also ensuring it is as lightweight and robust as possible. Next, a scoop needed to be constructed to collect rock samples. Some designs were suggested for visitors to follow, while others chose to use their creativity and create their own scoop. When the finished rover was assembled it was time to take a quick trip to Mars and try it out! Visitors could drive their remote-controlled rover across our Martian surface, trying to use the scoop to collect a rock or sand sample. Facilitators reminded visitors that on an actual Mars mission it would take 15 - 30 minutes for signals sent from Earth to arrive and control the rover. Many visitors chose to have their photograph taken with their rover, and this was shared to their personal At-Bristol Explore More account via the barcode on their ticket. Once a sample had successfully been retrieved, it was time for analysis. In the lab, visitors put on safety glasses and began examination of their sample. Using observations, chemical reactions and spectroscopy, visitors tried to find clues about ancient water, volcanic activity, or possible life within their samples. Ultraviolet light revealed information that was hidden to our eyes, adding ‘nutrients’ to some samples resulted in fizzing reactions, and smoother rocks could have been worn down by flowing water. Perhaps some further tests would be needed before conclusions could be drawn. As ESA film was looping on the big screen, showing data from Mars Express of the location of different minerals found on Mars. |
| Attendance: | 6376 |
| Attendance is Unique: | |
| Media Impressions: | 10000 |
| Media Impressions are Unique: |
Event Years: 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024