Egg-cellent Landing
Students design a contraption to protect a fallen egg
The purpose of this activity is to recreate the classic egg-drop experiment with an analogy to the Mars rover landing. The concept of terminal velocity will be introduced, and students will perform several velocity calculations. Also, students will have to design and build their lander within a pre-determined budget to help reinforce a real-world design scenario.
Through careful design and many experimental trials, engineers have developed ways to safely stop objects moving at high speeds. They incorporate into the design of moving objects — cars, airplanes, trains, amusement park rides, bicycles — components and devices that mitigate the effect of abrupt slow down; for example, bumpers, crumple zones, seat belts, air bags, shock absorbers or helmets.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Identify several components of a Mars lander designed by engineers.
- Design and build an egg-lander within a confined budget.
- Define and understand terminal velocity.
- Recognize similarities and differences between their model lander design and the Mars Landing Spacecraft design.