Come On Over Rover
It takes a large team of engineers and scientists to design, fabricate, assemble and test space exploration equipment. Mars rover model with NASA's Curiosity team.Copyright NASA Mars InSight Mission, Curiosity Team Photo, 2017
https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/21356/curiosity-team-photo/?site=insight#:~:text=image/jpeg
Accessed August 8, 2020
Have you ever wondered why it takes such a long period of time for NASA to build space exploration equipment? What is involved in manufacturing and building a rover for the Red Planet? During this lesson, students discover the journey that a Mars rover embarks upon after being designed by engineers and before being prepared for launch. Students investigate the fabrication techniques, tolerance concepts, assembly and field-testing associated with a Mars exploratory rover to prepare for the associated activities where they design their own rover prototype.
When designing a Mars rover — or any engineered object (cars, appliances, medical equipment, computers, telephones, televisions, toys, etc.) — engineers determine what parts to make and how tight the pieces should fit together. They decide which fabrication methods to use and which manufacturers to fabricate and assemble the parts. Since different manufacturers may be making different parts, engineers make sure that all of the parts fit together precisely by specifying for the fabricators acceptable tolerances, or numerical ranges.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Describe the role of engineers in designing Mars rovers.
- Articulate the basic steps that a rover undergoes after being designed and before launch.
- Provide examples of the fabrication methods used to manufacture parts for Mars rovers.
- Explain the concept of a tolerance and why it is essential for NASA to utilize tolerances.