Jessica Johnson
Mrs. Eckstein
English 1 Honors
7 December 2016
Mars Problems
There are multiple problems when thinking about colonizing Mars. An example would be food, one the staples of life that doesn’t exist on Mars. So, how would humans get it? One way is presented by Leonard David who wrote, “A Path Strewn with Hazards.” He suggests a shuttle would be sent in advance of the colonists containing food and other necessities. A small supply of items would be sent with the people, but the majority would be in the shuttle. Until the colonist are able to produce enough food for themselves shuttles would send food. Another consideration is soil, the Martian soil is fertile enough to grow crops but due to insufficient water and bacteria no crops grow. Water, another staple of life, would need to be obtained for crops and drinking. People could make H2O or water from rocket fuel, like in the The Martian by Andy Weir, or attempt to send some on a shuttle ahead of the people.
Works cited:
Weir, Andy. The Martian. New York: Random House, 2014. Print.
David, Leonard. “A Path Strewn with Hazards,” USA Today Special Edition. Nov. 2016. Print
Egg Drop Review
To ensure our capsule was safe for the egg when dropped, felt was layered inside, the egg was vertical, and the parachute was larger than others. WikiHow to Drop an Egg Without It Breaking stated “The best ways to do this are to cushion the egg while also changing the way it drops and the way it lands.” The felt was picked since it would surround/cradle the egg. As for the egg being vertical, eggs are strongest in that position. Reference.com put an egg under 3.75 pounds of force. Within in their article, How much pressure can an egg withstand, they claim “Eggs are most resistant to breaking when pressure is applied to their ends.” The large parachute allows for more drag force, slowing down the fall of the capsule, as stated by Scientific American. They stated “Consequently, the larger parachute, with its greater drag force, takes longer to reach the ground than the smaller parachute.” Due to the large parachute, our capsule took 1.75 seconds to reach the ground; it landed with little sound and the egg didn’t crack. Our group will use this in our rocket and not change the design due to its effectiveness.
Works Cited:
“wikiHow to Drop an Egg Without It Breaking.” wikiHow. N.p, n.d. Web. 14 December 2016 <http://www.wikihow.com/Drop-an-Egg-Without-It-Breaking>
“How much pressure can an egg withstand.” Reference.com. N.p, n.d. Web. 14 December 2016 <https://www.reference.com/science/much-pressure-can-egg-withstand-eac3232dc65f036f#>
Science Buddies. “Skydiving Science: Does the Size of a Parachute Matter.” Scientific American. N.p, 6 September 2012. Web. 14 December 2016. <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-parachute/>
Hab Design Decisions
Within APE we decided it would be essential to make the hab out of a beach ball and duct tape; allowing us to make it airtight. Prior knowledge within the group is that beach balls inflate and hold air, and duct tape can be used as a patch. Mark Watney, from The Martian, used duct tape to create an airtight seal on his suit. To obtain these materials we negotiated with Iraq and China; obtaining both materials. These contracts allowed us to get one beach ball and 10 ft of duct tape.
In our design the half of the beach ball is used to create the main area, while the duct tape holds it down. Above the airlock is the oxygenator and the water purifier. A farm is located to the left of the airlock. The farm is made out of toothpicks and paper, while the airlock, oxygenator and water purifier are made out of toothpicks and canvas. To design the hab we created and orthographic drawing, and then started construction. To finish the hab it was painted green and inflated to test for leaks.