Deciding where to target the image

Many of the students who have been involved in the project are now considering careers in space exploration. Those who weren't motivated at all in school are excited about their studies and almost forget that they are learning. As one student put it, "This is better than school!"

Creators of the Mars Student Imaging Project like to think of it as an example of what school can actually be in this increasingly high-tech age: a chance-of-a-lifetime experience for students to be directly involved with a NASA mission to another planet.

NASA has a vital interest in inspiring the next generation of explorers, and the Mars Student Imaging Project aligns with that intent. With a planned program of multiple orbiters around Mars for the next few decades, the nation's space agency will essentially establish a "permanent presence" for research around Mars. The exciting extension of this orbital presence is that it opens up opportunities for a "permanent presence" in the classroom, open to new groups of students year after year. These opportunities contribute to the education of today's students so that they will be prepared for the high-skill careers of the future.

"By design, the skills required to do these Mars science activities can be applied to many different aspects of life," said Mars Student Imaging Project Director Sheri Klug. "These are core skills, like problem solving and critical thinking, which will academically help them no matter what career paths they end up choosing."

Extending Opportunities to Participate

Looking for target sites as a team

Perhaps one of the biggest bonuses of the Mars Student Imaging Project is that the student teams are now voluntarily acting as mentors for other interested students. For example, a recent student team of eleven participants went back to their school, reaching out to an additional 100 students. While some student teams decide to come to Arizona State University (often, on their own initiative, holding yard sales and finding corporate sponsors in their communities), others can have the same interactive experience through Internet conferencing and teleconferencing, or with archived data sets available online. That opens the doors for anyone to participate, right from their desktops.

Even the teachers benefit from the experience by learning how to teach what Klug calls an "instead of" curriculum. That is, "instead of" using standard, pre-set classroom worksheets and simulations, the curriculum provides a hands-on, engaging way to participate in genuine planetary exploration and discovery. This participation in real, ongoing scientific discovery-not as bystanders, but as decision-makers-not only boosts students' self-esteem and motivates them to learn, but also gives them a new experience of themselves.

Gathering data to propose an image site

"I wish there was some way to preserve this enthusiasm for learning and pass it on to all students," said Cindy Wurmnest, an Illinois teacher who participated in the project.

Any teacher in the United States can fully participate in the program by downloading the Mars Student Imaging Project curriculum materials from http://msip.asu.edu . More information about NASA's long-term Mars Exploration Program can be found at http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov .

Mars Student Imaging Project :: Images
This region is Ganges Chasma. Lat/Long: -10.05N/48.83W	This region is called Terra Sabaea. Lat: -6.1 N Longitude: 336 W