Introduction
Is there life on Mars? Mars is a cold, dry, dusty place. Although there is evidence that liquid water once flowed on Mars’ surface, scientists have never seen—through telescopes or images sent back from rovers—plant or animal life on Mars. In fact, scientists haven’t even been able to detect bacteria or other single-celled life on Mars.
But that is not to say there are no Martians. At the moment, there are at least a few inhabitants on the planet, including two robot rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity. Opportunity, which landed on the red planet in 2004 for a 90-day mission, has far outlived an of its engineer’s expectations. For 14 years, it has traveled on the surface of the planet, collecting data and transmitting information to Earth. However, In June of 2018 Opportunity found itself in one of the most severe dust storms ever observed on Mars. The solar-powered robot went into hibernation because the sun was blocked by the dust storm. Whether it will become active again after the storm passes remains to be seen.
Curiosity is an automobile-sized, rolling science robot whose mission is to collect data to help answer the question “Did Mars ever support life?” Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6, 2012 with a diverse set of equipment to search for life, including multiple cameras and sensors that are able to analyze gases, rocks, and soil. At the end of 2018, Curiosity was still sending data back to scientists on Earth!
Despite being much smaller than Curiosity and Opportunity, Codey Rocky has a lot in common with the Mars rovers. Given the right code, Codey Rocky can navigate rough terrain on its own and use sensors to explore its world. In this activity, you will become familiar with Codey Rocky’s movement capabilities.
Objectives
- Become familiar with the blocks in the Action, Display, Lighting, and Speaker palettes.
- Write a program in mBlock to make Codey Rocky move, light up, and make sounds.
- Practice troubleshooting when problems arise.
- Explore how the sequence of their blocks affects the motion of Codey Rocky.
Sensors and Equipment
This experiment features the following sensors and equipment. Additional equipment may be required.
Ready to Experiment?
Ask an Expert
Get answers to your questions about how to teach this experiment with our support team.
- Call toll-free: 888-837-6437
- Chat with Us
- Email support@vernier.com
Purchase the Lab Book
This experiment is #2 of Coding with Codey Rocky: Mission to Mars. The experiment in the book includes student instructions as well as instructor information for set up, helpful hints, and sample graphs and data.
