Photo Courtesy of NASA/JPL via Caltech.
Camp participants will get to see Mars’ terrain in Samford’s Christenberry Planetarium.
A group of high school juniors and seniors will have the opportunity later this month to learn what future trips to Mars might look like — and even plan their own.
Samford University will host The Martian Frontier summer camp June 27–30 at its Christenberry Planetarium.
The four-day camp will focus on exposing students to physics, astronomy and computer science in a hands-on way.
Participants will get to explore the process of creating the goals of a space mission, planning spacecraft trajectories, the difficulties associated with building a Martian base and designing a plan for life on Mars.
Samford science faculty and a number of guest speakers will lead students through discussions about the technology required to get to Mars, as well as the biology and philosophy of traveling through space and colonizing another planet.
Students will spend time in the planetarium learning about Mars’ terrain, and will even design their own theoretical trip to the Red Planet.
“With all the talk about Mars these days, the public is becoming more and more interested in taking a trip,” planetarium director and camp organizer David Weigel said.
The $395 tuition cost covers lodging, meals and camp supplies, and space is extremely limited. For more information or to be put on the waiting list, contact Sarah Chase Rabiee at hcas@samford.edu.