Northside Elementary School students took a cosmic trip to Mars, the red planet, on Wednesday without having to leave the earth’s atmosphere. The school is the only one in the 5th Congressional District to receive NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, which is funded through a grant awarded to Northside, said Principal Linda Crute. Students have the opportunity to become actively involved in the Mars Global Surveyor mission by learning about the Martian environment and making discoveries along with mission science teams.