Tia Jones peered at the flash cards spread across the stage as her partner, Alexa Jones, slid them back and forth.
The girls, both fourth-graders at Ann Arbor’s Dicken Elementary, were trying to match cards showing characteristics of Earth with cards showing characteristics of Mars.
The activity was part of a visit to Dicken by Doug Lombardi, the education and public outreach manager for Phoenix, NASA’s 2007 mission to Mars. Lombardi also visited King Elementary while in town.
May 5th, 2006
Students filled in on Mars mission The Ann Arbor News
June 3rd, 2001
An RV in space: U-M works on Mars rover The Ann Arbor News
On the right is a tiny toilet, revved with extra power for a low-gravity flush. On the left, computer stations quickly convert into a conference table for strategy meetings. Near the front, a sealed “glove box” allows people to handle hot rocks. On the ceiling, two beds hang, ready to be pulled down when night comes. Welcome to an RV in space, otherwise known as a Mars rover, the workings of University of Michigan engineering students preparing for man’s first travel on the fourth rock from the Sun.