EDUCATION
Is there life on Mars?
New Mexico fifth graders show off the colonies they designed to survive on the Red Planet at 32nd annual 'Mission to Mars' event
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The astronauts at Sombra del Monte Elementary School have a plan to make it to Mars.
The fifth graders built an inflatable habitat out of plastic that will sustain them when they get there. A greenhouse powered by solar energy will grow fruits and vegetables to eat. An oxygen tank will provide air to breathe. From there, it鈥檚 up to them.
At the 32nd annual Mission to Mars event Thursday, nearly 800 students from across New Mexico showed off the colonies they鈥檇 built while learning about space travel during the school year.
Some students used the event, held at the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque, as an opportunity to think about what life would be like on other planets. Eshton Hugaboom, 11, said he would jump at the chance to go to outer space 鈥� once he landed on Mars, he鈥檇 plan to take advantage of the Red Planet鈥檚 weak gravitational pull, he said.
鈥淚f I was on Mars, I would start break dancing,鈥� Hugaboom said. 鈥淭hen I would grab a baseball. If I had one, I would throw it.鈥�
Other attendees said they weren鈥檛 so keen on space travel. If offered a trip to space, he鈥檇 have to think about it, said Lt. Gov. Howie Morales.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of fear that comes with it 鈥� but what an amazing reward,鈥� said Morales, a former special education teacher from Silver City and one of the guests of honor at Thursday鈥檚 event.
For their mission, Erin Agee鈥檚 fifth grade class at Zia Elementary chose to build a transportation system to dig into the subterranean lava tubes on Mars. The excavation drill is model-sized, for now.
鈥淪cientists think that underground on Mars might be a bit more habitable than the surface,鈥� said Alayna Ruiz, 10.
Cutting out the plastic sheets for their habitat took around three days, said 10-year-old Evalyn Ochoa from the inside of her class鈥� inflatable pod.
鈥淲e had to measure it perfectly, make sure we taped everything right, or else we would have to re-tape it,鈥� she said.
Project supplies were paid for in part by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, organizers said.
Federal funding cuts to the U.S. Air Force meant uncertainty for this year鈥檚 Mission to Mars 鈥� the project almost had to take a year off, Morales said 鈥� but supplies came through in time for the Artemis II mission, which sent a crew of astronauts to outer space and helped renew students鈥� excitement for extraterrestrial exploration, said New Mexico Tech President Michael Jackson.
鈥淭hese are the activities that we want them to have, to let them know they belong here, too,鈥� Jackson said.
For what it's worth, Agee said her students decided going to Mars didn鈥檛 justify the hassle.
鈥淲e watched a video with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and he made a really great point,鈥� Agee said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 like, 鈥業f we have the means to make Mars habitable, why aren鈥檛 we doing it on Earth?鈥欌��
Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.
