Mission to the Lunar South Pole

Space category for the 2020 Gold Coast Schools Science Competition

Welcome to the Space category for the 2020 Science Competition with Science on the GO! at Griffith University, supported by the School of Information and Communication Technology.

In this category, you have been assigned to co-ordinate and execute a mission to the Lunar South Pole. For more information on your task, watch the video below by Professor Paulo de Souza, the Head of School of ICT at Griffith University, and view the mission details.

This category is open to those in Year 5 to 10.

Lunar Mission Introduction

Mission Details

The Task

You have been assigned to co-ordinate and execute a mission to the Lunar South Pole. You will need to explain and communicate the scientific detail around how to survive this space mission to the moon.

What to do

Scientifically communicate on how you would survive a space mission to the moon under the following sub-headings:

What do you need to survive? E.g. planning supplies, equipment (including protective wear) and communications.
How do you get to your chosen landing destination? Provide reasoning for where in the lunar south pole you would land? Consider the extremes that you need to travel through and what features would best work to transport you to and back from the moon?
How to survive your first 48 hours on the moon’s surface. Including how you would communicate home (for example - creating a message through morse code).
What do you collect while you’re there? How and why are you collecting these items?

YOUR PROJECT

In your project, you must describe your mission through:

A written report
A scientific journal
A digital presentation through one of the following options:

Simulation Model
Animated Cartoon/ Comic Strip
Game
Augmented Reality Poster
PowerPoint Presentation
Multi-media presentation (video)

For more information, refer directly to the Science Competition Booklet.

Ask-An-Expert Sessions

During this year’s Science Competition, the School of ICT will be hosting three online Ask-An-Expert sessions. We’ll be joined by the Head of School, Prof Paulo de Souza and other space experts.

Each session will run for 45 minutes with time for you to ask questions about your project.

Session 1

Hosted By: Professor Paulo de Souza, Head of School of ICT

Session 2

Hosted By: Mr Adam Gilmour, CEO and Co-Founder of Gilmour Space Technologies

Session 3

Hosted By: Dr Barbara Cohen, Planetary Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Previous Ask-An-Expert Sessions

Ask-an-Expert with Prof Paulo de Souza

Professor Paulo de Souza contributed to the design, production, deployment, and operation of a sensor used by NASA onboard two rovers on Mars; Spirit and Opportunity. His research interests lie in the area of micro-sensing where he explores the applications of his instruments across different fields of science and in industry, including ICT and space. Professor de Souza has had ongoing engagement with NASA through data analysis using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, leading to groundbreaking discoveries.

Ask-an-Expert with Adam Gilmour

Adam Gilmour is the CEO and Co-founder of Gilmour Space Technologies, a venture-funded rocket company in Queensland that is developing more affordable launch vehicles for small satellite/payload customers. A lifelong space fan, Adam believes that rockets can be made smaller, cheaper, faster, and that the New Space industry, and Australia, would benefit greatly from having more dedicated access to space.

Ask-an-Expert with Dr Barbara Cohen

Dr. Barbara Cohen’s main scientific interests are in geochronology and geochemistry of planetary samples from the Moon, Mars and asteroids. She is a Principal Investigator on multiple NASA research and space flight projects, including Lunar Flashlight, a lunar cubesat mission that will be launched in 2021 as an SLS secondary payload, and the PITMS, a mass spectrometer manifested aboard the Astrobotic Peregrine lander for a lunar surface mission in 2021. She serves as Associate Project Scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and is on the science teams for the Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Mars 2020. She is the PI for the Mid-Atlantic Noble Gas Research Laboratory (MNGRL) and is developing a flight version of her noble-gas geochronology technique, the Potassium-Argon Laser Experiment (KArLE), for use on future planetary landers and rovers. She has participated in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) in four seasons, where she helped recovered more than a thousand pristine samples for the US collection. Asteroid 6816 Barbcohen is named for her.