Virtual Sojourner
Student Activity #1: Driving Blind
Teachers' Resources

Procedural Details--Step 6

Run a "mission." Repeat as interest or necessity dictates.

• Have the Lander team set up the secret rock field (the lander site) ASAP so that a video can be delivered to the other teams to aid their planning. Make sure an object of known size is in the picture for scale and orientation purposes.
• Help the class choose a destination rock for their "mission." Set a date for the class to run a mission and try to get them to stick to it by posting a daily count down.
• Allow the class to run their mission when rover calibrations are done, when the experiments are installed on the rover, after a route is plotted on the map, and when the class agrees on the commands to be sent to the Lander team.
• Facilitate transmission of instructions to the Lander team on Mission Day. Show the "downlinked" video to the whole class and let them determine if was successful. Allow for additional instruction sets to be sent to the Lander team to get the rover closer to its destination or to extend the mission (go to another rock).