Marsville - The Ultimate Field Trip

TORONTO, Ontario -- On January 25th, almost 5 000 students across Canada start preparing for a field trip to Mars this Spring. Over 250 teachers and mentors will join them. The Canadian National Marsville Program is a simulation of the first human habitation on the planet Mars.

As part of the cross-Canada Marsville program, students work in teams in their classes and Communicate through fax and Internet connections with their counterparts in otherregions of the country. Mission teams solve simulation-based problems using the Marsville curriculum. This curriculum allows students to use a space theme to work on subjects such as biology, chemistry, life sciences and English. Each team of 6-8 students must design and construct a working model of one of the life-support systems required for the colony.

Each mission team is partnered with two teams from nearby schools. These three teams comprise a Habitat Crew, communicating with each other through written and electronic means only. The Habitat Crew is responsible for cooperatively designing and constructing their section of the colony that will house them on Mars. They have approximately 10-12 weeks to do this. These teams do not meet until the final Link-Up day event, on April 24th, at the conclusion of the research stage.

On April 24, 1999, all the mission teams in each of the Canadian sites will gather to construct their own Marsville settlement. Crews will set up their physical solutions to the specific Martian biological or social system previously assigned to them. Students will share their problem-solving strategies, successes and challenges, and work on their final project - the governance of Marsville, the Cosmic Village. On Link-up Day, the Canadian sites will be connected through advanced communication systems to allow the explorers to "meet" their fellow space travellers across Canada and to compare solutions. Members of the Canadian Astronaut program will assist the Marsville settlers by offering suggestions and giving advice to the mission teams.

Marsville was developed by the Challenger Center for Space Science Education, which was in turn created to honour the space shuttle crew lost in the 1986 Challenger accident. That mission, STS-51L, was the first space shuttle education mission. Canadian National Marsville has been modified to feature the Canadian Space Program and the many contributions of Canadians in space. 1999 marks the seventh year for the Canadian program, which has grown from one Canadian centre to now include seven link-up centres across the country.

The Education Network of Ontario is the major sponsor of the program. The ENO provides unlimited email access for all CNM participants, special newsgroups or conference areas to discuss their plans, and the ability to create team web sites on the ENO server. The CNM web site is used by all participants as a method of acquiring vital information needed for the project as well as an area for students to showcase their research plans. This year's web site can be viewed at http://mars99.enoreo.on.ca.

Spar Space Systems, the creator of the Canadarm, sponsors the program and provides about 20 mentors to schools across Ontario. Spar is committed to promoting careers in science, engineering and space technology and has been a sponsor of the program since its inception seven years ago.

Sponsors of the Canadian National Marsville Program are:

Education Network of Ontario
Spar Aerospace
Bell Canada
Canadian Space Agency
TVOntario
Tandex Technologies
Allied Signal
AT Plastics
Ontario Science Centre