Colonizing Mars
Space Capsule to Mars with Heat Shield
Job/Role and why did I choose that?
My job and role is to design a heat shield on a space capsule that will go to Mars. I'm making this so that when people go up to Mars they will be as safe as can be.
Ask - What problems did I encounter?
The problem I had was how many people are going to go in this capsule. How big did the capsule have to be for these people? What will the heat shield be made out of? How safe will this capsule be?
Imagine - What research did I find?
I found that it takes 7 months to get to Mars so I need to make the capsule spacious so the people don't feel trapped. When something goes into the atmosphere of Mars they will catch on fire due to friction so they need a heat shield so they don't burn up.
My Plan
Side and Top View
This shows all the dimensions and both the side/front and the top views.
Side View
This is what the capsule will look like from the front side view, the door will be on the side. The gray part is the heat shield which will be made out of a special metal. It shows the dimensions of the heat shield in height and the rest of the capsule's height and the whole capsule in general.
Top View
This shows what the capsule will look like from the top. It shows the dimensions of the width of the capsule.
How Math Was Involved
For the math involved I had to solve for the surface area of the heat shield. The equation I had to use was (pi)(R squared + H squared) R= Radius and H= Height and pi= 3.14. The radius is 5 and the height is 2.5 meters. So square those and the radius would be 10 and the height would be 5. That added together is 15. Now you have to times that by 3.14 so the surface area is 47.1 meters.
Creating
My design is a sphere capsule. It will take two people to Mars on a one-way trip. The point of my creation is to get the capsule and people to Mars without them burning up when they enter Mars's atmosphere. For them to not burn up there has to be a heat shield. So on the capsule there's a heat shield made out of special metals to save the capsule from burning.
Improve
What roadblocks did I encounter?
I had trouble trying to figure out the shape the capsule should be. How many people would be able to go on this one way trip. I also had trouble on figuring out how to actually build a sphere shape out of the materials I wanted to use and could easily get to.
What could I Improve?
I think that I could improve by making the heat shield bigger, better, and safer. The way it is now is that the heat shield is covering the bottom and half way up the sides. But in all reality it should go all over the capsule just in case. I could also make my model better by actually getting a sphere shape instead of a card board box made into a funky shape.