PRPDC Mars Exploration

Mars Websites of Interest

Destination Mars

NASA plans to launch two new missions to Mars every two years. Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor were launched in 1996. The Mars '98 duo - the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander - were launched in December 1998 and January 1999. Future launches are planned for 2003 and 2005.

The Mars Exploration Program (MEP) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will build and operate each spacecraft. JPL has convened a University Partnership that will share the results of the missions with the public and use the missions to enhance K-12 education. The PRPDC, in its role as a University Partner, has focused on dissemination through classroom visits, teacher workshops, and open houses.

The PRPDC has provided teachers with Mars-related posters, CD-ROMs, information packets, and paper models that were developed by MEP and other University Partners. The PRPDC has also contributed new resources to the Program.

The PRPDC developed an on-line Teacher's Guide and lesson plan which models the process of designing a mission to Mars.

Check out our Mars Mission Design Lesson Plan

The PRPDC also developed a zoomable and scrollable Shockwave Global Mars Map showing major geologic features and terrains. This man can be used with the Mars Mission Design Lesson Plan noted above.

Check out the Shockwave Global Mars Map

The PRPDC also developed a Mars Virtual Reality (VR) set of web pages in which we have expanded the Viking Lander and Mars Pathfinder panoramic images into virtual space, where the user may explore the Martian terrain at both Viking Lander sites and the Mars Pathfinder Lander site.

Check out our Viking Lander Quicktime Virtual Reality page
and Mars Pathfinder Quicktime Virtual Reality page

Teachers should also check out our mirror of JPL's Mars and NASA/Ames' Center For Exploration pages.