Mars education project sets out to encourage schoolkids’ stellar ambitions

An education project which aims to bring the science of Martian exploration into the classroom is preparing for launch during National Astronomy Week (14-22 November). The project, called Roving with Rosalind, is aimed at children aged between 7 and 14 in disadvantaged and rural areas across the UK, who often have limited opportunities to participate in science outreach activities. The project is also setting out to help teachers train to deliver more effective science education. Roving with Rosalind inter The activities are accompanied by video introductions from real space scientists, showcasing the diversity of talent working in the field. Each activity provides insight into a different aspect of the science experiments that will be undertaken by the robotic Rosalind Franklin rover when it touches down on Mars in 2023. The rover is a key part of the joint European/Russian ExoMars mission, set to launch in 2022, which will search for traces of life on the red planet. At an online event on Thursday 19 November, organised as part of the Mars-focused National Astronomy Week, teachers and pupils can find out more about how Roving with Rosalind aims to recreate the experience of being a rover mission scientist.