What Students Can Learn from Perseverance

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Brandon Rodriguez

“If we can do this, then where do we go from here? We’re doing the impossible, every single time we land on Mars”

-Brandon Rodriguez

Our exploration into distance learning takes on new meaning this week, as we discover what’s next from the Perseverance rover that recently landed on Mars. To guide us in the conversation, we welcome Brandon Rodriguez to the show. A chemist by training, Brandon teaches high school chemistry and physics while working as an Education Specialist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he provides resources and training for K-12 schools. Brandon joins us to remind us of the impossible task of landing a rover on Mars, shares what we can expect to learn from the Perseverance mission, and provides a little advice for students interested in working for NASA and other STEM fields.

Links:

• JPL Education
• Brandon Rodriguez, JPL Education Specialist
• Teaching Space with NASA
• NASA Mission To Mars Student Challenge (jpl.nasa.gov)
• 6 Things to Know About NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (nasa.gov)
• NASA to Host Briefing to Preview First Mars Helicopter Flights (nasa.gov)
• Messages on Mars Perseverance Rover (mars.nasa.gov)
• ‘Dare mighty things’: The man behind the secret message in the Mars rover’s parachute (cnn.com)
• Rover Leaves Tracks in Morse Code (nasa.gov)
• Explore Mars with JPL engineer Kobie Boykins (National Geographic)
• @basler crashes his drone
• DuckTales Theme Song
• Joby Harris, JPL Visual Strategist
• Visions of the Future posters from Joby Harris
• NASA Image Use Policy
• Zooniverse
• Listen to Lab Out Loud (our April Fool’s day joke from 2011)

Connect with our Guest:

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