WELL, WE WON’T BE EVACUATING OUR HOME HERE ON EARTH ANYTIME SOME, BUT SOMEDAY WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO FIND A NEW HOME A MARS. PRESIDENT OBAMA IS HOPING THAT DAY WILL BE SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. IDEASTREAM’S MARGARET THOMPSON EXPLAINS.
VO: BY THE 20-30’S, THAT’S IN JUST 14 YEARS, PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS HE WANTS TO SEND PEOPLE TO MARS AND BACK. OBAMA WROTE TO OUR NEWSPARTNER CNN SAYING THAT HE HAD BEEN IN AWE OF AUTRONAUTS GOING TO THE MOON WHEN HE WAS A CHILD.
THIS WAS DURING THE SPACE RACE IN THE 1950S AND 60S. THE UNITED STATES AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION, NOW CALLED RUSSIA, COMPETED TO SEE WHO COULD TOUCHDOWN ON THE MOON FIRST. IN 1969, AMERICA DID LAND ON THE MOON. ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG CALLED IT “ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.”
NOW OBAMA SAYS HE IS DETERMINED TO LAND MAN ON MARS WITH THE HELP OF INVENTIVE COMPANIES. SEVEN BUSINESSES WERE GIVEN MONEY TO DEVELOP WAYS FOR HUMANS TO LIVE ON THE RED PLANET. HE WROTE: “GETTING THERE WILL TAKE A GIANT LEAP. BUT THE FIRST, SMALL STEPS HAPPEN WHEN OUR STUDENTS -- THE MARS GENERATION -- WALK INTO THEIR CLASSROOMS EACH DAY.”
Instructional Links
Online Interactive Website: NASA, Welcome to Mars Trek
http://mars.nasa.gov/maps/explore-mars-map/fullscreen/
Classroom Resources: Brain Pop, Mars
https://www.brainpop.com/science/space/mars/
Website: NASA, Mars Exploration
Website Article: Newsela, Sending Humans to Mars and Back is a 20-year Goal, President Obama Says