Sandra |

By Sandra

Imagine you get to school one day, and instead of sitting through a tough class of math or history, your duty is to control a NASA mission looking at yet unseen regions of Mars! Would you like that? Well, then welcome to the Mars Academy!

Mars Academy is an outreach project designed by a team of NASA astronomers to inspire students from the ‘City of God’ neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro, by exposing them to the latest knowledge regarding the Red Planet and attempt to raise their interest in science and technology. The astronomers will work together with local teachers at the INPAR (Instituto Prebisteriano Álvaro Reis de Assistência à Criança e ao Adolescente) school to offer the students a week of hands-on lessons covering different topics within astronomy and planetary science.

After the first days covering introductory lessons, the students will submit targets for observation for NASA’s HiRISE camera, which will be sent to mission control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. HiRISE is one of the most advanced instruments exploring our Solar System and has produced beautiful images of our mysterious neighbor. These novel images will bring new scientific knowledge and contribute to the progress in the field.

Local scientists from Brazilian institutions, as well as two team members of GalileoMobile, will also participate in the experience and support the American team in their work with the students, taking care of language and logistics.

A team of film-makers will accompany the project and produce a documentary to share the students’ personal journeys of discovery and the lessons learned from this experience with other children, schools, and public around the world.

As put by one of the leading astronomers of the project, Wladimir Lyra, “If we can inspire favela kids, if we can kindle that light and provide the seeds that will make them pursue science as a career and go to college, they will have broken the cycle. They will become success stories, their peers will see that it’s possible to achieve social mobility through education, and at some point we can turn the tide of the urban reality in Rio.”

Keep tuned to the Mars Academy facebook page for more information about the upcoming visit to City of God!