Customize Your Challenger Learning Center Expedition Mars Crew

During your visit to the Challenger Learning Center, each student is assigned to be a member of 1 of the 9 Mission teams (COM, ROV, NAV, WX, GEO, BOT, BIO, LS, MED) and assigned to 1 of the 2 Crews (Mission Control or Spacecraft).

Each team usually has one or two students in both Mission Control and Spacecraft throughout the Mission (ex: 2 students on the ROV team in Mission Control and 2 students on the ROV team in Spacecraft). The COM team will only have 1 student in Mission Control and 1 student in Spacecraft.

When you assign students to the Crew (Mission Control or Spacecraft), this represents the location where the student begins the mission. At the mid-point of the mission, students switch Crews to experience the other side of the Mission experience. Remember, each team member in the Mission Control crew must have a corresponding team member in the Spacecraft crew. We recommend filling the teams in a manner that fits the strengths and interests of your students.

1. Review the Team Descriptions on the next page.

2. Review the Crew Manifest on the third page of this document. The team characteristics listed are included as a reminder of the requirements of each job.

3. Review the following Crew Manifest guidelines:

•	A minimum of 8 students are needed to fly Expedition Mars.
•	If a Spacecraft team has a crew member, there must be at least one corresponding team member on the same team in Mission Control.
•	Be sure every team has a member on each crew before assigning a second student to any team.

4. Follow the below instructions to complete the Crew Manifest:

•	Start with Communication (COM). Assign a student to ① under Spacecraft. •	Continue with COM. Assign a student to ② under Mission Control.
•	Move to ROV and assign a student to ③ and another student to ④.
•	Continue assigning students following the numbers on the Crew Manifest.
•	 Once you have a student assigned to each team ① - ⑱, move on to assign a second student to the team in slots 19-34. These students will work as partners.

5. On the day of your mission, bring 2 completed copies of your Crew Manifest.

Expedition Mars Team Descriptions

Communications (COM):	Students on this team should feel comfortable reading aloud, following quick directives, and answering questions orally.

SKILLS: reads well, assertive, calm under pressure, organized, able to multitask, leadership

Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV):	Students on this team should feel comfortable troubleshooting and problem-solving with lab materials and enjoy collaborating with peers.

SKILLS: collaborative, can perform basic math, closely follows instructions, calm under pressure

Navigation (NAV):	Students on this team should feel comfortable reading aloud, have strong communication skills, and be able to pay close attention to written and oral details.

SKILLS: can complete multi-step math problems, strong hand-eye coordination, collaborative

Weather (WX):	Students on this team should feel comfortable collecting and analyzing data and making quick decisions based on results.

SKILLS: map reading and plotting, basic math, closely follows instructions, analyzing data

Geology (GEO):	Students on this team should feel comfortable collecting and analyzing data with their peers and enjoy experimenting to reveal data.

SKILLS: strong observation abilities, hand-eye coordination, patience, follows procedures

Robotics (BOT):	Students on this team should feel comfortable troubleshooting, problem-solving, and working under pressure with their peers to share and analyze data.

SKILLS: spatial awareness, computational thinking, basic programming

Biology (BIO):	Students on this team should feel comfortable working on collaborative experiments and making quick decisions based on results.

SKILLS: following procedures, observation, graphing, drawing conclusions

Life Support (LS):	Students on this team should feel comfortable communicating verbally with their peers to solve problems and enjoy troubleshooting ideas to come to a solution.

SKILLS: reading gauges, following procedures, calm under pressure, strong observation skills

Medical (MED):	Students on this team should feel comfortable interacting and conducting experiments with their peers.

SKILLS: interacts well with others, patience for repetitive tasks

If you have questions about completing the Crew Manifest, please contact the Challenger Learning Center.

CHALLENGER LEARNING CENTER Crew Manifest

Mission Date:
	Mission Time:
	
Teacher Name:
	Grade:
	
School Name:
	# of Students:
	
School District/County:
	School State:

Follow the numerical order to assign one student to each crew team.
Each of the circled numbers must be filled before assigning a second student to a team.

Team
	
Spacecraft
	
Mission Control

COM
Communications: skilled reader and oral communicator; able to make quick decisions

① ___________________________

② ___________________________
	
ROV
Remotely Operated Vehicle: analytical; skilled oral communicator; able to weigh options
	
③ ___________________________
	
④ ___________________________

19 ___________________________
	
20 ___________________________

NAV
Navigation: strong math skills; attention to detail; skilled reader
	
⑤ ___________________________
	
⑥ ___________________________
	
	21 ___________________________
	22 ___________________________

WX
Weather: proficient math skills; observant, detail-oriented
	
⑦ ___________________________
	
⑧ ___________________________
	
	23 ___________________________
	24 ___________________________

GEO
Geology: observant; strong hand-eye coordination; attention to detail
	
⑨ ___________________________
	
⑩ ___________________________
	
	25 ___________________________
	26 ___________________________

BOT
Robotics: patient, proficient computer skills, strong oral communicator
	
⑪ ___________________________
	
⑫ ___________________________

27 ___________________________
	
28 ___________________________
	
BIO
Biology: strong observation and monitoring skills; able to interpret data and draw conclusions
	
⑬ ___________________________
	
⑭ ___________________________
	
	29 ___________________________
	30 ___________________________

LS
Life Support: team player; able to handle stress; strong measurement skills
	
⑮ ___________________________
	
⑯ ___________________________

31 ___________________________
	
32 ___________________________
	
MED
Medical: proficient measurement skills; attention to detail; able to make quick decisions
	
⑰ ___________________________
	
⑱ ___________________________
	
	33 ___________________________
	34 ___________________________

Please bring two copies of this completed Crew Manifest with you on the day of your Mission.

© 2022 Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Inc.