View Today's Schedule
This summer reading resource page is for young scientists entering grades 4 – 8.
As part of the Museum’s Mars Spotlight this summer, we are highlighting The Countdown Conspiracy by critically acclaimed author (and former Museum educator) Katie Slivensky. In this science adventure story, Miranda Regent is a 12-year-old who is chosen as one of six kids from around the world to train for the first-ever mission to Mars. Soon after, the Antarctic training base is attacked, and it looks like she is the intended target. Now the entire mission — and everyone’s lives — are at risk. Can Miranda save them?
Each Friday beginning July 7 and going through August 18, we will post a collection of resources for readers to:
You can purchase your own copy of the book through the author’s website: katieslivensky.com/books
For more information, email us: MARS2023@mos.org
Read Chapters 1-6 of The Countdown Conspiracy, then complete the weekly reading questions and activity below!
About our Guest Speaker
Dr. Ali Bramson is a planetary scientist who works with NASA spacecraft to make discoveries about the geology and presence of ice on other planets in our Solar System. She is on the teams for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions. She also is involved in developing future spacecraft mission concepts for NASA and international partners, and planning for human exploration to the Moon and Mars. She went to college and got her bachelors of science degrees in astrophysics and physics, with a minor in computer science. She then went on to obtain her Masters and PhD degrees in planetary sciences with a minor in geology. In addition to working on NASA missions, she is a professor at Purdue University.
Read Chapters 7-12 of The Countdown Conspiracy, then complete the weekly reading questions and activity below!
About our Guest Speaker
Ashley Stroupe is a robotics systems and spacecraft operations engineer. She received a PhD in robotics at Carnegie Mellon University and then joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA as a robotics researcher. For the last 18 years, she has been focusing on Mars rover operations, working with the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers. She has been involved in many aspects of operations, but her favorite job is “Rover Driver” – the ones who control where the rover drives and the use of the robotic arm.
Read Chapters 13-18 of The Countdown Conspiracy, then complete the weekly reading questions and activity below!
About our Guest Speaker
Hui Ying Wen works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a software engineer. She has helped develop software tools used in space missions in many ways: navigate spacecraft, design spacecraft trajectories, process science data from satellites ... the list goes on. Hui Ying has worked on spacecraft missions at the Moon (GRAIL mission), Mars (MAVEN orbiter), Jupiter system (Europa Clipper mission), and even orbiting our own Earth (GRACE Follow-On mission).
Read Chapters 19-Epilogue of The Countdown Conspiracy, then complete the weekly reading questions and activity below!
