Considering all the options...which image of Mars will answer the team's science question?

"Watch out NASA! We're coming!" were the words of a high-school student who recently participated in the Mars Student Imaging Project, jointly sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Arizona State University in Tempe.

The Mars Student Imaging Project allows students from the fifth grade through community college to take their own pictures of Mars using a thermal infrared visible camera system onboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which is currently circling the red planet.

"The effect we are having on the students and their teachers is our validation," said Mars Student Imaging Project Assistant Director Keith Watt. "We're changing the way teachers teach and students learn in a dynamic, cutting-edge environment, using the exploration of Mars as the hook."

The Formula for Success: Mars Exploration for All

Mentoring new MSIP students

The Mars Student Imaging Project is for everyone, not just for the most motivated students and space-savvy teachers. The project was designed "by teachers, for teachers," so the lessons and activities are easy to implement in the classroom, and reflect the National Science Education Standards for learning. In addition, the project's educational staff has made adaptations for students who speak Spanish or who use sign language. Future plans also include working on activities for visually impaired students.

Students of all backgrounds say they feel like adults or real scientists because they are learning the same skills that professional scientists use on a regular basis. Just as Mars scientists use the camera to map landforms and geologic features on the Martian surface, the students are imaging everything from small, unnamed craters to large and familiar features such as Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system in the solar system. Students watch their image come down from the spacecraft and learn how to analyze data using image-processing techniques. They also get a chance to discuss their preliminary analysis with actual Mars mission scientists.

Proposing a target site to the entire team

"The neat part of this project is that the student teams get to make the decision to target whatever site on Mars they feel will best allow them to answer their own scientific questions," said Mars Student Imaging Project Assistant Director Paige Valderrama. "They're working side by side with the scientists, avidly wondering about the geology and climate of another world."