It’s the year 2076 and the Mars transporter is nearing the end of its six-month journey to relieve the inhabitants of the planet’s space station.
A warning bell sounds. The oxygen supply has failed and the crew have five minutes before their organs inflate and their blood begins to boil. Steve is expected to fix the problem and is feeling edgy.
‘Er, basically, I’m pretty close to dying,” he says. He locates the fault with one minute and 35 seconds to spare.
Over in the isolation centre, Robyn is having problems with the robotic arms. ‘They keep dropping the chemicals,” she complains.
But this is nothing compared with the drama being played out by the two navigators, who are trying to plot a course for the landing. ‘I see you’re taking the scenic route,” Commander Andy observes drily, before muttering: ‘You’re weaving around like a drunken spider. Are you trying to kill us all?” A minute or two later, the transporter lands safely and its crew of 15 students from Maltby comprehensive school in Rotherham, England, live to fight another day.
The mission is all in a day’s work for the staff of the Challenger learning centre at the UK’s National Space Centre in Leicester, who have been running educational programmes for all ages.
The centre is split in two, and has been designed to replicate the inside of a spacecraft and mission control, with students following scripted missions – even down to the technical hitches.
The emphasis is on teamwork and problem-solving, while keeping a watchful eye on the national curriculum for science, maths and geography.
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