2002 Essays
Held each year to commemorate the first manned landing on the moon, AIAA SF sponsors an essay contest for 7th and 8th graders. U.S. Savings Bonds of varying denominations are awarded to the first, second, and third place winners in each grade.The theme for this year's contest was "Where should we go next in the solar system, and why?" This year's awards were presented at the July 25 section dinner meeting.
This year's winners are as follows:
7th Grade
8th Grade
Essay winners, sponsoring teachers, relatives, and friends.
Hillary Struthers
School: Stone Valley Middle School, Alamo
Sponsoring teacher: Mrs. Roxanne Luther
Where should we go next in the solar system? Of course! Mars!
Need a little excitement in your life? Look no further than the burnished deserts of gorgeous Mars! Mars has it all - sunlight, atmosphere, water, breath-taking landscapes; anything you could need is right here. Looking to meet new friends? Mars promises new life forms which could be life-long companions. If it's resources you want, mine the vast miles of Mars' iron-rich, volcanic plains and snow capped peaks. The environment hints of numerous species of life, some maybe just like us. The perfect place for lonely space travelers looking for that special microbe, where the whole family could meet new acquaintances - from microbes for the kids, to mature intelligent aliens (no guarantee).
Landing on the moon began an important process of expanding our thinking beyond Earth. Our close relationship with Mars and its inhabitants is sure to last eons. We could improve the living conditions for the microbe colonies, and after terraforming, we could live on Mars and study their fascinating customs. Coincidentally, this could make the environment more suitable for humans. Mars, whose red deserts could yield a myriad of undiscovered alien species, could be real estate to exploit if the new life forms prove to be null and void. We will undoubtedly be perfect landlords.
The best place for exploring in the solar system is Mars, because the promise of new life forms and terraforming is in the atmosphere! The science, resources, real estate, and friendships await you!
Shenho Hshieh
School: Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
Sponsoring teacher: Ms. Julie Shultz
Mars
In order to better understand the universe we must begin studying the universe by starting with something less vast and in common with our own home, the Earth. This is why we should further explore the planet Mars. Of all the planets in the solar system, Mars is the planet that most closely resembles the Earth. We know much about its geography already. Mars is about the same size of Earth, except a little bit smaller and its climate is much more harsh. As well, there has been evidence that water use to flow on the planet. Therefore, it may be possible to grow plants on Mars if we tried. There is water that is trapped under the soil.
Of all the other planets in the solar system, Mars is closest to Earth. This gives us the option to send committed astronauts instead of just robots to Mars to get a more comprehensive view of the world. Perhaps if we learned more about Mars, we can learn more about our own planet. Because there had been signs of bacterial life on Mars, we might be able to find out more about the origins of our planet Earth. Perhaps Earth was a Mars many billions of years ago and just recently evolved into the lush planet that it is today.
After we are done exploring the whole entire planet and finding more information about it, then we can move on and explore other planets. However, before we do this, we should invest in what is possible right now to find out more about the universe and ourselves by further exploring Mars.
Alex Yee
School: Redwood Middle School, Saratoga
Sponsoring teacher: Ms. Julie Shultz
Why we should explore Mars
I suggest that we explore Mars next for many reasons. First of all, Mars is one of the closest planets to Earth, so it would be much more convenient and save a whole lot more fuel to travel to than, say, a distant planet or moon like Europa. Also, Mars' size is similar to the Earth's and evidence has been found proving the theory that there may have been water at some time on Mars. With our current technologies and knowledge of space travel, Mars may be our best bet in our quest in finding extraterrestrials, or the remains of some at this time because of its characteristics and, after all, Mars is the most Earthlike planet in the solar system. The exploration of Mars could help us in other ways as well.
For one thing, to help deal with our current problem of overpopulation, plants could be placed through the Martian landscape to produce air. Because Mars' atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, and plants use carbon dioxide to produce energy for themselves and release oxygen as a byproduct, eventually Mars atmosphere will be more suitable for human life because of the oxygen created by plants. Then, humans could move to Mars, thus solving the problem of overpopulation on Earth. Even though this plan may seem farfetched, if we gather enough information about Mars by exploring it more, the plan may become more imaginable, realistic, and eventually may even become a reality, proving that more extensive explorations of Mars would be a major benefit to mankind.
Humans have always wanted to explore the unknown, and the exploration of Mars would be a perfect opportunity to exploit this desire and help enhance our knowledge of space.
Mariana Lo
School: Redwood Middle School
Sponsoring teacher: Julie Shultz
The Next Place to be Explored
What part of the solar system should humans explore next? Among the many possibilities, which is the best? There could be many different answers to this. However, I think Earth's moon should be explored first.
Of course, our moon has already been the destination of many space flights. That should not disqualify if from consideration though, for there are many advantages in exploring Luna more thoroughly.
A practical reason would be the cost. Since the moon is very close to the Earth, it would not be so expensive to send missions there. Less fuel and supplies would be needed, which most would appreciate.
Another advantage to studying the moon would be to begin experiments with colonization in space. Again, the relative nearness of Luna would make these experiments and tests much less time-consuming and costly than conducting them on, for example, Europa.
On the same note, if we succeed in finding a way to settle and build on the moon, it could become the base for further space explorations. With the drastically reduced atmosphere and gravity of Luna, it would be much easier to launch space ships. They would not have to be equipped with as much fuel as is needed for lift-off from Earth.
In conclusion, there are many reasons to explore the moon first. This discussion of space colonies may seem more like science fiction than reality, but in the past, science fiction has proved to be the truth of the future.
Christina Homer
School: Union Middle School, San Jose
Sponsoring teacher: Mrs. Mary Martin
One Small Step for a Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind
I can only imagine the chilly and barren conditions outside my pressurized and heated spacesuit. As my team and I work to unload our digging equipment from the transport, I pause to admire the giant planet that we are circling, and its great storm strikes me. In space, massive forces are pushing and pulling each other, there is so much that we don't know . . .
Jupiter's satellite Europa should definitely be the next place that we explore, because of the undeniable possibility of there being life on it. We know that Europa is one of the only moons to contain water. On the surface it is in the form of ice, but if we dig down below the surface, we might discover a vast ocean. The recent flyby of Galileo has produced a theory that Europa may have an ocean nearly 100 km deep.
Although the surface temperature is a discouraging -200 Celsius, the gravitational pull of Jupiter and Ganymede cause rocks inside of Europa to rub together maybe creating enough heat and volcanic activity to melt the ice.
If there is an ocean on Europa, there is a great possibility that life might be thriving there. We know that there are many organisms that live deep in our own ocean, and they only need heat and water to survive. I feel that our next step to better understanding our solar system is to explore Europa.
Anya Radanovich
School: Union Middle School, San Jose
Sponsoring teacher: Mrs. Mary Martin
Mars
Mars should be the next planet we should explore in our solar system. We have sent many machines to Mars (the first being sent in 1960), but no humans have set foot on it yet. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, is only 78,000,000 kilometers from Earth, and is 6,794 kilometers in diameter.
Mars is very similar to Earth. Mars' days last 24 hours and 37 minutes, while Earth's days last 24 hours. Mars has seasons just like Earth because of its tilt. Mars has a tilt of 25 degrees and Earth has a tilt of 23.5 degrees.
Although some characteristics are similar, others are different. Mars' gravity is 38 percent of Earth's, and the pressure is .8 percent of Earth's. The atmosphere is made up of 95 percent carbon, 2 to 3 percent nitrogen, 1 to 2 percent argon, and .1 to .4 percent oxygen.
Even if explorers were to wear appropriate suits and use oxygen tanks because of the thin atmosphere, there are many things to explore and learn about on the surface of Mars. There are active volcanoes, canyon systems, riverbeds, cratered terrain, and dune fields. The largest volcano on Mars is Olympus Mons and is 23 kilometers high. This is also the largest peak in our solar system.
I think it would be great to learn more about Mars, its similarities and differences compared to Earth, and its atmosphere and features. This is why I believe we should explore Mars next in our solar system. Who knows? There may be life on Mars too, so let's explore!