Go Back to Top of Page Learn About the Scientists and Engineers Involved in a Mission For many students, knowing about the people involved in a mission brings it to life. Most mission-related Web pages have pictures and short descriptions of the key people working on a mission. Teachers can profile various individuals as role models or develop career awareness. Occasionally, scientists and engineers host a chat or enable students to send them e-mail messages. For example, the Pathfinder team hosted a chat every night for the first few months of the mission.
Students can do reports, collages, or posters to bring out the human dimension of a mission.
For example, students can model how an altimeter works by arranging objects in the bottom of a deli container, covering the opening with paper, and pushing pencils through the paper. By measuring how far down the pencil goes at each position sampled, students can map the arrangement of the objects. An altimeter works on the same principle using a laser beam. The Pathfinder Web page has information on each instrument and on how the design team dealt with the various challenges. Teachers like simulations because they ask students to integrate many disciplines.