Simplymars
MIT Team
NASA Means Business Competition
Team Introduction
Faculty Advisor : Col. Peter W. Young
• Madhusudhan Nikku (Team Leader) – Civil Engg., Grad
• Vijay S. Choudhary – Information Technology, Grad
• Erwan Mazarico – Earth and Planetary Sciences, Grad
• Shobhit Gupta – Sloan School, Grad
• Rongrong Lu – Earth and Planetary Sciences, Grad
• Mirna Daouk – Aeronautics and Astronautics, Grad
• Will Fowler – Civil Engineering, Undergrad
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Presentation Outline
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Project overview
PSAs – research and philosophy
PSA 1 – logic and structure
PSA 1
PSA 1 – message
Outreach activities – strategies, public reach Outreach
Video
and media coverage
• PSA 2 – logic and structure
PSA 2
• PSA 2 – message
• Sponsors and concluding remarks
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Project Overview
• Two PSAs
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Research
Implementation
• Outreach activity
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Outreach based on age group
For general public
Media outreach
Video interviews
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PSA – Research & Philosophy
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The present goal …
• Linking NASA science and the society
• Building a past for a future
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Set up the stage for NASA’s 20 year Mars
exploration programs
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Our Starting Point
• Resources
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“Public understanding of science”
“Worlds apart”
Video sources (JPL contacts, etc.)
Goodwill communications (psaresearch.com)
National Association of Broadcasters
• Numerous case studies
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The truth is out there…
• People have
 Highest respect for NASA as a scientific
organization
 Inhibitive mass-psychology
 Lack of facts
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Features of the PSA
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Convey domain knowledge
Relevance to audience
Students as “superspreaders” for MEP
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PSA 1
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PSA 1- Logic & Structure
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Introducing the audience to facts
The human factor
Interesting and imaginative
Emphasizing responsibility of the audience
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Comments on PSA 1 Message
• The message:
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Widespread enthusiasm and excitement
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Acceptance by the public
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Outreach Activity
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Outreach Strategy
• Outreach for different age groups
• General public outreach
• Outreach through media
• Outreach video
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Outreach Activities
• Venue: the Brookline science fair
• Target audience – primary school children (around 300)
• Showed animations of the MER mission to Mars –
leaving children spellbound!!
• Distributed educational Mars packages
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Brookline Science Fair cont.
• Lots of interest generated not only among
students but also among parents
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Outreach Activities cont.
• Venue: science fair in Cambridge
• Target audience: high school students
• Distributed technical handouts on Mars to
more than a hundred students
• Interaction with several teachers
• Lot of future opportunities to conduct
lectures on Mars
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Outreach Activities cont.
• Venue: 2003 MIT/ Cambridge science expo
• Target audience: about 150 high school/
college students
• Interaction with science students with well
formed opinions
• Result: interesting opinions on Mars and
NASA
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General Public Outreach
• JPL conference at MIT
 Talk by Dr. Joy Crisp (MER project
scientist) on the MER missions
• Web forum providing a platform for:
 Discussion on Mars and related topics
 Interaction of the general public with the
research community
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General Public Outreach
• Public mailing list
 Keeping people abreast of the latest
developments
• Simplymars website providing:
 Information about team activities
 Links to Mars related websites
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Media Outreach
News articles featuring Simplymars:
• AIAA New England Section
• Graduate Student Newsletter, MIT
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Outreach Video & Website
• Outreach Video
• SimplyMars Website
http://kola.mit.edu/simplymars/
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PSA 2
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PSA 2- Logic & Structure
• Historical chronology
• Happening facts
• Simple and imaginative
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Comments on PSA 2 Message
The message:
Presented a changing perspective on Mars
(from dream, frontier and achievement to
destiny)
 NASA transforms dreams into reality
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To Summarize…
• PSA 1 – philosophy and the video
• Brief description of various outreach
activities and the outreach video
• PSA 2 – philosophy and the video
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Thanks to Sponsors
Department of Aero/Astro, MIT
AIAA, New England chapter
AIAA, National
Massachusetts Space Grant
NASA Means Business, Houston
MIT Mars Society
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Thank You !
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