Author: ngehlmann25

Democritus, a Greek philosopher, thought that the world was made out of tiny, almost invisible, things. He called these things “Atoms”. Atom means “invisible” in Greek.

Awhile ago we started learning about atoms. Before, I didn’t focus much on atoms. I learned that you can’t see them. Even with a microscope! They’re smaller than microscopic organisms.

So recently we started making flashlights in technology. I finished awhile ago, but that’s mainly because I stayed after school and did it. I liked soldering the wires and sawing the pipes. I think the project in general was cool and fun

Recently, we started soldering. Soldering is where you melt solder with a super hot instrument. You use the solder to weld together other metals.

Awhile ago (yes, I know I’m late to this), we started technology. I think it’ll be fun and that there will be some interesting stuff we’ll do.

While I was working on my final project I was thinking that it would be really hard to present in front of a lot of people (parents & classes). I started off thinking I was going to do an ignite, but after some thinking I thought it would be hard because it’s timed, so I did a Ted Talk instead. In case you don’t know what a Ted Talk is, I’ll explain it. A Ted Talk is where you’re not timed and you can have as many slides as you want. I made a pretty good script and made slides with very interesting pictures.

We had to make an essay for Capstone, here it is! I hope you will like it!

Capstone Essay

          My Capstone topic is SpaceX vs. NASA to Mars. I chose that topic because I am interested in learning more about space. I think Capstone has  been very interesting so far. I believe that NASA will win the race to get to Mars because they have more experience with space, and their budget is a lot higher so they can afford better rockets.

          Let’s talk a little bit about SpaceX. SpaceX has only recently begun to explore Mars. The company was started by Elon Musk in 2002.  Currently SpaceX and Elon Musk are working on building the BFR (Big Falcon Rocket). SpaceX is planning to spend $10 billion on its plan to  colonize Mars. The plan includes a large rocket, codenamed the BFR, which blasts a spaceship carrying up to 100 people into orbit before returning to the launch pad. The rocket will then be used to refuel the transport ship. SpaceX has built the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon spaceships as test models. The company is also using the transport ships to make money by launching satellites for customers. SpaceX is currently working on a timeline for its plan and making the rocket more affordable.

          Now, let’s talk about NASA. NASA is currently working on the Mars 2020 rover. They’re also doing some research on how they can land on Mars, if there’s life there, and if there’s materials for something living there to eat/drink. NASA has actually found water on Mars. They also found out that Mars uses the sun and the moon, it also gets down to -200 degrees fahrenheit at night, so that’s a possibility that there’s life on Mars. NASA is currently working on the SLS, which is the rocket they will use to get to Mars. They say it’ll be the biggest and most powerful rocket in the world. NASA is planning to spend $2.15 billion on the SLS.

          We will now compare NASA and SpaceX. NASA has always had more experience than SpaceX, mainly because they’ve had so many people there, and that NASA has been around for 59 years and all they’ve been doing is exploring space. NASA also has a large budget of $18.5 billion. SpaceX has little experience because they’ve only been around for 16 years, they don’t have very many people, either, and their budget is $1 billion.

          In conclusion, as you can see by the examples and facts that I have given, I believe NASA will be the first program to get to Mars because they have more experience, more money so they can afford better rockets, and their dedication to space exploration.

 

Last Sunday (6/3/2018) I had my interview with Greta Studiar, an engineer at NASA. She said that NASA found water on Mars. They also found out that Mars uses the sun and the moon. She also said that they’re working on building a rocket to get to Europa. Europa is one of Saturn’s moons, it’s made out of all water except the first layer. Greta says that she’d go to space if she could, but not on a long mission like Mars. Greta is also working on the front of the Mars 2020 rover. I found this interview very interesting.

Last Friday (5/29/2018) I went to the children’s museum in Westhartford Connecticut for my Capstone project. You may already know that my Capstone project is SpaceX vs. NASA to Mars. You may be wondering, “Why would you go to a children’s museum for your Capstone project?”. Well, I’ll answer that now. I went there because there was a Mars exhibit with lots of info explaining the history of people trying to get to Mars and the future of people getting to Mars, there were also pictures of space, which I found cool. I also learned that Mars has ice caps at both the northern and southern poles. I got lots of pictures for this blog post, but there are too many to fit on this one blog post, so I’ll put 2  in this one post. Take a look!