The Advanced Robotics class has launched into its space missions during the past week. Students have been learning about various techniques and sensors during the past months all leading up to these missions to Mars.

“[The board] is supposed to simulate expeditions on Mars,” Robotics teacher Jill Whitacre said. “The very first thing is they have to deploy a satellite so the communication works,” Whitacre said. “They do things in order of what you would actually do when you get to another planet.”

These missions have no procedure, just an end task.

“There are no instructions saying this is how you have to do it,” Whitacre said. “So it’s kind of just a self-planned thing.”

This helps the students practice their previously learned skills.

“[The challenge] is a good way for them to use some of the coding and the mechanical engineering that they have learned,” Whitacre said.

Nishna P. (8) said she enjoys doing these missions because they challenge their abilities and help them learn new things.

“It does get a little challenging,” she said. “But its also really fun.”

By Abby Hedrick

Editor’s note: Brevard Public Schools policy prohibits the inclusion of middle-schoolers’ last names on district-sponsored websites.