Mars appears as a brownish red sphere splotched with white clouds and dust against the black backdrop of space.

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Mission to Mars Student Challenge

Join the adventure on Mars!

Last Updated: Oct. 14, 2024

Get K-12 students exploring Mars with NASA scientists, engineers, and the Perseverance rover as they learn all about STEM and design their very own mission to the Red Planet! Everything you need is right here – including guided education plans, expert tips, and resources from NASA.

Teachable Moment

Meet Perseverance

Get a primer on the NASA Mars mission and get to know the rover behind it all.

Education Plans

These plans will help you lead students through how to design, build, launch, and land a Mars mission, plus explore the surface and collect samples. Feel free to pick the plans and activities that work best for your students.

A spotlight shines on the Perseverance rover in a dark chamber as an engineer covered in white protective clothing works on the rover.

Introduction

Learn about the challenge and how to help students create their very own mission to Mars.

Channels, mountains stretch across this overhead view of Jezero Crater overlaid with an oil-slick of colors representing science data.

Learn About Mars

Before they can launch to Mars, students need to learn more about where they're going and why.

A dotted line shows a landing capsule entering Mars' atmosphere, curving to the right, releasing a parachute, then curving down and dropping a rover on Mars.

Plan Your Mission

Once we have some knowledge about our destination, it’s time to plan our mission to Mars.

Three people in white smocks position the head-like masthead of the Perseverance Rover with a design schematic on a screen behind them.

Design Your Spacecraft

Students must use creative thinking to brainstorm a design for their Mars spacecraft.

A rocket blasts off, spewing clouds of smoke across a green landscape intersected by roadways and backdropped by a blue ocean.

Launch Your Mission

Students will learn about Newton’s laws of motion and brainstorm a rocket design.

An overhead view of the rover suspended on cords and tethers shows the dark brown surface of Mars as exhaust from the sky crane sweeps dust to the side of the frame.

Land on Mars

Landing on Mars is tricky, and NASA engineers have to do a lot of designing, testing, and redesigning to make sure spacecraft can land safely.

A squiggly path flows from the Jezero Crater floor to Hawksbill Gap and down to Enchanted Lake where the rover's current location is starred.

Surface Operations

Students will identify areas of geological interest and put scientific instruments to use.

10 photo strips show sample tubes deposited on a rocky brown surface, the rover casting its shadow over each view.

Sample Handling

Students learn how we sample rocks on Mars and package these samples for return to Earth sometime in the future.

A spotlight shines on the Perseverance rover in a dark chamber as an engineer covered in white protective clothing works on the rover.

Introduction

Learn about the challenge and how to help students create their very own mission to Mars.

Channels, mountains stretch across this overhead view of Jezero Crater overlaid with an oil-slick of colors representing science data.

Learn About Mars

Before they can launch to Mars, students need to learn more about where they're going and why.

A dotted line shows a landing capsule entering Mars' atmosphere, curving to the right, releasing a parachute, then curving down and dropping a rover on Mars.

Plan Your Mission

Once we have some knowledge about our destination, it’s time to plan our mission to Mars.

Three people in white smocks position the head-like masthead of the Perseverance Rover with a design schematic on a screen behind them.

Design Your Spacecraft

Students must use creative thinking to brainstorm a design for their Mars spacecraft.

A rocket blasts off, spewing clouds of smoke across a green landscape intersected by roadways and backdropped by a blue ocean.

Launch Your Mission

Students will learn about Newton’s laws of motion and brainstorm a rocket design.

An overhead view of the rover suspended on cords and tethers shows the dark brown surface of Mars as exhaust from the sky crane sweeps dust to the side of the frame.

Land on Mars

Landing on Mars is tricky, and NASA engineers have to do a lot of designing, testing, and redesigning to make sure spacecraft can land safely.

A squiggly path flows from the Jezero Crater floor to Hawksbill Gap and down to Enchanted Lake where the rover's current location is starred.

Surface Operations

Students will identify areas of geological interest and put scientific instruments to use.

10 photo strips show sample tubes deposited on a rocky brown surface, the rover casting its shadow over each view.

Sample Handling

Students learn how we sample rocks on Mars and package these samples for return to Earth sometime in the future.

Expert Talks

Meet the scientists and engineers working on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover mission and learn what goes into successfully designing, building, launching, and landing a rover on Mars.

Click the playlist icon in the upper right corner of the video screen below to view the full playlist.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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