Science enrichment year 5 and 6 with Colin Stuart - an overview by Lottie in Year 6.

On 18 of May, Years 5 and 6 listened to a talk by Colin Stuart (an award-winning astronomy author and speaker) he told us that the first person on mars was between the ages of 8 and 15 right now.

Yes, they are currently in school. He then told us about the training and exercises the astronauts would have to face before they set of on their 7-month journey to the red planet. Mars is a very cold planet with an atmosphere mostly made of carbon dioxide, so any water there is frozen, however, due to the lower gravity than earth you blood would boil if you were caught without your space suit. This would mean that you would expand and later suffocate and die, so it would be an important part of your kit.

He taught us about the vital thing’s humans need to survive by using the acronym FOWS: F stands for food which an average adult human can last 3 weeks without, O stands for oxygen which the average adult human can last 3 minutes without, W stands for water which the average adult human can last 3 days without and S stands for shelter which the average adult human can last 3 hours without.

So, your rocket would have to be packed with all these supplies and three people including you this takes some amazing technology and one big rocket. Some girls purchased books written by him about this topic and another one about the periodic table, they were fascinating! He sparked an interest in astronomy in many of the girls who attended I am excited to see what the future holds for this subject!