In the year 2032, astronauts visit Mars and start a Martian base. When some of their equipment stops working properly, they are forced to send a Martian soil sample back to Earth for analysis. Your job will be to analyze that sample, record your results, and report back to the astronauts.

Accompanying classroom material is available on the LASP SPECTRA! website.

This is part of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics' (LASP) Project SPECTRA! suite of activities that uses concepts of light and the electromagnetic spectrum to explore our Solar System. Funded by NASA's MAVEN Mission to Mars. (Logo art courtesy NASA/JSC/Pat Rawlings, SAIC)