New Ash Green Primary School 2004

 System 1: Landing Confirmation  The side of the lander is covered with a touch- sensitive pad. This can detect when the lander has landed safely. Each tiny button can be pressed in to send information to the computer about the surface it has landed on.

 System 2: Communications  The aerial antenna, which looks like a satellite dish used for television, is to send information from the lander back to earth. The rounded shape is used to focus a beam of radio waves into a powerful signal. Using the communications system the lander can send photographs back to earth of the planet's surface. It can also send back the results of the scientific experiments it carries out.

 System 3: Power  The lander has two solar panels that it uses to gather energy from the Sun. Because the lander does not have to use it's own batteries, it can keep working for a much longer period of time.

 System 4: Computer  The on-board computer has the most important job on the space ship. It is used to control all of the other systems such as power and communications. It can be re-programmed from earth if it develops a problem. The computer is not very powerful because it uses the most simple technology. This is so that there is less to go wrong!

 System 5: The Rover  Rather than use a buggy to explore the surface, this lander has it's own mini-probe which it uses to look at the area near to where it landed. The Rover has an on-board camera which it uses to send back pictures to the lander. These are then sent back to earth.

 System 6: The Search for Life - Aerobic Respiration  The lander is equipped with an experiment to search for life on Mars. It does this by looking for the gas that is made when we breath out. Even tiny organisms such as bacteria will make a gas called carbon dioxide when they breath. A soil sample is mixed with something like beef soup which is food for very tiny living things. There is a small light bulb which generates heat and this will encourage them to grow and reproduce. When there are enough of them, it is possible that the lander will detect the carbon dioxide from their breathing.

 System 7: The Search for Life - Gas Absorption  The plain cloth is used to absorb gas from the atmosphere. When this gas is looked at closely it can tell us what the atmosphere of the planet is made of. Only some types of gas will support life as we know it.

 System 8: Camera  The camera is used to send pictures of the landing area back to earth. The camera on this lander has a very flexible arm which means that it can point in any direction that the controllers on earth want it to.