The Martian Flash Fiction
In this project, we modeled a fake mission to space in order to escape some catastrophe on Earth. This project was inspired by The Martian. In order to complete the project, we had to calculate the fuel needed to reach the right speed for a certain weight spaceship in order to reach a destination. We then wrote a fiction story loosely based on our calculated trip. I think space travel is important because eventually, we will need to leave the planet to escape disaster or being swallowed by the sun.
Dominic Dudley
Europaean Vacation
Captain’s log: day 1
The first journey of the M.H.S.E.V 1 is off to a great start. We loaded our cargo holds with Clif BarsTM to feed us on our six year voyage, Put Mattieu in the airlock, and Blastoff! After breaking free from the Earth’s gravity, we set the engines to accelerate to the necessary hohmann transfer velocity to reach Jupiter. My only concern is that we left much earlier than scheduled, to stop Michael from eating all the Clif BarsTM, and Jupiter won’t be in the right position when we reach it. Nevertheless, I am optimistic.
Captain’s Log: day 2
Today: celebrations. I’ve already set the autopilot, and now all we need to do is wait. Michael cracked open the medical kit, and we’ve been sampling the amphetamines. Only to make sure of their quality, of course.
Captain’s log: day 3
I can feel the void outside the window. It calls to me. I think I’ll take a little spacewalk.
Captain’s log: day 4
We’re out of amphetamines. I want some Clif barsTM.
Captain’s log: day 5
The voyage continues as planned. We had a slight issue earlier, there was an alarm going off all morning, something about a pressure breach. The only causes I can think of are a total structural breach, and Mattieu. Since I don’t want to try to find a hole, and we told Mattieu not to use the spacesuits, I’m gonna assume it’s a mistake. I’ll be wearing earplugs from now on.
Captain’s log: day 6
The engines have stopped. Maybe they’re out of fuel. I haven’t seen Mattieu in a few days. Something doesn’t seem right, but I haven’t been able to think too clearly lately. It’s probably nothing to worry about.
Captain’s log: day 7
The low oxygen alarm is giving me a headache. I’m just gonna turn it off. Michael has been sleeping for a few days now. He also spilled tomato juice all over the bed. I’ll get him a new blanket tomorrow. I’m tired.
Captain’s log: day 8
This vessel is now under control of Captain Rada. The mermaids will be mine! Vive la France!
Captain’s log: day 15
Jeremy Wade reporting. They forgot to invite me on their maiden voyage, but I managed to smuggle myself in among the Clif BarsTM. Three days ago I emerged from the cargo hold, only to find two skeletons in the kitchen and some sort of short alien at the helm. I know I have no other option. I must take control from the alien and steer this ship into the sun. If anybody finds this log, it means I was successful in my plan, and it was ejected shortly before the ship burned up. Anyone attempting to follow in our wake, be warned. The seas of Europa, and the mermaid treasures within, were never meant to be found by human eyes. Don’t fall prey to the same foolishness that ended us.
End Log
Europaean Vacation
Captain’s log: day 1
The first journey of the M.H.S.E.V 1 is off to a great start. We loaded our cargo holds with Clif BarsTM to feed us on our six year voyage, Put Mattieu in the airlock, and Blastoff! After breaking free from the Earth’s gravity, we set the engines to accelerate to the necessary hohmann transfer velocity to reach Jupiter. My only concern is that we left much earlier than scheduled, to stop Michael from eating all the Clif BarsTM, and Jupiter won’t be in the right position when we reach it. Nevertheless, I am optimistic.
Captain’s Log: day 2
Today: celebrations. I’ve already set the autopilot, and now all we need to do is wait. Michael cracked open the medical kit, and we’ve been sampling the amphetamines. Only to make sure of their quality, of course.
Captain’s log: day 3
I can feel the void outside the window. It calls to me. I think I’ll take a little spacewalk.
Captain’s log: day 4
We’re out of amphetamines. I want some Clif barsTM.
Captain’s log: day 5
The voyage continues as planned. We had a slight issue earlier, there was an alarm going off all morning, something about a pressure breach. The only causes I can think of are a total structural breach, and Mattieu. Since I don’t want to try to find a hole, and we told Mattieu not to use the spacesuits, I’m gonna assume it’s a mistake. I’ll be wearing earplugs from now on.
Captain’s log: day 6
The engines have stopped. Maybe they’re out of fuel. I haven’t seen Mattieu in a few days. Something doesn’t seem right, but I haven’t been able to think too clearly lately. It’s probably nothing to worry about.
Captain’s log: day 7
The low oxygen alarm is giving me a headache. I’m just gonna turn it off. Michael has been sleeping for a few days now. He also spilled tomato juice all over the bed. I’ll get him a new blanket tomorrow. I’m tired.
Captain’s log: day 8
This vessel is now under control of Captain Rada. The mermaids will be mine! Vive la France!
Captain’s log: day 15
Jeremy Wade reporting. They forgot to invite me on their maiden voyage, but I managed to smuggle myself in among the Clif BarsTM. Three days ago I emerged from the cargo hold, only to find two skeletons in the kitchen and some sort of short alien at the helm. I know I have no other option. I must take control from the alien and steer this ship into the sun. If anybody finds this log, it means I was successful in my plan, and it was ejected shortly before the ship burned up. Anyone attempting to follow in our wake, be warned. The seas of Europa, and the mermaid treasures within, were never meant to be found by human eyes. Don’t fall prey to the same foolishness that ended us.
End Log
One Dimensional Motion
Recently, we performed an experiment in order to determine the force of acceleration due to gravity. To carry out this experiment, we set up a ruler and timed how long it took for a paperclip to fall from the 25 cm mark. We found an average acceleration across 10 experiments to be 8.603m/s/s with a standard deviation of 1.36m/s/s. We had an 87.7% error from the true value of acceleration due to gravity. The reason our results were different from the true value could be due to air resistance, errors in release (Push down, toss up, sticks to finger, etc.) Or simple human error in recording and calculation.
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