Challenge: Design a Martian

Ms. Neme Alperstein
Team 1

My Martian has body parts that help it to live and survive on Mars. Since my Martian is a bacterium, it will need certain body parts.

One of its body structures are threadlike hairs which help it to flow in the atmosphere and come up to the surface of Mars.

Another feature that it has is pores, which allow my Martian to breathe and live freely underground. The pores also suck in bits of rocks and soil on Mars.

One other function that can help it to survive on Mars is its suction cups which prevent it from getting blown away by dust storms on Mars. It does so by either sticking to the surface of Mars or clinging on to the rocks on Mars.

Our Martian has mobility to move around on Mars. Its threadlike structures and suction cups help it to do so. It also has a brain to function the body.

THE ABILITIES OF THE MARTIAN
In the NASA-Design a Martian Challenge, we created a Martian that would survive on Mars. This Martian is an extremophile. An extremophile is a creature that can live in conditions that other creatures can not survive in. It is a very small (1”x 1”) worm-like creature but it has the most amazing abilities.

Our Martian can live in the hottest conditions or the coldest conditions. It has internal heating to keep warm in cold weathers. It could burrow under for coolness. It has gills to breathe underwater. Since it has internal heating, it can melt the frozen water. The Martian has an exo-skeleton to survive UV radiations, which damages DNA.

The Martian eats rocks from which it gets its vitamins and minerals to stay healthy. It has really strong mouth muscles to eat soil on Mars. It eats not only to stay healthy but to burrow under ground. Since it’s so small and it continuously burrows underground, it continuously digests and leaves a waste trail. Its favorite type of food is igneous rocks, which are rocks that are made from cooled lava. It makes at least 5 nests a week and each nest holds 10 eggs. The egg shells have the bad taste of a ladybug so if a predators eat one, they wouldn’t eat another one. It has sensors like a bat to sense what’s around it. When it leaves its nests, it abandons its eggs since the babies have instincts to live life on their own. They have lantern fish antennas to see underground or in dark spots on Mars. It has bristles to cling on walls and to travel. If there are any rock slides, ice cracks, or other hazardous materials that could damage the Martian, it can regenerate the body parts that it lost.

These are our Martian’s abilities.

Explanations of the diagram according to the corresponding numbers:
1. Extending Mouth
2. Lantern fish antenna and heat sensors
3. Eye
4. Waste trail
5. Heart
6. Lungs
7. Bloods streams
8. Bristle
9. Gills
10. Digestive system
11. Exoskeleton

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