News / From Mossbank to Mars (in the Highlands)
A REMOTELY operated model of a Mars rover has been built in Shetland and will be one of the highlights at an astronomy event in a remote Highland village this weekend.
The community of Glenelg, near the island of Skye, has laid on a weekend of celebrations to coincide with the current Mars rover Curiosity exploring Glenelg on the red planet.
The Space, Stars & Mars event, starting at 3pm on Saturday, will see the village becoming twinned with Mars.
Members of the Shetland Astronomical Society (SAS) have been invited to come to Glenelg to demonstrate a model of the 1997 Mars rover Sojourner built by Mossbank man Mike Breimann.
Sojourner is not the only Mars model computer specialist Breimann has built.
His first Mars rover replica was the Opportunity for Sandwick physics teacher Chris McGinlay was put together a few years ago.
Now he has the Spirit on his workbench, the SAS vice-president said, while a scaled down version of the Curiosity already exists on his computer.
He said that while Sojourner was not much more than a moving 3D camera plus a number of temperature and air sensors, Curiosity is a much more sophisticated vehicle the size of a car.
Curiosity is scheduled to explore Glenelg on Saturday. The area might be suitable for eventual drilling and sample taking by Curiosity.
Scientists named the area around 400 metres from the original landing site Glenelg because the word is a palindrome – its read the same forwards and backwards – and Curiosity is due to drive through the glen twice.
Shetland Astronomical Society spokesman Paul Bendix, said: “This is an important astronomical event, and we are pleased to have been asked to come to Glenelg on planet Earth.
“We will be inviting members of the public to drive the rover (via a computer) and explore our ‘Martian’ landscape.
“There will be plenty of things for them to discover and the team that finds the most will win a certificate.”
Other highlights in the Space, Stars & Mars programme will be talks by Astronomer Royal Professor John Brown, former space shuttle commander Bonnie Dunbar and the director of NASA’s Mars exploration programme Doug McCuistion.
The event will climax in a Tartan Martian Ceilidh in the village hall featuring the community’s very own Cast Ewe ceilidh band.
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