Lockheed Martin unveiled its “one-of-a-kind” school bus that delivers students with a Mars experience as part of the aerospace company’s new “Generation Beyond” STEM program.
Aptly named “Mars Experience,” the program teases, “The first person to visit Mars is in school today. Will it be you?” Perhaps he or she is also riding real school bus today.
The Mars Experience Bus is a companion to STEM curriculum and made its voyage mission last week during the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. An IC Bus conventional was transformed into a rolling field trip that literally takes passengers to another world. The bus windows display Mars-scapes as if the bus was driving across the planet and allows students to virtually explore the surface.
Lockheed Martin said its Mars Experience Bus is the first immersive virtual reality vehicle ever built and replicates 200 square miles of the Martian surface. The company added that Mars Experience was built with the same software used in today’s most advanced video games.
Students can also explore the Orion spacecraft that is being touted as the vehicle that will one day take humans to Mars, download the “Hello Mars” weather app for smartphones and learn about Lockheed Martin’s legacy in deep space exploration technology.
