Putting the 'Art' in Artemis
M.A.R.S & co
Summary
We've developed a simple cartoon with the purpose of inspiring today's children to engage in the Artemis missions and encouraging curiosity and motivation.The today's generation is our future. No matter how hard we toil or strive for progress, we will always be defined by those who succeed us and pick up where we left off. While it is our responsibility to discover, create and learn, it is also our collective responsibility as scientists, as creators, as storytellers and as people to assure that those who will inevitably fill our shoes are equipped with as much knowledge and motivation to move the human race forward. The future will be our legacy and only we can define what that will mean.
How We Addressed This Challenge
We've developed a cartoon which depicts a journey to Mars in an elementary manner in such a fashion that is simple for children to digest. In the journey to the moon, Mars and deep space, people of all different backgrounds and talents and interests are needed, but they will all be united by the common goal of human progress. On the television and other entertainment mediums that we've seen, there is a lack of programs that would educate children about the intricacies and wonders of space in a simple style that would cover the basics of space science in such a way that would fosters knowledge and curiosity towards the celestial bodies that lie beyond our blue sphere. We hope to achieve that the cartoon that we have created is able to spark in someone even just a bit of curiosity or the desire to learn more about Mars and the Artemis mission. That one bit of motivation to learn is all that is needed to encourage today's children to grow up to be tomorrow's scientists, storytellers, programmers and advocates and allies of humanity's journey into space.
How We Developed This Project
Despite living in the era of internet and technology, children rarely take an interest in the vast STEM field. Caught between the stereotype of being addicted to their phone and having all the information they could ever think of at their fingertips, it is vital to direct their attention to the world of science now more than ever. What better way to do that than through an animated series?
Our team designed the "M.A.R.S. &co" cartoon as an incentive for the young minds to take an interest in the Red Planet, which is widely thought to be the future of this generation and all the generations to come.
We follow MARSeline, a curious and perseverent Siamese cat on her quest to unravel the mysteries of the 4th planet of our Solar System, as well as provide a complete history of humanity's attempts to conquer it throughout the decades. Thus, we aim to inspire the children to look up to the scientists at NASA, ESA, CSA etc., by giving them examples of how technology has changed since the humankind has acquired new data about Mars.
From early telescopic observations to the 4 Mars Rovers and Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster being launched into space, it was our time to put our Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Media Encoder skills to use while creating the opening sequence for our cartoon. Challenges lie ahead, but we will keep an optimistic outlook. And just like Buzz Aldrin once said, "Mars is there, waiting to be reached".
How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project
At the start of the animation, there is an audio clip of a commentator reading off a rocket launch sequence. This is the sound byte from the original Apollo 10 launch to draw a parallel between the Apollo generation launches and the future Artemis generation rocket launch.
The images displayed during the cartoon are also used to display Mars's rocky, dusty surface and the hazy, muted nature of Mars's sky in contrast to the blue sky of Earth.