aerospace: A research field devoted to the study of Earth’s atmosphere and the space beyond or to aircraft that travel in the atmosphere and space.
crater: A large, bowl-shaped cavity in the ground or on the surface of a planet or the moon. They are typically caused by an explosion or the impact of a meteorite or other celestial body. Such an impact is sometimes referred to as a cratering event.
develop: To emerge or to make come into being, either naturally or through human intervention, such as by manufacturing.
engineer: A person who uses science and math to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need.
lander: A special, small vehicle designed to ferry humans or scientific equipment between a spacecraft and the celestial body they will explore.
lunar: Of or relating to Earth’s moon.
Mars: The fourth planet from the sun, just one planet out from Earth. Like Earth, it has seasons and moisture. But its diameter is only about half as big as Earth’s.
moon: The natural satellite of any planet.
morph: (in non-living systems) It refers to a thing, policy or activity that has undergone change, becoming something that looks or seems new and different.
NASA: Short for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Created in 1958, this U.S. agency has become a leader in space research and in stimulating public interest in space exploration. It was through NASA that the United States sent people into orbit and ultimately to the moon. It also has sent research craft to study planets and other celestial objects in our solar system.
particle: A minute amount of something.
planet: A large celestial object that orbits a star but unlike a star does not generate any visible light.
programming: (in computing) To use a computer language to write or revise a set of instructions that makes a computer do something. The set of instructions that does this is known as a computer program. The term is also used, in an analogy to computer programming, to describe the way something — such as cells — have been designed to function. A person who writes or revises software is a known as a programmer.
regolith: A thick layer of soil and weathered rock
robot: A machine that can sense its environment, process information and respond with specific actions. Some robots can act without any human input, while others are guided by a human. Someone who designs or builds robots is a roboticist.
steer: To guide the movement of something (a vehicle, a person or an idea) in some particular direction.
system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body’s circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation’s railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.
terrain: The land in a particular area and whatever covers it. The term might refer to anything from a smooth, flat and dry landscape to a mountainous region covered with boulders, bogs and forest cover.
traction: (in physics) The force created as something pulls across a surface or the glue-like effect of friction created as something moves along a surface. It’s the ability of something to resist sliding, such as a tire on a road or a sock-covered foot along a wood floor. It is not the same as friction but is related to friction.