Saturday, September 26, 2015

Welcomes to Mars

NASA has an established goal of landing human explorers on the planet Mars by 2030.  Wow! based upon that timeline first graders now like my son and daughter would be the ideal age to serve as the crew for that space mission when it launched.  What would it be like for them to travel through space and land on the red planet?

Only a handful of people in Earth's history have ever traveled off our planet to walk on the moon.  Buzz Aldrin, who was the second person to walk on the moon following the footsteps of that famous first leap made by Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong just a few minutes later on July 20, 1969, has a few thoughts on how to get astronauts to Mars and what life would be like for the first pioneers to colonize that planet.  In his new book National Geographic Kids: Welcome To Mars, Aldrin provides his unique perspective to challenge curious kids to think about Mars as not just a faraway planet but rather as a possible home for Earthlings.  He makes the book relatable to children by exploring topics like what would you eat for breakfast on Mars (sweet potato pie made from yams grown in a green house); what would you do for fun (snowboarding down Martian gullies or zip lining across valleys); where would you live (imagine a combination of a college dormitory and a super-sized dirt igloo); and what would people wear (flexible, light weight space suits).  Plus the book includes some great hands-on science experiments that children can do at home to excite them about space exploration as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).


If you have an elementary school or high school aged child in your life that may be imagining one day being an astronaut, A Geek Daddy has a great giveaway for you.  Courtesy of our friends at National Geographic Kids, one luck A Geek Daddy reader who follows the instructions below will receive a complimentary edition of Buzz Aldrin's Welcome To Mars book.  For a chance to win you  must be a U.S. or Canadian resident over 18 years old and submit one or all of the following entry methods to earn up to 4 entries prior to 11:59 pm EST on Sunday October 4, 2015. 

UPDATE (10/5/2015) Congrats to Joel from Northville, Michigan who won the Welcome to Mars book by Buzz Aldrin.

 EMAIL (1 Entry)  E-mail thegeekdaddy [at] yahoo [dot] com your name and mailing address.   Email subject line should be Welcome to Mars. 

FACEBOOK COMMENT (3 Entries) Visit A GEEK DADDY on Facebook and leave a comment on our contest post sharing which planet or moon in our solar system you'd like to visit and why.

All valid entries will be assigned a number in the order they are received and one number will be  selected to determine the winner using random.org.  E-mails will only be used to contact the winner and deleted following the selection of a winner.

Welcome to Mars is a 96 page hardcover book filled with 155 color illustrations that retails for $18.99.  It is recommended for readers 8 to 12 years old.  Inspires young readers to want to soar through the skies and reach for the stars like Buzz Aldrin by reading about this astronaut and rocket scientist in a book that explores his ideas about traveling through space and colonizing the red planet.  This is a great example to show children that a book about space travel doesn't have to be science fiction to be amazing and interesting to read.  It's time to inspire the generation that will one day be embarking on missions to Mars!


DISCLAIMER:  A Geek Daddy Blog will be responsible for selecting the winner of this contest and delivery of the prize.  By participating in this contest you waive any liability towards A Geek Daddy Blog or its publisher that may arise from your involvement with this promotion.  A Geek Daddy Blog did not receive any financial compensation but did receive the prize that is being awarded to one of our readers for this contest for free.  A Geek Daddy Blog is hosting this contest as a benefit to our readers. Any opinions in this post are my own.  #NGKINSIDER

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