Model Mars offers youth (ages 12-18) a simulated experience of living on Mars, within one of four established settlements, and as a member of a team assembled to address a specific issue within their settlement, as well as an all-team, planet-wide challenge.

Each team’s journey is launched by a narrative, in which character roles are described, and a problem, conflict or issue is introduced. Teams work collaboratively online or in person to examine the issue before them and to come up with a workable solution that may involve social, economic, political, and scientific and technical dimensions. As the teams navigate their journeys, they will receive support and assistance from online resources (including prompt cards offering strategic and creative hints), from team envoys (adults who organize and guide the teams), from other teams, and from mission control (the prototype development team). Along the way, they will also hear from eminent people in space and technology sectors, the United Nations, and from diverse cultural communities.

As they complete their journeys, each team will design and craft an artifact representing their experience, the challenges faced, and the chosen solution. Artifacts, and stories explaining their relevance, are revealed in the final week, when all teams will assemble virtually in the Mars Commons (which they will also have a hand in creating) to share and discuss details of their journeys, to address a final all-team challenge, and to reflect on how their work may also support sustainable development goals that will meet current needs and improve lives on Earth. Artifacts will be presented and archived in the new Mars Museum, designed and built by a unique “museum-of-the-future” curation team working with guidance from the Museum of London. Each team that successfully completes its journey will receive a commendation and become part of the growing Model Mars community.

Prototype team members and envoys will not only experience Model Mars; they will co-create and refine its content and functionality as the platform evolves and new features are added. As such, they will receive special commendations and also will become a part of future Model Mars endeavors.