Students will be able to play on the giant vinyl maps, drive robots on them and learn more about STEM topics.

Mars Area School District students may soon walk on the Red Planet — or, rather, a map of it.

The Mars Borough Council and Mars School District arranged with the Aldrin Family Foundation to acquire several giant Mars maps and giant moon maps from the foundation in time for the upcoming Mars New Year Festival.

The floor maps are made of vinyl and show the topography and surface of Mars and earth's moon, along with scientific facts and education materials.

The borough plans to acquire two of each vinyl map, in small (13.5 feet by 6 feet) and medium (23.5 feet by 10.5 feet) sizes, and intends to unveil them at the festival before they are given to the Mars school district.

“It's a way to have kids climbing around on the map and to use it to educate,” Mayor Gregg Hartung said. “It's a versatile tool to inspire kids to learn all that they can about the moon and Mars.”

Hartung says that the borough is in the process of putting together a memorandum of understanding between Mars Area School District, the Mars New Year Committee, Carnegie Mellon University and the Aldrin Family Foundation to hash out the details of how the maps will be acquired, funded and used in Mars.

The goal is for the memorandum and arrangements to be finished later in July, so that the maps will be ready for the Mars New Year celebration Aug. 27 and 28.

Everybody's head is “spinning,” Hartung said. “Teachers are especially excited.”

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