You can tell that NASA is really serious about sending astronauts back to the Moon – they’re even working on the moonbuggies (I mean, rovers). In order to get the best designs possible, the agency is opening up the competition to student teams to design the best lunar rovers they can. The 15th annual race is going to be in Huntsville, Alabama on April 4-5, 2008. And who knows, maybe some of their good ideas might make it all the way to the Moon.
More than 40 student teams from the US and other countries have already registered for the 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race. The students have to design, build and then race their own two-person lunar vehicles across a simulated surface of the Moon.
Here are the important rules:
The total length of the course is about 1,100 metres (.7 miles), and strewn with rocks, craters and other lunar hazards. The team, consisting of a male and female, have to race their rover through the terrain as quickly as possible. Each team gets two runs, and the fastest times are the winners.
The three fastest-finishing buggies in both high school and college categories will win prizes from the race sponsors. There are also awards for the most unique moonbuggy design, best overall design, most improved team, best rookie team and most spirited team
There’s still time to register for the competition – registration ends on February 1st. If you’re interested in the rules and requirements, check out NASA’s website for the Great Moonbuggy Race.
Original Source: NASA News Release
Last November, NASA's Lucy mission conducted a flyby of the asteroid Dinkinish, one of the…
Steven Hawking famously calculated that black holes should evaporate, converting into particles and energy over…
NASA has given the go-ahead for SpaceX to work out a plan to adapt its…
The JWST is astronomers' best tool for probing exoplanet atmospheres. Its capable instruments can dissect…
First light for the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) is quickly approaching and the telescope is…
A beautiful nebula in the southern hemisphere with a binary star at it's center seems…