NASA Holds 17th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race
More than 100 student teams from around the globe will drive
their specially crafted lunar rovers through a challenging course
of rugged, moon-like terrain at NASA's 17th annual Great Moonbuggy
Race in Huntsville, AL, April 9-10.
Some 1,088 high school, college and university students from 20
states and Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, Bangladesh, Serbia, India
and Romania are expected to participate in the race at the U.S.
Space and Rocket Center.
Students begin to prepare for the event each year during the
fall semester. They must design, build and test a sturdy,
collapsible, lightweight vehicle that addresses engineering
problems similar to those overcome by the original Apollo-era lunar
rover development team at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville in the late 1960s.
The buggies are based on the design of those classic rovers,
which American astronauts drove across the moon's surface during
the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions in the early 1970s. Teams of
students build their vehicles using trail bike tires, aluminum or
composite-metal struts and parts. The best teams drive trains,
gears, suspension, steering and braking systems they find or
construct.
Team From Southern Louisiana 2009 NASA
Photo
Top prizes are awarded to the three teams in both the high
school and college/university divisions that post the fastest race
times, which include assembly and penalty times. A variety of other
prizes are given by race corporate sponsors. These include "rookie
of the year" and the "featherweight" award, presented to the team
with the lightest, fastest buggy.
NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race is one of many educational projects
and initiatives the agency conducts each year to attract and engage
America's next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.
They will carry on the nation's mission of exploration to
unchartered destinations in our solar system.
Team From Ohio State University 2009 NASA
Photo
"NASA is committed to inspiring young people in science,
technology, engineering and math, and the Great Moonbuggy Race is
an excellent way for us to reach out to young people and get them
excited and involved in technical opportunities available to them,"
said Mike Selby, an avionics technical assistant in the Marshall
Center's Engineering Directorate. While completing his engineering
degree at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Selby was a
member of the school's moonbuggy teams, helping them to a
second-place finish in 1995 and to first place in 1996. Since 2001,
he has served each year as a volunteer scorekeeper.