Event Being Held April 17-18 In Huntsville, AL

The annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge will take place April 17-18 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

This year's competition will feature more than 80 high school and college teams from 18 states, Puerto Rico and international teams from Germany, India, Mexico and Russia racing against the clock in this engineering design competition.

The Rover Challenge requires students to design, construct, test and race human-powered rovers through an obstacle course simulating the terrain potentially found on distant planets, asteroids or moons. Teams race to finish the three-quarter-mile-long obstacle course in the fastest time, vying for prizes in various divisions. The event concludes with a ceremony where corporate sponsors will present awards for best design, rookie team and other accomplishments.

Hosted by Marshall, the Rover Challenge highlights NASA's goals for deep-space exploration. The challenge is inspired by the Lunar Roving Vehicles of the Apollo moon missions. The competition challenges students to solve engineering problems, while highlighting NASA's commitment to inspiring new generations of scientists, engineers and explorers.

(Image from 2014 event provided by NASA)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/teams/index.html, www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge