Keeping The Wheels Turning: Registration Open For 20th Annual NASA
Great Moonbuggy Race
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Registration is now open for the 20th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy
Race, which challenges high school, college and university students
around the world to build and race fast, lightweight "moonbuggies"
of their own design.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)
The students' work will culminate in two days of competitive
racing April 26-27, 2013, at the U.S.
Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville,
Ala. NASA created the event two decades ago to complement
classroom learning, provide young thinkers and builders with
real-world engineering experience and inspire them to consider
careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- the
STEM fields.
"It's our goal to keep the wheels turning," said Tammy Rowan, manager of the Academic Affairs
Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, which organizes the race each
year. "The ingenuity and enthusiasm we see among racers begins in
the classroom. That first spark of interest -- whether it's in
basic chemistry or astronomy or the history of spaceflight --
starts the wheels turning. The Great Moonbuggy Race helps sustain
that momentum, turning interest into passion, and dreams into a
lifelong pursuit of new answers and new horizons."
International registration for the 2013 race closes Jan. 7. Registration for U.S. teams closes
Feb. 4. Participating high schools,
colleges and universities each may register up to two teams and two
vehicles. For complete rules and to register, visit:
http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov
When Marshall created the race
as a regional college challenge during the 1993-1994 school year,
only eight teams participated. The high school division was added
in 1996, and registration has swelled ever since.
Racers compete to post the fastest vehicle assembly and race
times in their divisions, while incurring the fewest penalties.
Prizes are awarded to the three teams in each division that finish
with the lowest final times. NASA and industry sponsors present
additional awards for engineering ingenuity, team spirit, best
debut by a rookie team and more.
The course, built each spring on the outdoor grounds of the
Space and Rocket Center, comprises a winding half-mile of gravel
embankments, sand pits and obstacles that mimic the harsh surface
of the moon. The race's creators drew inspiration from conditions
faced by the Apollo-era Lunar Roving Vehicles. Three rovers built
at Marshall in the late 1960s were
used on the moon during the Apollo 15, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17
missions in 1971 and 1972.
Today, the students' moonbuggies address many of the same design
challenges NASA and industry engineers overcame to deliver those
historic rovers. The vehicles dramatically expanded astronauts'
reach across the lunar surface and enabled them to conduct much
more scientific research during their brief stays on the moon.
In the most recent Great Moonbuggy Race, held in April 2012, more than 70 teams tackled the
course. Petra Mercado High School in
Humacao, Puerto Rico was first
place in the high school division. The University of Alabama in Huntsville won first place
in the college division. Petra
Mercado, in only its second year in the competition, earned
a completion time of 3 minutes and 20 seconds. The winning
University of Alabama in Huntsville
team finished in 4 minutes and 3 seconds.
To date, more than 5,000 students from around the world have
participated in the races. Past winning teams have hailed from
Alabama, Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New
Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Puerto
Rico, Rhode Island,
Tennessee, Utah and Wyoming -- and from Canada and Germany. International racers have come from
as far away as India, Italy, Romania, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Racers from Erie High School in Erie,
Kan., have held the record for the best course-completion
time since 2008. Their best overall time of 3 minutes and 17
seconds earned the first-place trophy in the high school division
that year.
More than 350,000 people watched live and archived coverage of
the spring 2012 race on NASA TV and on UStream. For archived
footage of the competition, visit:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc
For images and additional information about past races,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/moonbuggy
SOURCE NASA