NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge

File:2012 Moonbuggy Race Purdue University in crater vignetted cropped.jpg

Students traverse a simulated crater in a moonbuggy they designed and built themselves.

The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, prior to 2014 referred to as the Great Moonbuggy Race, is an annual competition for high school and college students to design, build, and race human-powered, collapsible vehicles over simulated lunar terrain. NASA sponsors the competition, first held in 1994, and, since 1996, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center hosts.

Students created vehicles dubbed "moonbuggies" to face challenges similar to those engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center addressed in preparation for Apollo 15. On that mission, on July 31, 1971, the first Lunar Roving Vehicle extended the range of astronauts on the moon to allow for further exploration than was otherwise possible. Two other rovers were sent to the moon on subsequent missions.

With the 2014 changes in the contest, the motivation changed to mimicking design challenges faced by engineers designing rovers for future exploration missions to a variety of celestial bodies.

File:1994 Moonbuggy Race Puerto Rico over boulders.jpg

The first two events were held at the original track used for testing lunar rover candidates. Here, the team from Puerto Rico navigates boulders.

The first race, in 1994, was held on July 16, the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. It featured six college teams who competed on the same course as had been used to test the lunar rovers previously. The University of New Hampshire finished first, in 18 minutes 55 seconds for the 1.4-mile (2.3 km) course with twelve obstacles. The prize was a trip for six team members to see a Space Shuttle launch. Other teams from the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, Texas A & M University, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Georgia Institute of Technology and Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis participated.

Subsequent races have been held in April. In 1996, the competition was moved to a .75-mile (1.21 km) course at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center; high school teams also began competing.

Rules

The rules change year by year, but are largely summarized thus:

• A team of at most six people designs, builds, and races the same vehicle.
• Two of the six must ride and propel the vehicle through the course.
• Riders must be one male and one female.
• The moonbuggy (pre-2014) must fit into a 4-foot (1.2 m) cube and be no more than 4 ft wide. Beginning in 2014, the rover constraint was a 5-foot (1.5 m) cube.
• The vehicle needs to carry a simulated high-gain antenna, camera, and other instrumentation which must consume at least 1 cubic foot (28 L).
• Various other dimensional and safety criteria apply.
• Time penalties are assessed for touching the ground, avoiding obstacles, and other rule violations.

Course

File:2012 Great Moonbuggy Race Course Map.png

Since 1996, the course winds through the rocket park at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This map shows the 2012 course.

The course is designed to test rovers for stability over varying simulated lunar or extraterrestrial terrain—bumpy, sloped, and rocky—including some tight turns. The first course was the actual track used by Mobility Test Articles, auditioning versions of Lunar Roving Vehicles that were used on the moon. For the third race the course was moved a few miles, to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. There, the track has taken varying paths through the rocket park and around the permanent lunar crater feature at the museum. Each year, the obstacles change slightly.

File:2013 Great Moonbuggy Race obstacle preparation.jpg

An obstacle for the 2013 contest awaits final preparations. Tires form small craters and gravel substitutes for moon surface material.

The obstacles are constructed of discarded tires, plywood, some 20 tons of gravel and five tons of sand, all to simulate lunar craters, basins, and rilles. The contest is challenging: in 2009, 29 of 68 teams competing did not complete the race. Sometimes the placement of the obstacle is an issue, with some teams hitting obstacles too fast after a downhill stint.

Before students tackle the race course, their vehicles must pass inspection. At the team's start time, the two riding students must carry the buggy, collapsed to fit in a 5-foot (1.5 m) cube (pre-2014 a 4-foot (1.2 m) cube), for 20 feet (6.1 m), then expand the rover and ride it across the obstacles and along the track, avoiding cones marking the edges of the course, bales of hay, and other obstructions, while successfully navigating the modest hills of the terrain and obstacles. After the race, another inspection assesses the condition of the vehicle, with time penalties if parts are missing.

Contestants

Contestants are high school and university students largely from the United States, including Puerto Rico. Teams have also come from Canada, Mexico, India, Germany, and Romania to participate.

Awards

Numerous awards are offered each year, some with significant prizes. First place college winners have received trips to Shuttle launches and cash prizes, while others have received weekends at Space Camp. In 2009, there were 11 categories for special recognition with 19 recipients thereof. Consistent from the beginning have been awards for fastest time and for best design. Other awards acknowledge simplicity of design, safety, tenacity, team spirit, improvement over previous years' entries, and exceptional new entries.

Winners

File:Graff Career Center Navigates Crater in the Great Moonbuggy Race 1999.jpg

Students from Graff Career Center, Springfield, Missouri. navigate the 360° turn around the permanent crater feature at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in 1999.

File:Cornell No. 2 Great Moonbuggy Race 2002.jpg

The Cornell #2 team competes in the 2002 race.

File:NDSU Moonbuggy Race 2003.jpg

North Dakota State University students enter an obstacle on the course in 2003.

Year	High School	College	Remarks
1994	none	University of New Hampshireᵗ University of Puerto Rico at Humacaoᵈ	Original test track, 1.4 miles, rain
1995	none	Georgia Institute of Technologyᵗ University of Alabama in Huntsvilleᵈ	Original test track
1996	Bob Jones High Schoolᵗᵈ	University of Alabama in Huntsvilleᵗ Arizona State Universityᵈ	First at USSRC, ¾ mile track
1997	Monterey High School (Louisiana)ᵗᵈ	University of California at Santa Barbaraᵗᵈ	½ mile track
1998	Monterey High Schoolᵗ Autauga County Vocational Centerᵈ	College of New Jerseyᵗ Arizona State Universityᵈ	Rain
1999	Graff Career Centerᵗᵈ	Pittsburg State University team 4ᵗ College of New Jerseyᵈ
2000	Pittsburg High School, Kansasᵗ Orleans Parish Area Schoolsᵈ	College of New Jerseyᵗ South Dakota State Universityᵈ	First two-day contest
2001	Graff Career Centerᵗ Lafayette County High School (Missouri) team 1ᵈ	Pittsburg State University team 2ᵗ University of New Hampshireᵈ
2002	Lafayette County High School in Higginsville, Mo.ᵗ New Orleans Area Schools team 2ᵈ	Cornell Universityᵗ College of New Jerseyᵈ
2003	Lafayette County (Mo.) C-1 High School Team No. 2ᵗ	North Dakota State Universityᵗ
2004	New Orleans Area High Schools	North Dakota State Universityᵗ
2005	Madison County Career Academy team 1ᵗ	Utah State Universityᵗ
2006	Huntsville Center for Technologyᵗ	Pittsburg State Universityᵗ
2007	Huntsville Center for Technologyᵗ	Rochester Institute of Technologyᵗ
2008	Erie High School (Kansas) Team 2ᵗ Erie High School Team 1ᵈ	University of Evansvilleᵗ Pittsburg State Universityᵈ
2009	tie Erie High School (Kansas)ᵗ tie Huntsville Center for Technology Team 2ᵗ Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Scienceᵈ	Rochester Institute of Technologyᵗ Tennessee Technological Universityᵈ	0.7 miles (1.1 km) course
2010	International Space Education Institute of Leipzigᵗ Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High School Team 2ᵈ	The University of Puerto Rico at Humacaoᵗ University of Alabama in Huntsvilleᵈ
2011	Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High School Team 2ᵗ	University of Puerto Rico in Humacaoᵗ	UPRH is the only contestant to enter in every race thus far.
2012	Petra Mercado High Schoolᵗ Colegio Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro-Humacaoᵈ	University of Alabama in Huntsvilleᵗ International Space Education Institute Team Russia in Moscowᵈ
2013	Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High Schoolᵗ Academy of Arts, Careers and Technologyᵈ	University of Puerto Rico at Humacaoᵗ Southern Illinois Universityᵈ	There was some concern that the race might be called off due to sequestration, but NASA Associate Administrator for Education, Leland D. Melvin specifically exempted the event.
2014	Academy of Arts, Careers and Technologyᵗᵈ	University of Puerto Rico at Humacao Team 2ᵗ Middle Tennessee State University – Team 2ᵈ	First "Human Exploration Rover Challenge," harder course, non-pneumatic wheels
2015	University Gardens High School of San Juan, Puerto Ricoᵗ Parish Episcopal School of Dallas, Texasᵈ	International Space Education Institute Team Russia of Moscowᵗ Auburn University of Auburn, Alabamaᵈ
2016			Scheduled for April 8-10, 2016

ᵗFirst place for time
ᵈBest design award

External links

• NASA Great Moonbuggy Race official site
• Public Affairs site
• Flickr images