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/Martian 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.
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 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 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 cube and be no more than 4 ft wide. Beginning in 2014, the rover constraint was a cube. The vehicle needs to carry a simulated high-gain antenna, camera, and other instrumentation which must consume at least . Various other dimensional and safety criteria apply. Time penalties are assessed for touching the ground, avoiding obstacles, and other rule violations. Since 2016, the teams have to design and fabricate their own non-pneumatic tires/wheels. Purchasing a commercially available product will lead to disqualification.
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.
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 cube (pre-2014 a cube), for , 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 This list gives winners for time(t) and design(d) awards which have been consistently offered since the start. Awards were often also given for other categories but they are not included here in the interest of readability.
Year High School College Remarks 1994 none University of New HampshiretUniversity of Puerto Rico at Humacaod Original test track, 1.4 miles, rain 1995 none Georgia Institute of TechnologytUniversity of Alabama in Huntsvilled Original test track 1996 Bob Jones High Schooltd University of Alabama in HuntsvilletArizona State Universityd First at USSRC, track 1997 Monterey High School (Louisiana)td University of California at Santa Barbaratd track 1998 Monterey High SchooltAutauga County Vocational Centerd College of New JerseytArizona State Universityd Rain 1999 Graff Career Centertd Pittsburg State University team 4tCollege of New Jerseyd 2000 Pittsburg High School, KansastOrleans Parish Area Schoolsd College of New JerseytSouth Dakota State Universityd First two-day contest 2001 Graff Career CentertLafayette County High School (Missouri) team 1d Pittsburg State University team 2tUniversity of New Hampshired 2002 Lafayette County High School in Higginsville, Mo.tNew Orleans Area Schools team 2d Cornell UniversitytCollege 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 2tErie High School Team 1d University of EvansvilletPittsburg State Universityd 2009 tie Erie High School (Kansas)ttie Huntsville Center for Technology Team 2tTudor Vianu National High School of Computer Scienced Rochester Institute of TechnologytTennessee Technological Universityd course 2010 International Space Education Institute of LeipzigtTeodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High School Team 2d The University of Puerto Rico at HumacaotUniversity 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 SchooltColegio Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro-Humacaod University of Alabama in HuntsvilletInternational Space Education Institute Team Russia in Moscowd 2013 Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High SchooltAcademy of Arts, Careers and Technologyd University of Puerto Rico at HumacaotSouthern 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 2tMiddle Tennessee State University – Team 2d First "Human Exploration Rover Challenge," harder course, non-pneumatic wheels 2015 University Gardens High School of San Juan, Puerto RicotParish Episcopal School of Dallas, Texasd International Space Education Institute Team Russia of MoscowtAuburn University of Auburn, Alabamad 2016 Purdue University Calumet – Team 1tPurdue University Calumet – Team 2d Rafaelina E. Lebron Flores of Patillas, Puerto RicotColegio Nuestra Senora del Perpetuo Socorro of Humacaod This was the first year for teams to design their own wheels. The 2016 contest also added four sample collections of liquid, pebbles, large rocks, and soil. 2018 Buckhorn High Schoolf University of Alabama in Huntsville - Team 1 This was the first year the competition included a points system. Points were awarded for the weight of the buggies as well as obstacles and missions completed around the course. Teams were given 6 minutes to complete tasks, and the 7th minute to reach the finish line. 2021 Parish Episcopal School Team 1 Universidad Nacional de Colombia On-Site activities cancelled due to COVID-19. Overall winners decided by design, documentation, and presentation categories.
tFirst place for time dBest design award fFeatherweight award
References
External links
NASA Great Moonbuggy Race official site Public Affairs site Flickr images