Huntsville, Alabama – April 7, 2008 — It’s the next-best thing to flying to the moon. And that could be why students from Erie High School in Erie, Kansas are over the moon today — literally.
Students on Erie High Team II braved pouring rain and fierce competition from around the world on April 4 to win the high school division of NASA's 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race at the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Finishing the simulated lunar race course with the fastest time — 3 minutes and 17 seconds — the winning team's original moonbuggy design overcame 21 other high school teams from across the United States and as far away as Germany.
Among those toppled by the Erie team were the 2007 high school moonbuggy champions of Huntsville Institute of Technology, which fielded two teams this year. Huntsville Institute Team II finished in second place this year; Team I took third place.
In the college division, students from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana took first with 4 minutes and 25 seconds, beating the times of 23 other teams on April 5.
Second-place went to Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, and third-place racers represented Canada's Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.
NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race is inspired by the original lunar rover designed by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. A hardy, lightweight exploration vehicle, the first rover trundled across the moon's surface during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, and continued to chart new lunar territory during two subsequent Apollo lunar missions.
Student racers face similar challenges. Last October, teams began designing their own rovers, capable of withstanding the half-mile course — a complex field of craters, gullies and ridges made of plywood and tires and covered with a realistic layer of gravel and sand. Each lunar rover must have a male and a female driver.
"The enthusiasm and engineering savvy of these young innovators is terrific to see," said Tammy Rowan, manager of the Marshall Center's Academic Affairs Office, which organizes the race each year. "NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race is a great example of the educational projects and initiatives NASA undertakes each year to inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers and explorers, who will carry on the nation's mission of exploration, to the moon and onward into the solar system.”
The high school winners are:
- Best Design — Erie High School Team I, first; and Scotlandville Magnet High School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, second.
- Best Spirit —Scotlandville Magnet High School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Pits Crew Award (for ingenuity and persistence in overcoming race-day challenges) — Niles Homeschool Hub in Niles, Michigan.
- Most Unique Buggy — Alexandria High School in Alexandria, Alabama.
- Safety Systems Award (for best safeguarding buggy drivers) — German Space Education Institute, Leipzig, Germany.
- Rookie Award (for posting the fastest time among competition newcomers) —Puerto Rico High School, Fajardo, Puerto Rico.
- Most Improved Award — Lima Senior High School Team II, from Lima, Ohio.
The college winners are:
- Most Original Design — Delhi College of Engineering Team I of Delhi, India.
- Best Design — Pittsburg State University, Pittsburgh, Kansas,
- Best Spirit — University of Central Florida in Orlando.
- Most Unique Buggy — Middle Tennessee State University Team I from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
- Safety Systems Award (for best safeguarding buggy drivers) — A tie between Middle Tennessee State University Team I from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Delhi College of Engineering Team II.
- Crash and Burn (for enduring the most spectacular vehicle breakdown) — Middle Tennessee State's Team I.
- Pits Crew Award (for ingenuity and persistence in overcoming problems during the race) — Ohio State University in Columbus.
- Rookie Award (for fastest course completion time among newcomers) — Ohio State University in Columbus.
- Most Improved — University of Wyoming in Laramie.
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Student racers from Erie High School Team II in Erie, Kansas, took first place in the high school division of NASA's 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race, held April 4 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. The team, which posted a winning race time of just 3 minutes and 17 seconds, beat 21 other teams from around the United States and as far away as Germany. (NASA/MSFC)
A pair of intrepid student drivers from Puerto Rico High School in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, endured a buggy-flipping crash early in the day, but the two racers jumped back into competition quickly enough to post the fastest race time among competition newcomers, earning them the 2008 Rookie Award. (NASA/MSFC)
Student racers from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Ind., speed to victory in the college division of NASA's 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race, held April 5 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. The team, which posted the fastest course completion time – 4 minutes and 25 seconds – outraced 23 other college teams from around the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and as far away as Delhi, India. (NASA/MSFC)
Pedaling partners from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, took home the second-place award in the college division of NASA's 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race, held April 5 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. (NASA/MSFC)
Young innovators from the Huntsville Center for Technology Team II in Huntsville, Alabama, pedal into second place in the high school division of NASA's 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race. (NASA/MSFC)
Students representing Canada's Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, scored a third-place win. (NASA/MSFC)
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