NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge
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 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 tyres/wheels. Purchasing a commercially available product will lead to disqualification.
Course
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, 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 and design 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 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 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 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 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 Team 2ᵗ Erie High School Team 1ᵈ | University of Evansvilleᵗ Pittsburg State Universityᵈ | |
| 2009 | tie Erie High School ᵗ tie Huntsville Center for Technology Team 2ᵗ Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Scienceᵈ | Rochester Institute of Technologyᵗ Tennessee Technological Universityᵈ | 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 | Purdue University Calumet – Team 1ᵗ Purdue University Calumet – Team 2ᵈ | Rafaelina E. Lebron Flores of Patillas, Puerto Ricoᵗ Colegio 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. |
| 2020 | — | — | Cancelled due to Covid-19 |
ᵗFirst place for time
ᵈBest design award
fFeatherweight award