North Dakota State Has Best Time, Utah State Has Best
Engineering
For the second year in a
row the team from North Dakota State University in Fargo led the
field over the weekend in the college division of NASA's 11th
annual "Great Moonbuggy Race" in Huntsville (AL).
North Dakota State's team one topped 26 other college and
university teams from 13 states and Puerto Rico with a winning time
of 3 minutes and 46 seconds. Vehicles powered by two team members
-- one male and one female -- raced one at a time over a half-mile
obstacle course of simulated moonscape terrain at Huntsville's US
Space & Rocket Center.
In addition to the first place honor, the North Dakota State
team earned a cash award.
The team from Cornell University of Ithaca (NY) finished second
with a time of 4:23, while Arizona State University team one of
Tempe placed third with a 5:20 time. Those teams received plaques,
and all three winning teams received medallions and duffel bags
bearing the Great Moonbuggy Race logo.
The award for Best Engineering Design went to the team from Utah
State University in Logan. The "Most Unique" award also went
to Utah State University for the use of carbon fiber reinforced
composite material in their moonbuggy. A team from University
of Evansville in Indiana was honored with a special "Pits Award"
for ingenuity and persistence in overcoming problems. Plus, a
special "Crash and Burn" award, given for handling adversity, went
to Cameron University of Lawton, Okla., for surviving the buckling
of their moonbuggy while trying to negotiate one of the tough lunar
obstacles on the course.
The event is inspired by the actual lunar roving vehicle
project, which was successfully accomplished by NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville during the 1960s and 1970s. NASA
engineers then had the challenge to design and build a compact,
light, flexible and durable vehicle that would carry astronauts on
the Moon's surface during the Apollo missions.
The Moonbuggy Race is the culmination of a competition that
challenges students to design and build a human-powered vehicle so
they will learn how to deal with real-world engineering
problems.
As they compete, the students are supporting the Vision for
Space Exploration announced in January by President Bush. Building
a racing buggy gives students hands-on experience that could pay
off in fulfilling NASA's vision to return humans to the Moon and
journey to Mars and beyond.
Sponsors of the event include the Marshall Center, U.S. Space
& Rocket Center, American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics Alabama-Mississippi Section, Aerospace Development
Center of Alabama, Morgan Research Corporation, Jacobs Sverdrup
Technology and television station WHNT, all of Huntsville.
College teams included: Auburn University in Auburn (AL),
Alabama A&M University in Huntsville; Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale; Purdue University Calumet in Hammond
(IN), Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Pittsburg
State University in Pittsburg (KS), Murray State University in
Murray (KY), University of New Orleans in Louisiana, Ozarks
Technical Community College in Springfield (MO), Cornell University
in Ithaca (NY), Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester
(NY), University of Puerto Rico in Humacao; University of Tennessee
in Knoxville; Christian Brothers University in Memphis; Middle
Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro; and University of
Vermont in Burlington.
In the high school division race held Friday, featuring 22 teams, a
team from New Orleans Area Schools grabbed first place with a time
of 4:14. Carlisle County High School of Bardwell (KY), tied for
second with Lafayette County High School team one of Higginsville
(MO), with a 4:40 time. A team from New Century Technology High
School in Huntsville (AL), placed third with its time of 6:43.
The team from the Huntsville Center for Technology was awarded
"Most Unique Buggy" for their lunar positioning and oasis system.
The award for best moonbuggy design went to the team from Lafayette
County High School, team one. A special "Pits Award" for ingenuity
and persistence in overcoming problems was won by the team from
Franklin County High School in Winchester (TN).
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