NASA will kick off its 31st annual Rover Competition this week in Alabama, giving students from around the world a chance to show their engineering prowess in the space agency's " obstacle course games.
On Friday, student teams will gather for NASA's annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge near the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to compete at the U.S. Space & Rocket Cen by Chris Benson
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 8, 2025
NASA will kick off its 31st annual Rover Competition this week in Alabama, giving students from around the world a chance to show their engineering prowess in the space agency's " obstacle course games.
On Friday, student teams will gather for NASA's annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge near the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to compete at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Aviation Challenge course for events through Saturday.
Expected to participate at the free event open to the public: Some 35 colleges and universities, along with 38 high schools and two middle schools from 20 states, including Puerto Rico and 16 other nations.
The event is free and open to the public.
According to NASA, hundreds of students from around the globe will -- with their teams -- attempt to navigate NASA's self-described "complex" obstacle course by piloting a vehicle of their own design and production in the traditional human-powered rover division.
This year's competitive event expanded to include a remote-control division.
Rover excursions will be seen from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT each day, or until the last rover completes NASA's obstacle course.
On Saturday, NASA officials will host an in-person awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. local time inside its Space Camp Operations Center at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, where multiple awards will be be given out to winners in the project's eight-month-long engineering design and construction.
NASA says the annual challenge, launched in 1994 and managed by its Marshall's Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement, "reflects the goals" of the Artemis campaign and is one of eight Artemis Student Challenges.
The goal is to "put competitors in the mindset of NASA's Artemis campaign," which aims to establish the first long-term presence on the moon and pave the way for eventual missions to Mars.
Last year, NASA's first mobile robotic lunar rover deployed with the help of commercial partners had a goal to locate lunar ice that might be similarly used to support long-term missions on the moon.
Teams pitch an engineering design for a lunar rover that would simulate an astronaut exploring the lunar surface while overcoming its various obstacles on a different planet in space.
The competition expanded in 1996 to include high school teams -- only to evolve again in 2014 as the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. It now has seen more than 15,000 student participants.
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