Indian students just won NASA's Human Exploration Rover Challenge
A week ago, nearly 100 high-school and college student teams from different parts of the world took part in NASA's 25th Human Exploration Rover Challenge. They were tasked to design and test rovers and judged on various parameters, including performance and design. Now, the results of the contest have been announced, with three Indian teams being on the winning side. Here are the details.
Four awards bagged by Indian teams
In a massive bunch of international participants, four awards went to Indian student teams. First, students from Ghaziabad's KIET Group of Institutions bagged the AIAA Neil Armstrong Best Design Award for the performance and design of their vehicle. Then, there were students from Lovely Professional University who won the STEM Engagement Award for displaying their know-how and skills in rocketry, space, and related topics.
Mumbai's institute bagged two awards
The other two awards, Frank Joe Sexton Memorial Pit Crew Award and System Safety Challenge Award, were snagged by the students of Mumbai's Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering for their ingenuity and persistence in handling complications during the challenge.
KIET Group of Institutions celebrated the win on Twitter
Challenge was to build, drive four-wheeled rover
The challenge, held at US Space & Rocket Center, was all about designing, building, and driving a four-wheeled roving vehicle on a terrain simulating the conditions found on Moon, Mars, and other rocky planets. As NASA explained in a release, the goal behind this challenge is to provide learning opportunities to students who may one day go ahead and plan future manned/unmanned space missions.
Teams also had to complete additional tasks
Along with developing a rover and using it to traverse a terrain packed with several obstacles, the teams also had to complete some additional tasks, such as collecting samples and deploying instruments. For every completed task, they were awarded points which were later used for determining the winners. Veteran NASA astronaut Sunita Williams had also joined the challenge, taking part in the student activities.
Students from Germany and Puerto Rico took the top spots
As for overall ranking, students from Germany's International Space Education Institute took the top spot in the high-school segment with 91 points. Meanwhile, in the University/institute category, folks from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez bagged the first place. To note, the competition had participants from various countries, including Bolivia, Bangladesh, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Mexico, Morocco, and Peru.
