"This entire race has been totally exhilarating," said Dustin Patterson, a junior at New Century Technology High School in Huntsville and the "back-seater" to driver Ashley Weil. "It's the best experience I've ever had in school."
| Moon Buggy Facts |
HIGH SCHOOL WINNERS:
1. Pittsburgh (Kansas) High School Team No. 1 4:45
2. New Century Technology High School of Huntsville, AL 5:58
3. Carthage (MO) High School 6:27
COLLEGE WINNERS
1. The College of New Jersey: 4:03
2. Ozarks Technical Community College: 5:20
3. University of California, Santa Barbara: 7:05 |
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Two persons per vehicle, one male, one female;
No flywheels, springs or rockets;
Unassembled buggy fits into a 4-foot-cube;
Assembled buggy is 4 feet wide;
Drivers must carry buggy for 20 feet then assemble;
Tires, treads, belts etc. are OK;
Buggy must have simulated LRV components, including TV camera, high-gain antenna, batteries, control panel, dust guards, U.S. flag. |
PENALTIES FOR:
Ground contact;
Hitting ropes or cones marking course;
Equipment missing at end of race |
Like a stock-car racetrack
The Moon Buggy Race was started in 1994 as a way to get kids involved in 25th anniversary celebrations for Apollo 11.
The experience includes forming a team that designs and builds a working model of the Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV) used on the last three Apollo lunar landing missions.
The model has to be human-powered, fold into a 4-foot (1.2-meter) cube (just like the original LRV), deploy easily after a 20-foot (6.1-meter) carry and sport LRV-like elements such as a high-gain antenna (the better ones used umbrellas).
Then each team must pedal its LRV across obstacles designed by a University of Tennessee geologist. The obstacles, designed to simulate small lunar hills and craters, are wood ramps and tires covered with rubble ranging in size from sand to stones the size of a man's fist.
Space exhibits aside, it all looks like a southern stock car racetrack. Bales of hay cushioned spots where buggies might tip or run off course. Pit stops were filled with the sounds and smells of welding torches and grinders.
"We're regretting it now that we've walked the course and seen what's out there," said team leader Steve Wells, a junior in engineering physics at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. His team's buggy was built low with six small wheels. Already they were planning a new design for next year. "We'll be back with bigger and better wheels," he promised.
'I thought it was crazy'
That's part of what the race's inventors, Frank Six of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Gerald Carr of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, had in mind. You learn best when you try a design that fails and you have to analyze the failure and build something better.
"I thought it was crazy," Six said of his reaction when the race was suggested by another NASA official in 1994. "But the more we (Six and Carr) thought about it, the more we liked it."
Students like it, too. This year it had enough entrants that separate college and high school divisions were set up. Many observers noted that the college teams, with more money and engineering classes, had "over-designed" as compared to the high school teams, which had leaner budgets and designs.
Nevertheless, it's the learning that counts.
"It's a great program," said Brock Gnagy, a freshman in mechanical engineering at Arizona State University. "Lots of fun, a lot of hands-on work. That's the best aspect." His sister, Meegan, a sophomore in aerospace engineering and the driver, had a different view.
"Omigosh, it's hard," she added. "It drains you of all mental and physical reserves. You don't know how hard it is until you are out there."
And the winners are
The numbers show how draining it was. Of the 16 high school teams that signed up, 13 showed and only nine completed the course.
First place went to Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) High School Team No. 1 (each school is allowed up to two teams) with an adjusted run time of 4:45. The adjusted time is the run plus deployment time plus 30 seconds per penalty, such as pushing out of an obstacle. Second place went to New Century Technology High School of Huntsville at 5:58 and third place went to Carthage (Missouri) High School at 6:27.
The winning team was awarded a week at U.S. Space Camp, while the 2nd- and 3rd-place teams received plaques. Orleans Parish Area Schools won the design competition.
Of 30 colleges that signed up, 26 showed up and half finished. The winners were The College of New Jersey at 4:03 (with no penalties), Ozarks Technical Community College at 5:20 and the University of California, Santa Barbara at 7:05.
New Jersey won a trip to Kennedy Space Center to watch a space shuttle launch. The second- and third-place winners received plaques, and all three teams got fleece jackets. South Dakota State University in Brooking won the design competition.
Sportsmanship honor to Purdue
But everybody won something, even if they got no farther than Obstacle 2. That's where an award for best sportsmanship could have been awarded to Chris Mathis, a senior in mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
At the first bump, the Purdue Boilermakers broke a steering strut. Mathis dismounted, checked the damage and looked at one of the obstacle judges.
"I want to thank you all for taking the time to volunteer and do this," he said with smile. "This has been fantastic."
A few minutes later, after he and his team packed their buggy into a truck, he said that even though he's graduating, he plans to return next year with high school kids. "It's been a blast," Mathis said.
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