April 26, 2013

Image Credit: NASA / MSFC / Pay Downward

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

NASAs annual Great Moonbuggy Race kicked off today in Huntsville, Alabama, marking 20 years since the competition began.

The annual Great Moonbuggy Race involves high school- and college-aged students who build lightweight, human-powered moonbuggies that address many of the same design challenges NASA and industry engineers overcame during the Apollo missions. In the late 1960s, NASA engineers designed the Apollo-era Lunar Roving Vehicles to allow astronauts to range across the harsh lunar surface.

The 20-year-old competition is organized by the Academic Affairs Office at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and is sponsored by the Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. During the race, students must overcome a moonbuggy course, comprised of a winding half-mile of gravel embankments, sand pits and obstacles that mimic the harsh surface of the moon.

Essentially, the moonbuggies built by the students look like a very complicated four-wheeled bicycle. However, buggies need a well thought out suspension system in order to get through the course efficiently.

Some buggies show up with no suspension at all, says race authority Dennis Gallagher. Im not sure why theyd make that particular choice. I guess theyre interested in reliving the bone-crushing antique wagon or automobile experience circa 1905?

NASA says only the strongest buggies survive its simulated lunar course. Over the years, it has seen teams walk away dragging pieces of their buggies with them, including broken chains, snapped frames and buckled wheels.

This competition provides a tremendous amount of real-world experience you just cant replicate in a classroom, said NASA engineer Mike Selby, who was a student racer for the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1995 and 1996. Whether students serve as buggy drivers, wrench jockeys, welders, team secretaries or fundraisers, its an experience none will ever forget and one that demonstrates career paths and aptitudes that can change their lives forever.

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NASA Kicks Off 20th Great Moonbuggy Race