KSC-2011-4167

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Apollo/Saturn V Center, Jerry Hartman, Education Lead with the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and Susan Sawyer, Lunabotics Project Coordinator with ReDe/Critique, display the trophy the winning team will receive at the award ceremony for NASA's second annual Lunabotics Mining Competition. Thirty-six teams of undergraduate and graduate students from the United States, Bangladesh, Canada, Colombia and India participated in NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition May 26 - 28 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The competition is designed to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Teams will maneuver their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The event also provides a competitive environment that could result in innovative ideas and solutions for NASA's future excavation of the moon. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller