Chennai, India (CU)_ According to a NASA press release, two Indian student teams from Punjab and Tamil Nadu have bagged the NASA 2022 Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The challenge, which was announced on April 29 by the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA at an online awards event, comprised around 91 teams, including 58 institutions and 33 high schools.
According to the media, the competition asked US and foreign student teams to build, develop, and test a human-powered rover on a track imitating terrain found on rocky bodies in the solar system. While discussing the course, the teams also completed mission duties, such as sample recovery and spectrographic analysis.
According to Aundra Brooks-Davenport, the activity lead of the challenge at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, “This year, students were asked to design a course that would mimic obstacles as if they were competing in Huntsville”. Ms Brooks-Davenport expressed excitement over the competition. He said, “Ensuring team safety was a major factor in developing the design of their own obstacles. We are excited about the virtual competition and the opportunity it provided our teams”.
Decent Children Model Presidency School in Punjab was named the High School division winner of the STEM Engagement Award. According to the statement, the group from Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu was named the winner of the Social Media Award in the College/University section.
