Washington:
Two Indian student teams from the New Delhi and Mumbai region have won awards from NASA for the Human Exploration Rover Challenge.
The KIET Group of Institutions, Delhi-NCR has won the award in the 'Crash and Burn' category of the annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) award, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Monday.
Mumbai's Kanakia International School received the “Rookie of the Year” award.
Up and down! ↗️↗️
These robbers are subjected to the ultimate test #NASAHERC course, which simulates challenging lunar and Martian terrian. pic.twitter.com/1Mqo9aWCUW
— NASA Rover Challenge (@RoverChallenge) April 20, 2024
More than 600 students with 72 teams from around the world participated in the HERC, which celebrated its 30th anniversary as a NASA competition. Parish Episcopal School of Dallas, USA took first place in the high school division and the University of Alabama in Huntsville captured the college/university title.
The annual engineering competition – one of NASA's longest-running challenges – took place April 19 and 20 at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
The participating teams represented 42 colleges and universities and 30 high schools from 24 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 13 other countries, including India, around the world. The teams were awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, completing mission-specific task challenges and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers, according to a news release.
“This student design challenge encourages the next generation of scientists and engineers to participate in the design process by providing innovative concepts and unique perspectives,” said Vemitra Alexander, HERC activity lead for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement.
“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the challenge, HERC also continues NASA's legacy by providing valuable experiences for students who may be responsible for planning future space missions, including crewed missions to other worlds,” Alexander added.
The HERC is one of NASA's eight Artemis Student Challenges and reflects the goals of the Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon while establishing a long-term presence for science and research to establish. NASA uses such challenges to encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
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