Registration Open for NASA Competitions for Students

Registration Open for the 16th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race

Registration is open for the 16th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race. High school and college students design and build a vehicle that addresses a series of engineering problems similar to those faced by the original lunar-roving vehicle team. Each school may enter up to two teams. The race will take place April 3-4, 2009, in Huntsville, Ala., at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Entries must be received by Feb. 1, 2009.

For more information about the competition and to register online, visit http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov/index.html.

Please e-mail any questions about this opportunity to Sabrina Pearson at Sabrina.M.Pearson@nasa.gov.

2009 RASC-AL Competition for College Students

NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace announce the 2009 Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage Competition. RASC-AL is a design project competition aimed at university-level engineering students.

The RASC-AL contest challenges university students to think about what sorts of conditions astronauts will face when they return to the moon, then design projects that may become part of actual lunar exploration.

Student teams must submit a summary of and an outreach plan for their proposed projects by Feb. 6, 2009. Their work must be based on one of four themes: outpost to settlement, initial lunar outpost, bringing the world along with virtual exploration, and novel approaches to increase sample return from the moon. The RASC-AL Steering Committee of NASA and industry experts will evaluate the proposals and select as many as ten undergraduate and five graduate teams to compete against each other at a forum in June 2009 in Florida.

The RASC-AL Program is open to full-time undergraduate or graduate students majoring in engineering or science at an accredited university. University design teams must include one faculty or industry advisor with a university affiliation and two or more undergraduate or graduate students. A group of universities may also work in collaboration on a design project entry. Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged.

For more information about this competition, visit http://www.nianet.org/rascal/index.html. If you have questions about this competition, please contact Audrey Staples at Audrey.Staples@nianet.org.