20th Annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race

“Registration is now open for the 20th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race, which challenges high school, college and university students around the world to build and race fast, lightweight “moonbuggies” of their own design. The students’ work will culminate in two days of competitive racing April 26-27, 2013, at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. NASA created the event two decades ago to complement classroom learning, provide young thinkers and builders with real-world engineering experience and inspire them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the STEM fields. “It’s our goal to keep the wheels turning,” said Tammy Rowan, manager of the Academic Affairs Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, which organizes the race each year. “The ingenuity and enthusiasm we see among racers begins in the classroom. That first spark of interest — whether it’s in basic chemistry or astronomy or the history of spaceflight — starts the wheels turning. The Great Moonbuggy Race helps sustain that momentum, turning interest into passion, and dreams into a lifelong pursuit of new answers and new horizons.” More