 |  | | | | NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race Tests High School and College Teams This Weekend, April 8-9
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04.04.05
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Martin Jensen
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
Media Advisory: 05-037
What: NASA's 12th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race pits young men, women and machines against the clock while racing a human-powered "Moonbuggy" over a half-mile course of lunar-like terrain. Student teams design, engineer, build and race their vehicles. They learn about teamwork, get hands-on experience and tackle challenges along the way.
Who: Seventy-two teams from 20 states, Puerto Rico and Germany are expected to compete.
When: Friday, April 8 -- High school competition
Saturday, April 9 -- College competition
Races start at 8:00 a.m. CDT and continue through late afternoon both days.
Where: U.S. Space & Rocket Center, One Tranquility Base, Huntsville, Ala.
Why: The event was inspired by the NASA team that designed and built the Lunar Roving Vehicle used by Apollo astronauts to travel over tough terrain on the Moon. The Great Moonbuggy Race could be the first step for high school and college students on a journey to the Moon, Mars and beyond. What they learn could lead them to be part of the team that makes the Vision for Space Exploration a reality. The Vision calls for Space Shuttles to return to safe flight, completing the International Space Station, and human and robotic exploration of the Solar System.
More information about the competition is available at:
http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov
For supporting materials for this news release -- such as photographs -- please visit the NASA Marshall Center Newsroom at:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news
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