Young inventors! It’s time to put on your thinking caps because NASA and Future Engineers have a summer design challenge for you. The “Reinvent the Rover Wheel” challenge is accepting entries from K-12 students until July 26, 2020. NASA’s Perseverance rover is headed to Mars to search for signs of life and we are counting down until it launches this summer. To conduct scientific missions on Mars, the Perseverance rover will rely on important scientific instruments and hardware to explore the surface of the red planet, including its wheels! Perseverance has six aluminum wheels with S-shaped treads called grousers that will drive across sandy, rocky, and hilly Martian terrain. To develop this wheel design, NASA engineers had to brainstorm ideas, create 3D designs, and test different wheel prototypes.
Are you ready to think like a NASA engineer? We want you to reinvent the wheel – literally! Use your creativity to come up with a rover wheel design that you think would best explore Mars. Create a digital 3D model of your reinvented wheel and submit your design along with an image of the 3D model and a short description of your entry by July 26. While digital 3D models are encouraged, young inventors in Grades K-5 can opt to provide an image of a sketch or mockup instead of a 3D model. Out-of-this world entries will be featured in the challenge gallery with a NASA gold star.
Award: Not applicable
Open Date: June 25, 2020
Closed Date: July 26, 2020
Frequency: Once
For more information, visit: https://www.futureengineers.org/reinventtheroverwheel