{"id":12975,"date":"2021-08-13T06:52:23","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T10:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/?p=12975"},"modified":"2021-08-13T11:58:10","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T15:58:10","slug":"solidworks-students-capture-top-nasa-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/2021\/08\/solidworks-students-capture-top-nasa-award.html","title":{"rendered":"SOLIDWORKS Students Capture Top NASA Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

To engage high school and college students in the next phase of human space exploration, the annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge<\/a> tasks students with designing a human-powered vehicle that can traverse the simulated surface of another world and complete mission tasks along the way. Student teams design, build, and test technologies that enable rovers to perform in various environments.<\/p>\n

Teams earn points by successfully completing design reviews, designing and assembling a rover that meets all challenge criteria, and completing course-obstacles mission tasks. The team that accumulates the highest number of points throughout the project year in each category is the winner.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the Real Thing<\/h2>\n

The competition course requires two students, at least one female, to use the student-designed vehicle to traverse a course of approximately a half-mile that includes a simulated field of asteroid debris, boulders, erosion ruts, crevasses, and an ancient streambed. The challenge\u2019s weight and time requirements encourage the design of a compact, lightweight, high performance, and efficient rover.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rover entries are tested to ensure they fit into a lander storage area, a maximum of 5 feet long by 5 feet tall by 5 feet in volume. Just like the Apollo 14 surface mission, teams must make real-time decisions\u2014all driven by a limited, virtual eight-minute supply of oxygen\u2014about which mission objectives to attempt and which to leave behind.<\/p>\n

Like the Apollo 15 mission, teams must be prepared to traverse rough terrains on a roving vehicle while carefully collecting terrain material and conducting science experiments crucial to the mission over three competition days.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Think Like NASA<\/h2>\n

The contest previously focused on completing the course as quickly as possible. Now its primary mission is challenging teams to think like NASA mission planners and planetary explorers. Among the rule changes for the 2020 challenge was the addition of one minute \u2013 for a total of eight minutes \u2013 to finish the course, which gives teams additional opportunity to earn points by completing more of the optional 14 obstacles and five science tasks.<\/p>\n