NASA challenges students to design moon-digging robots

[Still Waters]

NASA seeks young engineers to help design a new robot concept for an excavation mission on the Moon. The Lunabotics Junior Contest is open to K-12 students in U.S. public and private schools, as well as home-schoolers.

The competition, which is a collaboration between NASA and Future Engineers, asks students to design a robot that digs and moves lunar soil, called regolith, from an area of the lunar South Pole to a holding container near where Artemis astronauts may explore in the future.

As part of the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities that will serve as a springboard for future exploration of Mars. Lunar regolith is instrumental in this development and could be used to create lunar concrete, reducing the amount and cost of materials that need to be transported from Earth.

To enter the contest, students must submit entries, which must include an image of the robot design and a written summary explaining how the design is intended to operate on the Moon, by Jan. 25, 2022.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-challenges-students-to-design-moon-digging-robots

[+ouija ouija]

My dozy brain read that as: " NASA challenges students to design moon-digging boots"! I spent several moments wondering what would be unique about them; why wouldn't ordinary wellies suffice? 

[jethrofloyd]