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Mars Analog Research Stations Task Force
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Translife / Mars Gravity Biosatellite
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Student Teams Prepare Next-Generation Mars Rovers for 2009 URC
After months of hard work, eight teams of college students from North America and Europe are prepared to prove that their robotic creations are ready to work alongside future astronauts exploring the surface of Mars. The 2009 Mars Society University Rover Challenge (URC) will showcase the work of roughly 100 students aiming for the top prize as their rovers compete in a difficult array of tasks likely to be encountered on future space missions. The third annual competition will be held later this week, May 28-30, 2009 at the Mars Desert Research Station in southern Utah.
“Expect all sights to be set on Oregon State University, who pulled out an extremely close win in 2008, just narrowly edging out the 2007 champs from the University of Nevada, Reno,” said Kevin Sloan, Director of the University Rover Challenge. “There are a number of very talented and competitive returning teams, in addition to a new entrant, and all are hungry to pull out a win. If last year was any indication, the one guarantee will be an incredibly impressive showing of technology from some truly gifted students.”
Joining the top 2008 contenders from Oregon State University and the University of Nevada, Reno, are:
- York University (Canada), 2008 3rd place winner
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Brigham Young University
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Iowa State University
- Warsaw University of Technology (Poland)
The multidisciplinary teams and their rovers will contend with the oppressive desert sun as they race to locate a distressed astronaut, repair a loose equipment panel, perform a remote survey of distant targets, and search for signs of a robust life form known as extremophiles.
Follow URC Online!
You can follow all of the action online at the URC website. Members will have access to extra content, including exclusive photos, videos, interviews with the teams, and Photosynths of the rovers! (What's a Photosynth, you ask? Check out the recently released 3-D photo model of the Mars Science Lab from NASA.)
You can learn more about the teams at the URC Teams page, and even tell us which team you're pulling for on the URC Facebook group page.
The winning team will be honored this summer at the 12th Annual International Mars Society Convention in Washington, DC.
Commentary: Rockets Run on Dreams
