Nasa Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2023
Nasa Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2023
The primary objective of NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) is for teams of students to design, develop, build, and test human-powered rovers capable of traversing challenging terrain and a task tool for completion of various mission tasks.
Teams earn points by successful completion of design reviews, designing and assembling a
rover that meets all challenge criteria, and successfully completing course obstacles and mission tasks. The team with the highest number of points accumulated throughout the project year in each category (high school and college/university) will be the winner.
The competition course requires two students, at least one female, to use the student-designed vehicle to traverse a course of approximately half-mile that includes a simulated field of asteroid debris, boulders, erosion ruts, crevasses, and an ancient streambed. The challenge’s weight and time requirements encourage the rover’s compactness, light weight, high performance, and efficiency.
Rover Details
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As part of the competition, rover entries are tested to ensure they would fit into a lander storage area, a maximum 5 feet long by 5 feet tall by 5 feet in volume. Just as in the Apollo 14 surface mission, teams must make real-time decisions about which mission objectives to attempt and which to leave behind—all driven by a limited, virtual eight-minute supply of oxygen. Like in the
Apollo 15 mission, competing teams must be prepared to traverse rough terrains over the course of three competition days on a roving vehicle while carefully collecting terrain material and conducting science experiments that are crucial for the mission. NASA’s goals with the Artemis mission are to send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon for exploration and to develop a sustained human presence. Lunar science on
the surface of the Moon will be conducted with polar and non polar landers and rovers which
will explore areas not investigated during Apollo missions.
This student design challenge encourages the next generation of scientists and engineers to engage in the design process by providing innovative designs and unique perspectives. The challenge also continues the agency’s legacy of providing valuable experience to students who may be responsible for planning future space missions including crewed missions to other worlds.
NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) will be held April 20-22, 2022.
NASA has announced the 61 teams selected to compete in the 2023 Human Exploration Rover
Challenge (HERC) April 20-22 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. For the 2023 season, HERC returns to live, on-site competition for the first time since 2019. Participating teams will represent 45 colleges and universities and 16 high schools from 30 countries around the world.Throughout the nine-month challenge, each team will attempt to design, build, and test human-powered rovers capable of traversing a challenging half-mile obstacle course that simulatest he terrain of the Moon, Mars, or other rocky bodies in our solar system. In addition, students must also design and demonstrate a unique tool capable of completing various mission tasks.
“A hearty congratulations to this year’s selected teams.” said Miranda Fike, senior education
specialist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama. “We welcome our return to in-person competition and look forward to seeing each team’s creative solutions throughout the year and how their rovers and task tools perform on the course in April.”
NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge
Along with HERC’s return to Huntsville, the 2023 season will feature a new course location, ten
obstacles & five liquid sample retrieval tasks. Two pilots from each team must complete the
challenge in eight minutes or less. Teams earn points by successfully completing design reviews, developing a rover meeting all criteria, and completing course obstacles and mission tasks. Winning teams are those that accumulate the highest number of points throughout the project year in each category.
The students must also think like mission planners, selecting tasks to complete along the path to gain the maximum points available. This encourages teams to develop strategies that balance efficiency with speed and simulates real-world conditions astronauts may face completing space missions. “Our goal is to make real-world connections between student ingenuity and the vital work NASA is doing to return explorers to the Moon and prepare the way for crewed missions to Mars,” said education specialist Catherine Shelton of the Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall.
HERC is managed by NASA’s Southeast Regional Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall. HERC is one of eight Artemis Student Challenges and reflects the goals of NASA’s Artemis Program, which seeks to put the first woman and person of color on the Moon. NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement strives to further the agency’s goal of encouraging students to pursue degrees and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
