NASA Challenges Students From Kindergarten Through Grade 12 To Design Moon-Digging Robot

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2021) A contest open to students from early childhood through high school graduation seeks help designing a robot capable of digging into the lunar surface near the Moon's South Pole - the sight targeted for humans to land for the first time since the final Apollo mission in 1972, NASA said on Wednesday

"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," NASA said in a press release.

The Lunabotics Junior Contest is open to K-12 students in US public and private schools, as well as home-schoolers, the release said.

To enter the contest, students must submit entries with an image of their robot design and a written summary explaining how the design is intended to operate by January 25, 2022, the release added.

While students are not tasked to build a robot, they are asked to envision a robot design that is no larger than 3.5 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet, according to the release.

NASA is preparing to send astronauts to the lunar South Poll, possibly as early as 2024. Humans last walked on the Moon in December 1972 with NASA's Apollo program.