CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 18, 2012 – Colorado School of Mines will compete against U.S. and international undergraduate and graduate student teams in the third annual Lunabotics Mining Competition. The event will be held at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida May 21-26.

Colorado School of Mines “Mine Moon Diggers” will take part in the competition where teams had to design and build a remote controlled or autonomous robot. Some of the concepts could possibly be incorporated into the design of future NASA robots. During the competition, the teams’ designs, known as lunabots, will go head-to-head to determine which one can excavate and deposit the most simulated lunar dirt within 10 minutes.

The competition is designed to engage and retain students in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) which are disciplines critical to NASA’s missions.

Highlights of the competition will air on NASA Television’s Video File. 

Images will be posted on Kennedy’s Media Gallery.

Click here for information about the competition.

Contact:

Tracy Young, Kennedy Space Center / 321-867-2468/ tracy.g.young@nasa.gov

David Tauchen, Public Relations Specialist / 303-273-3088 / DTauchen@mines.edu

Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations / 303-273-3541 / KGilbert@mines.edu