” Looking at the styles these students submitted for Lunabotics Junior, its impossible not to be excited about the future of the Artemis Generation,” said Mike Kincaid, NASAs associate administrator for the Office of STEM Engagement. “Their creativity and enthusiasm shine through in their ideas for a robotic efficient in mining lunar regolith.”
One national winner from each grade division was chosen from approximately 2,300 sent designs. The 2 recipients earned a virtual chat for their classrooms with Janet Petro, director of NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the next astronauts to explore the Moon will launch.
As NASA prepares to return to the Moon, lunar regolith will be required for several functions, such as developing a Moon base using lunar concrete; collecting water that also can be used for rocket fuel; and drawing out possible metals or minerals. The contest asked trainees to think about factors distinct to the lunar environment when picturing their designs.
Sawant developed an autonomous robot that would make use of a pail drum to excavate soil in a creative way. Her system dealt with the difficulties of decreased gravity on the Moon, lunar dust contamination, browsing rough terrain, and ensuring the robot remains balanced throughout excavation and transportation.
Grisantis solar-powered robot would use spiked wheels to pass through the lunar surface area and scoop regolith into a cone-shaped collector to separate large rocks from dust. She called it Olympus, after the home of Greek mythologys Apollo and Artemis, which likewise are the names of NASAs original and present lunar exploration programs.
Almost 500 teachers, professionals, and space lovers served as volunteer judges to evaluate trainee submissions. On March 15, judges selected 20 semifinalists, each of whom won a Lunabotics Junior Prize Pack. On March 22, eight finalists were announced and will get a virtual education session with a NASA specialist.
The contest semifinalists and finalists are as follows:
Grades K-5
Grades 6-12.
Fifteen-year-old Shriya Sawant of Cumming, Georgia, was the winner from grades 6-12 with her RAD: Regolith Accretion Device design. Nine-year-old Lucia Grisanti from Toms River, New Jersey, won for grades K-5 with her style of Olympus. Each robot successfully achieved the task of transporting and gathering regolith across rugged lunar terrain.
On March 15, judges selected 20 semifinalists, each of whom won a Lunabotics Junior Prize Pack. On March 22, eight finalists were revealed and will get a virtual education session with a NASA professional.
The Lunabotics Junior contest was a collaboration between Future Engineers, NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and the Office of STEM Engagement.
NASA names 2 nationwide winners for the Lunabotics Junior contest: Lucia Grisanti, for grades K-5 and Shriya Sawant for the grades 6-12 were selected from roughly 2,300 submitted styles of Moon rovers. Credit: Future Engineers
NASA has actually selected two students as winners of the Lunabotics Junior Contest, a national competitors for K-12 trainees including the agencys Artemis missions. Candidates were charged with developing a robot that can dig and move lunar soil, or regolith, from one area of the lunar South Pole to a holding container near a future Artemis Moon base.
Fifteen-year-old Shriya Sawant of Cumming, Georgia, was the winner from grades 6-12 with her RAD: Regolith Accretion Device style. Nine-year-old Lucia Grisanti from Toms River, New Jersey, won for grades K-5 with her design of Olympus. Each robotic successfully accomplished the job of transferring and collecting regolith throughout rugged lunar terrain.
Through its Artemis Student Challenges, NASA is welcoming the next generation of explorers– the Artemis Generation– to learn more about the objective that will lead the way to land the very first woman and very first person of color on the Moon. Together with worldwide and commercial partners, NASA will develop a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.
Shriya Sawant, Cumming, Georgia: RAD: Regolith Accretion Device– winner.
Andrea Basuroski, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Phoebe– finalist.
Adriana Maiotti, Nokomis, Florida: Project Atlas– finalist.
Kovidh (Kovi) Monga, Springfield, Virginia: Inspiration Lunar Rover– finalist.
Baseem Abusneineh, San Pedro, California: The Pauger.
Brian Feuerman, Eureka, California: The Spider.
Winston Wong, Roseville, California: REGO.
Spencer Monkewicz, Chandler, Arizona: Forerunner.
Ke Jiang, Bellevue, Washington: Project Stardust.
Mason Lysaght, Snohomish, Washington: Terebro (drill in Latin).
Lucia Grisanti, Toms River, New Jersey: Olympus– winner
Sistine McKown, Hutchinson, Kansas: Athena the Navigator– finalist
Colton Tolman, Wolf Point, Montana: The Parlanent– finalist
Jack Vineyard, Beachwood, Ohio: Exploration– finalist
Hargobind Singh, San Jose, California: My Lunar Digger (MD2024).
Suhana Panwar, Roswell, Georgia: COSMO22.
Viktoria Cook, Saint Charles, Missouri: Scorpio rover.
Ayaansh Jain, Glen Rock, New Jersey: DIANA (Roman Goddess of Moon).
Sean Bartelo, Hamburg, New York: Believe Rover.
Dhruv Goyal, Houston: Lunar Artemis Regolith Project.