NASA’s Lunar Rover Concept Visits Houston Robotics Competition

HOUSTON, March 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NASA’s next-generation lunar rover will visit hundreds of high school students as they flex their own robotic muscles at this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition Lone Star Regional.

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The public can view demonstrations of the Lunar Electric Rover from 10:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, March 27, and from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at Discovery Green. Media viewing and interview opportunities are available during Friday’s demonstrations.

NASA’s Constellation Program is building the next vehicles that will send humans back to the moon. This time, astronauts will further explore the moon to build an outpost and transform the moon into a launching pad to other worlds. The Lunar Electric Rover is a concept pressurized vehicle that will house and enable those astronauts to explore the lunar surface for up to two weeks. The pickup truck-sized moon buggy features six pairs of wheels that can turn separately in any direction and raise and lower to conquer rough terrain.

The 10th annual Houston FIRST – or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology — Robotics Competition Lone Star Regional will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 26-28 across the street from the rover at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The general public can attend this event at no charge to see the students’ robotic creations tackle the FIRST LUNACY challenge, which pays homage to NASA’s 40th anniversary of Apollo 11′s lunar landing. In total, 63 teams from the Greater Houston area, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have come to play.

For more information about the Lunar Electric Rover, and NASA’s return to the moon, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/LER.html

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SOURCE NASA