DESIGN FOR NASA: NASA seeks young engineers to help design a new robot concept for an excavation mission on the Moon. The Lunabotics Junior Contest is open to K-12 students in U.S. public and private schools, as well as home-schoolers.

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.

To enter the contest, students must submit entries, which must include an image of the robot design and a written summary explaining how the design is intended to operate on the Moon, by Jan. 25, 2022.

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 and that addresses three main design features: physical design; operation and how the design and operation of the robot will meet the big challenge of lunar dust.

Students can sign up individually or teachers can register their entire class.

More information can be found at https://www.futureengineers.org/lunaboticsjunior.

Entries will be split into two categories – grades K-5 and grades 6-12. The winner from each category will be announced March 29, 2022, and will be awarded a virtual chat for their class with Janet Petro, director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA and Future Engineers also are seeking volunteers to help judge the entries from around the country. U.S. residents interested in offering approximately five hours of their time over a 10-day period can register to be a judge at the above website.