Puerto Rico Takes Top Spots at 2017 Human Exploration Rover Challenge

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Apr 03, 2017, 15:47 ET

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., April 3, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has announced the winners of the 2017 Human Exploration Rover Challenge, held March 31 to April 1 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Ramon Quinones Medina High School of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, won first place in the high school division, with a time of 4 minutes, 12 seconds. The University of Puerto Rico at Humacao Team 1 won the college/university division with a time of 4 minutes, 21 seconds. Both teams had the fastest race times in their divisions, with the fewest on-course penalties.

The event requires student teams to design, build, test and race human-powered rovers, driven by one male and one female. The obstacles throughout the nearly three-quarter-mile course simulate terrain found on Mars, as well as other planets, moons and asteroids throughout the solar system.

This year's race had a new, optional feature called the "Drive Train Technology Challenge." Teams developed reliable systems such as belts, drive shafts or direct drives to replace commonly used chains.

Nearly 100 high school and college teams took part in the competition, coming from 23 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as several different countries, including Brazil, Germany, India and Mexico.

Rover Challenge highlights NASA's goals for future exploration to Mars and beyond. Inspired by the lunar roving vehicles of the Apollo moon missions, the competition challenges students to solve engineering problems, while highlighting NASA's commitment to inspiring new generations of scientists, engineers and explorers. It is hosted by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and is managed by Marshall's Academic Affairs Office.

For more information on Rover Challenge, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/roverchallenge/home/index.html

Replays of the race are available on the Marshall Ustream site:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

The complete list of award winners is provided below.

2017 NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge Awards

High School Division

First Place: Ramon Quinones Medina High School of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, with a time of 4 minutes, 12 seconds
Second Place: Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology of Reno, Nevada, with a time of 5 minutes, 9 seconds
Third Place: Teodoro Aguilar Mora of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, with a time of 6 minutes, 20 seconds

College/University Division

First Place: University of Puerto Rico at Humacao Team 1, with a time of 4 minutes, 21 seconds
Second Place: Rhode Island School of Design of Providence, with a time of 6 minutes, 45 seconds
Third Place: University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, with a time of 7 minutes, 14 seconds

"On to Mars" Sample Return Challenge Award