The team will participate in an obstacle course race which is held every year in the "U.S. Space and Rocket Center" in Huntsville, Alabama. Students in our team must design a vehicle that addresses a series of engineering problems that are similar to the problems encountered by the original team that Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969. Each rover must be human powered by two students, one male a
nd one female, on a track simulating the lunar terrain including craters, rocks, slopes and lunar soil. Each student team consists of six participants who are responsible for building their own rover and the drivers, who are elected from each team, must also be part of those who build the vehicle. As part of the competition before the race each team starts with unassembled parts of the rover lead it to the starting line of the course, with the unassembled components contained in a volume of 5'x5'x5' (requirements similar size to the original lunar rover in 1969). At the starting line the vehicle will be mounted, a safety check is performed, and the competitors must be ready to start the race. The university with the lowest combination of race time and penalty time, wins. The competition also has a division for high school students. UPR Humacao currently hosts a local competition in high schools and the winning teams earn tickets to competition in Huntsville, Alabama.
