This past Friday and Saturday marked the 30th year of NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC).

The challenge wrapped up at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville on Saturday, April 20th.

HERC is an annual event that was first held in 1994. At the time it was called the Great Moonbuggy Race.

The challenge was an eight-month process that culminated in the rover competition course. Points were accumulated throughout the challenge.

This year’s competition was attended by teams from 13 countries, 24 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Over 600 students from 42 universities and 30 high schools converged in Huntsville.

According to Dr. Vemitra Alexander, HERC Activity Lead from the NASA Office of STEM Engagement, the participating teams utilized an engineering design process model from prototype to final product.

Teams had to design, develop, and construct a human-powered rover and a task tool.

“Collaboration is the big thing. There is a lot of strategy, problem-solving, being creative, and innovation,” stated Alexander.

Alexander explained that HERC offers students an opportunity to gain skills necessary for real-world applications.

Students were required to present their work for NASA review at various stages and to make necessary modifications and improvements.

They were also required to conduct 250 hours of STEM outreach in K-12 schools, their communities, or STEM events.

“The skills they gain are transferable skills. These students will be workforce-ready whether they choose a community college or a four-year degree,” said Alexander.

The challenge course was designed to test the rovers under conditions that simulated the moon or Mars.

The teams participated in an Operational Readiness Review prior to completing the course.

The course presented 10 challenging terrain-related obstacles and five tasks that had to be completed with the task tool.

Obstacles included simulated asteroid debris, crevasses, and soil erosion.

“The tasks are tied to NASA educator guides and even some Artemis objectives,” said Alexander.

Teams had to develop their own strategies for completing the tasks. A virtual oxygen supply of eight minutes forced team members to make real-time decisions about what tasks they completed.

“Perseverance is very critical for these students. Even if they have to push the rover to the finish line, they see it through in spite of obstacles,” said Alexander.

“I want to thank the community here behind these students, and thank the community sponsors and partners for their investment,” said Alexander.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has participated in the Human Exploration Rover Challenge since its inception.

This year, the UAH team came away with the award for First Place Overall Winner and the Project Review Award in the college and university division.

UAH HERC teams won first place in 2023, 2018, and several previous years in HERC’s 30-year history.

College seniors Rosa Rice and Eli Rose peddled the team from UAH to victory this year. They chose the HERC challenge–affectionately known as the Moonbuggy Project–for their senior design class project.

“Most important is the teamwork,” said Rice.

The entire senior design class was involved in the project, from welding rover parts to doing STEM outreach with students in K-12 schools.

“It puts into perspective the amount of time and effort it takes. Lots of late nights,” said Rose.

David Fikes, team advisor and Senior Design Instructor in the UAH Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been coaching the HERC design teams at UAH for seven years.

Fikes addressed the crowd gathered after the UAH team finished on Saturday.

“The whole class is responsible for this victory, this number of points, and I just want to thank them,” said Fikes.

Fikes added, getting emotional, “I’m going to miss them, just like I missed last year’s team. Good job guys!”

Fikes thanked NASA for providing his students with hands-on engineering experience through the HERC program.

“That’s where the metal meets the road,” Fikes stated.

“I appreciate UAH giving me the opportunity to teach the senior design class. It has been the highlight of my career,” said Fikes.

An awards ceremony concluded the Human Exploration Rover Challenge Saturday night.