NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge won by two Indian student groups.

According to a media release, two Indian student groups from Punjab and Tamil Nadu have won the NASA 2022 Human Exploration Rover Challenge. The challenge, which was announced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA on April 29 during a virtual awards ceremony, drew 91 teams from 58 colleges and 33 high schools.

The challenge required US and international student teams to design, develop, and test a human-powered rover on a course that resembled the terrain found on rocky bodies throughout the solar system. While negotiating the course, the teams also performed mission tasks such as sample retrievals and spectrographic analysis.

‘This year, students were asked to design a course that would mimic obstacles as if they were competing in Huntsville,’ Aundra Brooks- Davenport, the challenge’s activity lead, said on Tuesday. ‘Ensuring team safety was a major factor in developing the design of their own obstacles. We are excited about the virtual competition and the opportunity it provided our teams,’ Davenport added.