Course Announcement

Mechanical Engineering 494- Special Topics in Design (3 hrs)

Organizational Meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 5:30 pm, Estabrook 111

Moon Buggy Team
The 1998 Tennessee Moon Buggy Team

Mechanical Engineering 494, open to all majors, is being offered again this semester with the Human Powered Lunar Rover (Moon Buggy) as the design subject. This course will consist of designing and completing modifications to the existing vehicle pictured above and designing a completely new vehicle. The new vehicle will be fabricated and assembled during the spring semester as part of Mechanical Engineering 495. Both vehicles will be entered in the NASA competition in April 1999 at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

This annual competition gives undergraduate and high school students from around the nation an opportunity to apply engineering skills and develop team spirit in an activity that will enhance awareness about human exploration and development of space. Two-person crews, one male and one female, assemble their collapsible vehicles, receive a safety inspection, and power their vehicles along a simulated lunar terrain obstacle course. The Tennessee team has competed in the two previous years with a second place and a third place finish.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Pionke, 321 Perkins, cpionke@utk.edu
Dr. Irick, ORNL 241-2520, dki@utk.edu