The Great Moon Buggy Race
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| Racing past the Saturn V Rocket at the Space & Rocket Museum in Huntsvill, AL. | Our UT team proudly won 2nd prize in 2003. |
As a kickoff event for National Science and Technology Week, the Moon Buggy Race and
associated events takes place each spring in April at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, adjoining Marshall Space
Flight Center, in Huntsville, AL. This program continues to grow in popularity, largely as the word spreads
across the USA. Some 40 university and high-school teams enter every year. Professor Larry Taylor,
Director of the PGI, helped design the race course between the Saturn V and other rockets at the Space and Rocket
Center; he also acts as one of the judges for the contest. Dr. Viatcheslav
Naoumov from the Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engr. , offers an engineering design
course which addresses the actual design and construction of a Moon Buggy. This course provides an excellent
opportunity for the development of enthusiasm amongst the students. 6-person team participate in the
race, with the 2-person (one male, one female) "Moon Buggy Astronauts". UTK Tennessee Space
Grant Consortium funds partially for the students of his class to participate in the actual race in Huntsville
in April.
Last updated April 25, 2003
- This page is maintained by the Planetary
Geosciences Institute.
Send your comments and suggestions to pgi@utk.edu