Become a Rovernaut: Rovernaut
The Rovernauts are the legendary "Team Germany" of the International Space Education Institute as part of the NASA Human Exploration Roverchallenge. The Rovernauts were the first international team to appear in a NASA competition since 2007, and there hasn't been a time when the team hasn't won an award or a title. In 2010 the battle for 1st place and therefore the world title was fought out with just one second to spare. Since then, members of the international team have been looking for successors in other countries, promoting young talent and thus making the competition known around the world. The press review is already 2,000 pages long. In 2015, a 2nd world champion title followed with a Russian team trained in Leipzig, and in 2019, a 3rd world champion title for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a multinational team. This title is uncontested until April 2022, as only virtual competitions took place in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
Since 2007, 34 international rovers have been built by youth teams in Leipzig, 8 of which found new homes in India and Brazil. There have been 64 competitions at NASA, not counting the exhibition races, road shows and guest rides in 30 other countries.
Thus, the Rovernauts are the current world champions on the NASA course at the US Space & Rocket Center at the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville Alabama (USA) and they invite you to the competition at the ISS-Festival with the name:
The goal is to beat the Rovernauts and qualify for a membership of a competition team for the NASA Roverchallenge. We'll give you all the help we can. It will be divided into the following categories:
An obstacle course of about 800 m will be set up, modelled closely after the lunar surface. Each obstacle has its own detour. Teams can earn points for overcoming the obstacle or simply skip it. The course must be completed in a certain time window (as long as the "oxygen" lasts) and as many points as possible must be collected.
Additional points can be earned by completing scientific tasks, such as collecting soil samples, conducting experiments or taking photographs. All equipment must be carried on board and still be available at the finish line.
During the inspection beforehand and afterwards, additional points can also be collected for: folding of the vehicle into a cube with an edge length of 1.50 m, the presence of task equipment or driving with wheels without air chambers (non-pneumatic tyres).
There are numerous prizes and awards to be won. These, along with the exact requirements, are set out in a handbook which will be published here shortly. Participants who take the requirements seriously and commit themselves will receive an invitation from the Rovernauts as a team member and a trip to the USA (April 2022).
Otherwise, the main thing is to "Participate and have fun!"
The designers of NASA's Apollo rover thought about what 14-19 year olds would have to provide in order to tackle such a challenge as realistically as possible compared to a real lunar rover. At the time, everything was a novelty for the young engineers.
It's the same for the teams on NASA's Human Exploration Roverchallenge today. Many things seem impossible, unaffordable and far too high. But a NASA rover contains all the elements that a future car on another celestial body must have: low-energy propulsion, a lot of fitness, intelligence in communication, design and planning, creative skills, craftsmanship and also crowdfunding. Only the best reach the competition, and only a few of them reach the finish line.
The goals, however, are fixed: this decade we will go to the moon, then to Mars, the asteroids and the moons.
The costs are: unwavering commitment, regular training, scientific learning, a lot of sweat and worked-through free time.
The prize is: one or more priceless experiences that turn each participant into a successful person. See more under Portraits.