WT Woodson Robotics 08-0245

The challenge and what we are working toward is to create a craft that is able to make a soft landing on the moon. It must be able to survive and travel at least 500 meters while recording its travel. The craft must also send two Mooncast back to earth. First is after the landing, and second during the craft’s travel on the moon surface.[1]

For the craft requirements, it needs to be equipped with HD video and still cameras and other parts. There is no restriction for the size and volume so the craft can be in any size as long it fulfills the requirements and complete the challenge. Optionally, you can create one or multiple secondary vehicles to be carried by the craft.

Concerning the 500 meter journey, the crafts need to demonstrate its ability to travel at the required distance or longer. Sliding down slopes by gravity is not allowed, but a controlled travel down the slope is. During the craft’s journey, it needs to connect a series of waypoints approved by the Judge Panel during in order to complete the mission. A route needs to be approved by the Judge Panel to be sure that the route can show the craft abilities and not traveling back and forth.

Auxilery Competition

In addition to the $20 million Grand Prize, you can complete additional missions to win a bonus $5 million. The teams need to successfully complete one or more of the auxiliary challenges after the original mission completion. The auxiliary challenges are:

• Traveling longer than 5,000 meters
• Imaging man made artifacts
• Discovering water ice
• Surviving through a frigid lunar night

Traveling Longer Than 5,000 Meters
This challenge has the same requirement as the 500 meter travel. It needs to connect a series of waypoints approved by the Judge Panel during its journey in order to complete this mission. Again, the craft needs to travel at a specific route to demonstrate the craft’s moving ability to travel.

Imaging Man Made Artifacts
The craft need to be able to take a picture or make a video of man made artifacts or historical site such as the Apollo moon landing site or Apollo hardware. Transfer the images back to Earth via Mooncast.

Discovering Water Ice
The craft needs to find some kind of water ice on the lunar surface. It needs to take a picture or record a video and send back via Mooncast. Water is mostly found at the south pole of the moon.

Surviving Through a Frigid Lunar Night
Another optional challenge is to survive on the moon for one night. One lunar night is approximately 14.5 Earth days. Send back the data via Mooncast.[2]