NASA has selected two female students from a pool of 2,300 entrants to become winners of the Lunabotics Junior Competition, a national contest in the United States for students focused on Artemis missions.
Participants were tasked with designing a robot to excavate and transport lunar soil or regolith from the South Pole of the Moon to a container near the future Artemis Moon base.
The winners of the Lunabotics Junior competition are Lucia Grisanti, representing 5th grade, and Shriya Sawant, representing students from grades 6-12. (Photo: Future Engineers).
Fifteen-year-old Shriya Sawant from Cumming, Georgia, won in the 6-12 grade category with her design, the RAD: Regolith Accretion Device. Nine-year-old Lucia Grisanti from Toms River, New Jersey, won in the 5th grade category with her design, Olympus. Each robot excelled in the task of collecting and transporting soil across the challenging lunar terrain.
The national winners from each grade category were selected from approximately 2,300 submitted designs. The two winners had an online conversation with Ms. Janet Petro, Director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which will launch the next astronauts to explore the Moon.
In preparation for returning to the Moon, NASA needs to construct a base using lunar concrete, extract water for rocket fuel, and mine potential metals or minerals. The competition required students to consider unique factors related to the lunar environment when imagining their designs. Nearly 500 educators, experts, and space enthusiasts volunteered as judges to evaluate the submissions.
Shriya Sawant designed an automated robot that creatively uses a barrel to excavate soil. Her design addressed challenges such as reduced gravity on the Moon, lunar dust contamination, navigating rugged terrain, and ensuring the robot remained balanced during excavation and transport.
Lucia Grisanti’s solar-powered robot will use spiked wheels to traverse the lunar surface and scoop soil into a conical tool to separate larger rocks from the dust layer. She named it Olympus, after the home of Apollo and Artemis in Greek mythology, which is also the name of NASA’s original and current lunar exploration programs.
Through the Artemis Student Challenge, NASA is welcoming the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation – to learn more about the mission to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. Alongside commercial and international partners, NASA aims to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon in preparation for future missions to Mars.
Mr. Mike Kincaid, Deputy Director of NASA’s STEM Engagement Office, stated: “Looking at the designs these students submitted for Lunabotics Junior, it’s hard not to be excited about the future of the Artemis Generation. Their creativity and enthusiasm shine through in their ideas for robots capable of mining lunar regolith.”
