NASA's 19th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race
April 13-14, 2012
Awards
NASA's 19th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race ADDITIONAL AWARDS AND PRIZES
AIAA Best Moonbuggy Design (for solving engineering problems associated with lunar
travel):
Colegio Nuestra Senora del Perpetuo Socorro in Humacao, Puerto Rico – High School
International Space Education Institute Team Russia in Moscow - College
Featherweight Award:
Academy of Arts, Careers, and Technology in Reno, Nev.
Purdue University Calumet Team 2 in Hammond, Ind.
Best Performance by an International Team:
International Space Education Institute, Germany Team 1 in Leipzig Saxony, Germany
Sharjah Colleges in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
AIAA Telemetry and Electronics Award (for the most innovative onboard data-gathering
and delivery system):
International Space Education Institute Team Russia in Moscow - College
Pit Crew Award (for ingenuity and persistence in overcoming problems during the race):
Elk Valley High School Teams 1 and 2 in Longton, Kan.
Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.
Crash and Burn Award (for the team that endures the most spectacular vehicle
breakdown):
Rhode Island School of Design in Providence
Nancy Johnston Gibson Spirit Award (for overall team energy, enthusiasm and
camaraderie):
Sharjah Colleges in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Rookie Award (for fastest course completion by a new race team):
Colegio Nuestra Senora del Perpetuo Socorro in Humacao, Puerto Rico
Rhodes College Dept. of Physics in Memphis, Tenn.
Most Improved Award (for the most dramatically improved engineering and performance):
Lima Senior High School of Multiple Intelligences in Lima, Ohio
University of Wyoming in Laramie
AIAA Best Report Award (technical documentation of the equipment and procedures used
in design, build, test and the results obtained)
Jupiter High School Teams 1 and 2 in Jupiter, Fla. – High School
University of Alabama in Huntsville Team 1 - College
Honorable mention to the teams from Sharjah Colleges in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates and
University of Central Florida in Orlando
Crash and Burn Award
(for the team that endures the most spectacular vehicle breakdown):
Rhode Island School of Design in Providence
From: Tom Hancock [mailto:tom.hancock@knology.net]
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2012 11:41 AM
This was in the Rhode Island School of Design 2012 Report. A recap of the 2011 events.
Shortly after the race we managed to shear the bolts securing our drive train, which was not one of the
systems we had believed would fail so quickly. Despite these disappointments, our attention to design
details won us the “Best Designed Vehicle” award. Tom Hancock of the AIAA said, “The execution of
their design was phenomenal. It’s a beautiful thing. You could sell it. In fact I’d give you a couple
thousand bucks for it. .... You know it’s rare in our business that form, function and aesthetics all come
together in one place. It did there.” These words gave our group great hope and motivation to continue
improving our machine.
Cheers!
Tom Hancock
Best Design Report
Dear Mr. McDonald and Mr. Hancock,
First of all, on behalf of the 2012 UAH Moonbuggy Team 1, thank you for providing the opportunity to
submit a report this year for the "Best Design Report" competition. Providing this opportunity enables
our students to further develop critical technical writing skills. My team was honored to have received
the first place award this past weekend. Thank you and your fellow AIAA judges for the time and effort
required to evaluate all of the submitted design reports.
I always tell my students that a design is only as good as how well it is documented. Therefore, the
team was equally as honored that you deemed their report worthy of sharing with others. We hope
that many students will find it useful and beneficial as they prepare their own reports. A Word
document and PDF version of the paper is attached. Please feel free to contact myself or the Team 1
lead, Mr. Wes Anderson (copied on this email), if you have any further questions.
Finally, I am stepping down as the UAH MAE Moonbuggy team faculty advisor and will, therefore, have
more time to pursue volunteer activities such as with AIAA. Please let me know if I can help the Greater
Huntsville section in any way.
Thank you again.
Respectfully,
Christina Carmen
UAHuntsville
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN HUNTSVILLE
Dr. Christina L. Carmen, PhD
The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Technology Hall N224
5000 Technology Drive
Huntsville, Alabama 35899
Christina.Carmen@uah.edu
office:(256)824-6870
cell: (256)655-9111
http://www.mae.uah.edu/faculty/Carmen.shtml
Dr. Carmen,
The AIAA Moonbuggy Judges were very impressed by the Moonbuggy Design Report submitted by the
2012 UAH Moonbuggy Team 1. The report captured many key aspects of a good engineering design
report. We are pleased that you are allowing us to share the report with future Moonbuggy teams. In
this instance, the UAH Moonbuggy team has set the bar and we are hoping future Moonbuggy
participants will learn from this example report to improve their own critical technical writing skills, to
organize and prioritize their resources, to capture capabilities and limitations of their designs and to
provide lessons learned for follow-on team members.
Thank you,
Emmett
P.S. We would be delighted to have you involved in AIAA activities. Please join us at an AIAA Greater
Huntsville Section board meeting. Typically, we meet on the first Tuesday of the month at 5:15 pm at
the Olin B. King Technology Hall Rm 277.
Emmett McDonald
Chairman, Greater Huntsville Section
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
distribution@hsv-aiaa.org
Emmett J. McDonald
Senior Engineer Scientist
Dynamic Concepts, Inc.
6700 Odyssey Drive, Ste. 202
Huntsville, AL 35806
(256) 922-9888 ext. 305
(256) 922-9850 ext. 305 (direct)
(256) 922-9852 (fax)
emcdonald@dynamic-concepts.com