A team of science-loving Surrey students has rocketed into a NASA-backed competition to build a rover that could roam on distant planets.

The American space agencyB次元官网网址檚 2024 will involve 10 students at Princess Margaret Secondary who submitted a last-minute proposal in September, hours before a deadline.

, and one of just a few high schools in the college/university-dominated competition to design and build human-powered rovers.

Next April the team from Newton will travel to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the HERC event, which urges research and development of B次元官网网址渘ew technologies for future mission planning and crewed space missions to other worlds.B次元官网网址�

to watch video of NASAB次元官网网址檚 Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

Now that theyB次元官网网址檝e been chosen for this challenge, the Surrey students must design and build a two-person rover and also raise funds for the stateside trip.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e super excited,B次元官网网址� said teacher Jag Uppal, team advisor. B次元官网网址淭hese are some amazing kids, and they found the competition on their own B次元官网网址� the website, the proposal, thatB次元官网网址檚 them putting it all together, everything.B次元官网网址�

The student team includes Jeevan Sandhu (team lead), Mehul Bhanot (safety officer), Omar Arain, Jasmeet Dhaliwal, Harmeet Sond, Manroop Padda, Parneet Dhesi, Haardik Garg, Victor Gupta and Alex Gupta.

B次元官网网址淭his is kind of the engineering Olympics for them,B次元官网网址� Uppal added. B次元官网网址淵ou have athletes who get to the national and international levels, and for these students this is an international competition, and theyB次元官网网址檙e representing their school internaitonally, on that scale. ItB次元官网网址檚 huge.B次元官网网址�

Still in the design phase, their LeoCraft rover is named for the school mascot of the Princess Margaret Lions.

Online, the learning journey will be documented .

B次元官网网址淚magine a group of high schoolers more ecstatic about rockets and Mars than the latest Netflix series,B次元官网网址� the website notes. B次元官网网址淲e are a diverse group of passionate high school students who share a common love for space, engineering and science.B次元官网网址�

Sponsors, donors and scientific guidance is welcomed by these students, who are B次元官网网址渁rmed with dreams as large as the cosmos.B次元官网网址�

Uppal said a real challenge is trying to raise $50,000 for the trip to Alabama.

B次元官网网址淗alf of that will go to transportation costs for the actual competition (a three-day conference), and the other half will be for designing and building and testing this rover,B次元官网网址� the teacher explained.

B次元官网网址淩ight now weB次元官网网址檙e looking around for equipment that could 3D-print their design, and we could use some help,B次元官网网址� Uppal added.

The built rover must be then dismantled and shipped to the HERC event, according to some strict rules.

B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 think that they were going to get accepted because it was all so rushed and last-minute,B次元官网网址� Uppal admitted. B次元官网网址淭hey put it together in, like, two days, their proposal. So for them to be accepted was a big deal, and now they realize thereB次元官网网址檚 so much work ahead. But theyB次元官网网址檙e all excited about the challenge.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 excited for them and IB次元官网网址檓 also scared, just the challenge ahead,B次元官网网址� he added with a laugh.

This isnB次元官网网址檛 the first time Princess Margaret students have been involved in a NASA-backed event. At FloridaB次元官网网址檚 Kennedy Space Center in 2019, .