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| 4 Precursor Mission Design | 4.3 Lunar Rover Race - Selected Concept |
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In the staged Lunar Rover Race there are points for having the best overall time, best points at each stage, being the best climber, for driving the most aggressively and winning halfway sprints during straight-line stages. Each win earns points towards a rover's overall score. The prize for each of these will be in the form of medals, specially designed according to the nature of the competition. The contenders at their individual mission controls will get the opportunity to wear clothing related to that prize so to distinguish their prowess. Each stage's winner gets to name the specific location of that day's checkpoint. The rover with the highest number of points will win the gold medal and gets to name the track. A final medal should also go to the team whose rover was the cheapest to build. Additional to these prizes, there are a number of other rewards. Universities who win contracts to research and build parts of the rover will be awarded with a financial package. This could fund research for a postgraduate student towards a Ph.D. Such a prize will substantially increase the university's research status and create jobs. For companies who win the national competitions and if they are lucky enough, continental competitions, they will be in a good position to win commercial contracts for Earth based applications and future lunar mining rovers. Individuals and students at schools who win regional competitions or show flare for creativity may get the opportunity to be sponsored for university or even employed by top companies. Regional, national competitions don't need to be limited to building rovers. They could be software competitions, etc. Students at school or art students at Art College could win VIP seats at Mission Control through designing the rover trademarks or even its name. NEXT > [Home] [ISU] |