Project TURTLE Wins NASA Competition

A team of aerospace engineering students won first place in the undergraduate division of NASA's Revolutionary Advanced Systems Concepts - Academic Liaison (RASC-AL) student design competition in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Project TURTLE (Terrapin Undergraduate Rover for Terrestrial Lunar Exploration) beat out nine other designs including teams from the University of Washington, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The 34 students of the senior design class, ENAE 484, were represented by aerospace Madeline Kirk, Jason Laing, Joe Lisee, Alek Nacev, and David McLaren, and mentored by professors Dave Akin and Mary Bowden. The students delivered a technical presentation and poster display on Project TURTLE, and this year's project also included for the first time a substantial "hands-on" element. Project TURTLE consisted of a full-scale cabin mockup for the pressurized rover, which they used to assess the functionality and habitability of their internal layout.

Published June 16, 2008