Cape students to compete in national moonbuggy race

It's not unusual to see a moonbuggy cruising around the Cape Girardeau Area Career and Technology Center.

This is the third year student teams from Cape Girardeau Central High School have participated in NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race, which will take place April 26 and 27 in Huntsville, Ala.

"The students have been working on this moonbuggy for most of the year," said Colin Sheridan, an instructor at the center who supervises the construction of the buggy and will attend the race with the students.

The Central High School team is one of more than 100 teams participating in the race, which is designed to emulate driving on the rocky terrain of the moon's surface. The teams will race moonbuggies along a three- quarter mile gravel track over steep hills and around sharp curves.

"Our biggest concern is getting through the course in one piece," said Husam Wadi, a senior at Central High School participating in his second moonbuggy race.

According to Sheridan, most teams don't even make it around the course.

"There's always going to be something that goes wrong that you didn't think of," said Kendra Kelch, a junior and the team's only female member. "You just always have to be prepared."

Kelch will be one of the two team members who will drive the moonbuggy in the race. Not only did they have to design a buggy that would support two people, she said, but they also had to make it realistic, lightweight and portable.

"You have to be able to fold it up to fit inside a 4-by-4-by-4 box," Kelch said. "Then your team has to be able to carry it. That's all part of the race, so it takes up time if you take too long to fold or carry it."

The team built the buggy using many parts they made themselves.

Wadi said before any actual building took place, the team created the buggy using a computer program that designed a simulated model.

"The simulation helps give us an idea if it will even work before we design it," he said. "Then we make a lot of the parts either by welding them or by using a computer controlled 3-D model that cuts out gears and bevels."

Kelch and Sheridan called the buggy building and race a "fun project."

"You kind of forget about the teaching aspect because it's almost like a hobby," Sheridan said. "It's not a regular opportunity that most people get -- to build [a moonbuggy] themselves then try it out."

The Central High School team is the only team from Missouri participating in the race this year. Kelch said she would like to see that change.

"I'm going to be transferring to a different school next year, so I'd like to see that school get involved," she said. "Many schools have the capability to do this, they just don't know about it."

The team will be competing against dozens of high schools and colleges, representing 23 states and Puerto Rico, Canada, India, Germany, Mexico and Russia.

The two-day event and closing awards ceremony will be streamed live online by NASA at ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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