Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High School Team II of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, won first place in the high school division of the 18th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. The event, organized by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, challenges students to build and race lightweight, human-powered buggies. This year's race celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first use of a crewed Lunar Roving Vehicle on the moon in July 1971.
The University of Puerto Rico in Humacao won first place in the college division for the second consecutive year. The University of Puerto Rico is the only school worldwide to field a team in the competition every year since its start in 1994. When the competition began in 1994, just eight college teams competed; this year more than 70 teams from 22 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, India and Russia fielded entrants.
Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High School in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, posted two teams in the high school division of the 18th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race -- and each won. The school's Team I racers won the second-place trophy in the race. These and other moonbuggies were similar in size and design to the first lunar rovers that the Apollo lunar missions used in the early 1970s.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville finished in second place in the college division. More photos of the race can be found here.
Jupiter High School Team 2 from Jupiter, Fla., won third place in the high school division.
Ohio State University in Columbus tied for third place in the college division with the team representing the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
The University of Utah in Salt Lake City tied for third place with Ohio State University in Columbus.