The 2nd race day
Ralf Heckel, 12. April 2025

Reports of the Rovernauts (link)

Here are the results:

4th place overall
2nd place in the race with 3:47 min and all obstacles
Most Improved Award, endowed with $ 500

It's Space Day. 64 years ago today, Yuri Gagarin launched into space. There are actually still people who consciously experienced this, for our students it is completely unimaginable given this period of time. The first space shuttle STS-1, the Columbia, was launched 44 years ago today. For me back in school, it was a marvel of technology and the name a symbol of the future. Unfortunately, unlike Gagarin's, you can no longer visit this spaceship in the museum today (although that has also become almost impossible today and has always been difficult, but not for us until 2020). Columbia was tragically lost in January 2001 with 7 astronauts during reentry. But we will visit this Astronaut Memorial at Cape Canaveral next week.

The day starts early, almost too early. It is difficult for the students to get out of bed. But the sun is shining and the birds are chirping. It is still fresh. Today is the day that the team and all of us have been working towards. Thousands of Space Hotel guests have paid a fee and umpteen sponsors have been involved. We have held hundreds of events. It took a massive effort to find a target trail with their advocates after Corona, between wars and elections as well as all kinds of fake news. Today, talk separates from facts.

Still tired but full of expectations, everyone gets into the van and starts at 7:30 a.m. Cosma and Leander get off at the Marriott Hotel to meet Hazel. The three have to consult and decide who is driving the rover today. Hazel didn't have a quiet night, as this hotel is where most of the teams are housed. They make a lot of slapstick - an experience with which we basically opt for a quiet holiday home nearby. But her father works for the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and needs the hotel's business center.

Only 11-year-old Jesco is now on the race site. Henning parks the van far away and thus creates a time window for us because of the time-consuming bus shuttle. The press fits of the drives in the front axle still have to be welded. One of them surprisingly broke loose last night for training and went crazy. We had pressed the axles with dry ice and heat. X-fits according to DIN (German Industry Norm) are considered unsolvable, but the experience is now different. But the workshop was already closed for welding.

Proud as a bear, Jesco leads the rover downhill to the workshop. His legs are still too short, so he lies more in the driver's seat than on a sun lounger. It looks like a microdrive with autopilot. But he steers precisely and draws all astonished glances to himself. Some people give the thumbs up. But it is already over. He takes no notice of it. All his thoughts are now focused on the rover and its last pre-race repair. The time window is short, in 2 hours we have to compete.

Jesco confidently lifts the rover to its side and prepares the welding station. The pit crew gives him a welder shield. I dress up and arm myself with the welding gun. Then it starts, short and strong seams of 1 cm each, cool with water and again. Rover turn, done. These were still experiences from my apprenticeship 40 years ago. Jesco takes pictures and is amazed. Then the rover comes back on its side and Jesco drives it back even prouder. Now he has to kick. It's going uphill. This causes even more of a stir. All participants cheer him on enthusiastically. I want to help and push, but I can't keep up. Alone as a dwarf on the rover, which is oversized for him, he whizzes away to our pavilion. I know that this is not easy, but I am powerless. Gasping for breath but beaming at everything, he gets off and says: "It's great!"

In the meantime, the team of drivers arrives, along with our adults. There is still an hour until the launch window, but a decision has not yet been made as to who will be the co-pilot today. The team can't decide. So this is drawn by lot. Cosma shortens a cable tie and puts 2 between her fingers. Whoever gets the short end of the stick wins - at least that's what the team agrees. I capture this moment with the video camera. Hazel pulls first, then Leander. He has the short straw. But there are no emotions. Everyone feels affected between shame and joy on all sides. That makes up for it. A decision was made that could not be influenced in any other way. For me, this is a new experience. Never before has there been a draw in 18 years. Performance, time and ability were always decisive. However, this could not be assessed today.

Leander dresses up and Hazel braids Cosma into a braid. At 9:45 a.m. we set off for the starting line. I hand out last photo and film instructions and send all other participants to the course. Now Cosma and Leander are on their own. There is still a lot to do. The 5 on-board cameras must be started correctly. Battery and memory limit endless recording. There are 4 different types of cameras, and they all have their quirks. Yesterday, Hazel was filmed standing upside down.

Then the starting siren sounds. Firine (our world champion pilot before Cosma, last raced in 2019) writes: "With this siren, I still get an increased pulse today".

Start!

Cosma and Leander get off to a killer start. The rover shoots forward and drives over obstacles 1 and 2. At the 2nd obstacle, a crater, the rover springs quite high. After that, however, it slows down. Both kick, but the speed does not match visually. Cosma also remarked loudly. But at least it worked. And that's why I'm passionate about "Keep it up!" You couldn't have changed it anyway.

On the mountain then it was over. No progress. The loss friction must be too much. Cosma immediately decides to drive around the obstacle and has to push backwards. She gives instructions. Reversing on the hill seemed to fix the error (later we understand, the differential gear moved back into its bearing seat). With just one turn of the pedal, Cosma notices, changes its mind again, gives instructions and both drive over the mountain without a run-up and as if it doesn't even exist. So the journey could be continued unabated.

All the following obstacles are no problem. Exhausted and happy, the rover reaches the finish line after 3:47 min. But now the trembling for 3rd place begins. More is not mathematically possible for us because of the points awarded by the jury. This points are unfortunately totally not transparent. Our team stays in 3rd place all day. All teams with a chance of competition are through, except for one. It is the team from La Paz (Bolivia) that has carried our DNA since 2015.

Its founder Alina was 16 years young when we invited her to the summer workshop in 2015, i.e. 10 years ago in Leipzig. She was part of our team several times and brought this success to Bolivia and to the TV shows there. Today, Alina works as an engineer in California. She left an impressive mark on her country, so that today 4 teams from Bolivia have found their way to the NASA Challenge – even without us!

Shortly before the end of the competition, this team finally competed. Everything is at stake for her now. They are in 4th place. And they carried out without any problems. This turned the tide at the last minute. They slip to 3rd place and we to 4th place. It's only about 2 points. I'm proud, but it's no consolation for our team. With hanging wings, they enter the large room of the award ceremony at around 5 p.m.

The room is full. They have learned and the partition wall is up. Nevertheless, all places are occupied. At the front of the stage is a table with a large cloth and NASA symbol on it. There are many awards made of glass and some award boards next to them. Curious glances are always glued to it. Finally, the STEM boss of the MSFC enters the stage, greets and hands over to the MC (Master of Ceremony). This is the presenter who leads through the evening. The atmosphere is great and also takes our team with it. Prizes and awards are announced non-stop. The first middle school team is introduced on stage. A new category is included, the remote-controlled rovers, which inspired Jesco in particular. Unfortunately his enthusiastic team was denied.

Then the blow hits everyone! Our name is called. "Space Education Institute" has won the "Most Improved Award". Cosma sprints forward completely surprised and receives a large board from the sponsor, tears it up and the whole hall roars. She is very popular among many teams. Everyone who met us was amazed at the efficiency of the rover and the team. In terms of numbers, we are really the smallest team. There is a $500 price to go with it and there is no end to the joy. Thank you Bradley! Even the many more journeys can no longer detract from this. Two teams from the Dominican Republic in particular clean up properly and loudly. They also have our DNA. I was there in the fall of 2019 and gave a lot of hints. That makes us proud – especially since Latin American emotions are also a driving force here.

Tired and happy, they go home in the dark. There is pizza.

technical explanation:
Cosma still had problems with the front axle on the 2nd race. There was a slight thermal deformation of the wedge hub during welding after a broken CFRP drive tube the day before. CFRP was replaced with a steel tube. This meant that the spline shaft and spline hub could hardly slide in the drive. 1-2 hundredths of a millimetre prevented both components from sliding smoothly by a few millimetres while the suspension was working. This was already noticeable during the assembly yesterday. But milling tools or key files were missing for a remedy. We have oiled it well.

The differential gear was pulled out of its ball bearing socket during a jump in obstacle 2. Therefore, the team drove conspicuously slowly between obstacle 2 and the big hill. Fortunately, however, the rover still drove with it. This condition was only resolved on the big hill, 2 obstacles later. By rolling backwards, this was corrected by itself. Later, we can use a comparison video from the previous year to measure exactly how much time was lost.

At the finish, it was also found that the driver Cosma had bent the transmission mount. It applied so much force that this Fahler appeared for the first time, a component that has been used unchanged for 10 years.

Precision is unforgiving, not even at this competition. Here it was 1-2 hundredths of a millimeter too much at a single point of the construction. That's what I like.

In contrast to the previous races, the complete front axle is a newly revised part from us. It's all about saving weight and this should be raised to a new level of technology with press fits and CFRP tubes. It wasn't enough yet. Well, the problem is recognized and can be eliminated.

Our rovers have also been driven by younger drivers (14-15 years) so far. Corona brought a gap in the youth and thus a leap in time, Cosma is now 18 and therefore heavier and stronger. There are other forces at work, including emotional ones after a lifetime of participation in this race from childhood.

But Hazel and Leander did their job at least as well. Nobody could have done anything better - only more time for preparation and thus test opportunities were missing with all the new paperwork.

The little hero of the race is 11-year-old Jesco. He has proven that age limits are not an obstacle to achieving great things. His integrity, enthusiasm and fast, precise repairs have been instrumental in this success.

Result:

We managed to do this with a minimum of 2 students + an American girl and little Jesco. Other teams were staffed with 20-30 members, because their schools and universities include this competition in their curriculum. 80% of these participants are later seen in leading positions in highly scientific and engineering professions. After 18 years, we are still the only team in the EU. But there were 13 nations participating, all of which were non-U.S. teams directly and actively inspired by our involvement through field visits in the past decade. We now have to let our success have an effect on the countries of the EU, even with our own competition, which can become a stirrup for this race at NASA. We will open our drawings for all worldwide schools and support with a simple starter kit.

This must now be applied to Europe with a lot of force. This requires potent partners. This racing team cost us €50,000 per year. This cannot be done alone. We would like to see signals from politicians to encourage schools to include such vital experiences in their curriculum and more open arms of industry to financially support something like this without expectations - no matter what economic situation surrounds us. The loss of generations and talents weighs heavier.

After 20 years in Huntsville I carried ca 300 students to this moonrocket city. There were 26 own teams and 130 teams with a collaboration and our DNA. I visited and involved 30 nations. All students are now in proud scientific and engineering jobs. It is time to start our own competition with “painful transparency” (as Prof. Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer put it to me) and to erase the last blank spots in this world.

PS: Thanks to Firine Bugenhagen, our pilot from 2019, 1^st place. She makes her master degrees in space engineering this year, after 6 month also in the ERAU. Her winning Rover is exhibited in the Tyrolean Space Museum in Kramsach/Austria. This is the country from where the ESA general director Josef Aschbacher is come from. He already wishes us luck with a very kind email.