A team of science-loving Surrey students has rocketed into a NASA-backed competition to build a rover that could roam on distant planets.

The American space agency含羞草研究社檚 2024 will involve 10 students at Princess Margaret Secondary who submitted a last-minute proposal in September, hours before a deadline.

, and one of just a few high schools in the college/university-dominated competition to design and build human-powered rovers.

Next April the team from Newton will travel to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the HERC event, which urges research and development of 含羞草研究社渘ew technologies for future mission planning and crewed space missions to other worlds.含羞草研究社�

to watch video of NASA含羞草研究社檚 Human Exploration Rover Challenge.

Now that they含羞草研究社檝e been chosen for this challenge, the Surrey students must design and build a two-person rover and also raise funds for the stateside trip.

含羞草研究社淭hey含羞草研究社檙e super excited,含羞草研究社� said teacher Jag Uppal, team advisor. 含羞草研究社淭hese are some amazing kids, and they found the competition on their own 含羞草研究社� the website, the proposal, that含羞草研究社檚 them putting it all together, everything.含羞草研究社�

The student team includes Jeevan Sandhu (team lead), Mehul Bhanot (safety officer), Omar Arain, Jasmeet Dhaliwal, Harmeet Sond, Manroop Padda, Parneet Dhesi, Haardik Garg, Victor Gupta and Alex Gupta.

含羞草研究社淭his is kind of the engineering Olympics for them,含羞草研究社� Uppal added. 含羞草研究社淵ou have athletes who get to the national and international levels, and for these students this is an international competition, and they含羞草研究社檙e representing their school internaitonally, on that scale. It含羞草研究社檚 huge.含羞草研究社�

Still in the design phase, their LeoCraft rover is named for the school mascot of the Princess Margaret Lions.

Online, the learning journey will be documented .

含羞草研究社淚magine a group of high schoolers more ecstatic about rockets and Mars than the latest Netflix series,含羞草研究社� the website notes. 含羞草研究社淲e are a diverse group of passionate high school students who share a common love for space, engineering and science.含羞草研究社�

Sponsors, donors and scientific guidance is welcomed by these students, who are 含羞草研究社渁rmed with dreams as large as the cosmos.含羞草研究社�

Uppal said a real challenge is trying to raise $50,000 for the trip to Alabama.

含羞草研究社淗alf of that will go to transportation costs for the actual competition (a three-day conference), and the other half will be for designing and building and testing this rover,含羞草研究社� the teacher explained.

含羞草研究社淩ight now we含羞草研究社檙e looking around for equipment that could 3D-print their design, and we could use some help,含羞草研究社� Uppal added.

The built rover must be then dismantled and shipped to the HERC event, according to some strict rules.

含羞草研究社淚 didn含羞草研究社檛 think that they were going to get accepted because it was all so rushed and last-minute,含羞草研究社� Uppal admitted. 含羞草研究社淭hey put it together in, like, two days, their proposal. So for them to be accepted was a big deal, and now they realize there含羞草研究社檚 so much work ahead. But they含羞草研究社檙e all excited about the challenge.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 excited for them and I含羞草研究社檓 also scared, just the challenge ahead,含羞草研究社� he added with a laugh.

This isn含羞草研究社檛 the first time Princess Margaret students have been involved in a NASA-backed event. At Florida含羞草研究社檚 Kennedy Space Center in 2019, .