KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii (KHON2) — Several students from Kealakehe High School’s engineering team are gearing up to take part in NASA’s prestigious Human Exploration Rover Challenge.
The team is the state’s sole contender among 75 international competitors and will compete to design and build human-powered rovers that can navigate extraterrestrial terrains.
Students recently presented their latest rover design to a NASA panel, allowing officials to review their designs before building a prototype.
“Being up there and presenting the slides, it really felt like a very proud moment because we were like, this is the work we’ve done and this is what we have to show for it, and we can’t wait to show you guys more,” said Ailani Cruz, Kealakehe High School junior.
The work is 100% done by students, who are also supported by a professional machinist for training and safety purposes.
Every astronaut trains here on the Big Island. Like, where’s our aerospace connection for our local students? We want them to come from our local public schools. So we have to find opportunities like this where they can build those high-level analog skills and technical writing, design, fabrication, coding, teamwork, collaboration.
Justin Brown, Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Robotics Coordinator
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Their prototypes will be presented to NASA at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., in April 2025.