HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Sistine McKown's essay on her robot, Athena the Navigator, ended the Lunabotics Junior Contest as a finalist for the K-5 award. Quoted below is her essay. Here is the full online presentation.
"Athena the Navigator is a solar-powered, astronaut-controlled rover.
"She has a corkscrew digging device that extends and gathers regolith then contracts, keeping regolith stored inside. She has a movable arm with an electron beam that repels lunar dust. She has an aluminum-titanium alloy body, and thermal glass surrounds the electronics. Outside the glass, a Kevlar cover provides extra protection. Athena has airless tires with several-hundred steel wires woven into a mesh-like material that provide traction. Additionally the wheels have the feature of shape memory. On the front are two sensors that detect the smoothness of the regolith, which makes Athena go faster or slower. She has another sensor on the corkscrew digger that observes if the digger is full. If it is, a weight will move to the back to prevent Athena from tipping, otherwise, the weight will move to the middle of the body."
The essay contest was issued in collaboration with NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate and the Office of STEM Engagement.
NASA’s Artemis Program, will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities that will serve as a springboard for future exploration of Mars.
Over 2,000 essay submissions were received from K-12 students across the country and nearly 500 educators, professionals, and space enthusiasts offered their time as volunteer judges, to review the thousands of robot designs.