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The University of Alabama in Huntsville鈥檚 moon buggy may not go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, but it can handle the lunar regolith like nobody鈥檚 business. And that鈥檚 no small feat, says mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Dr. Christina L. Carmen.

鈥淭he lunar regolith has a lot of different consistencies, and at the surface, it鈥檚 fine, jagged, and rough,鈥� says Carmen. 鈥淎dd to that the moon鈥檚 craters and sand pits, and it takes a lot of manpower to go through those.鈥�

Carmen has served as the faculty advisor for the UAHuntsville鈥檚 moon buggy team since the 2008/2009 academic year. The team, she says, 鈥渋s a group of students who design, analyze, fabricate, and test a vehicle to compete in NASA鈥檚 annual Great Moon Buggy Race at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.鈥�

Dr. Carmen has been the advisor since 2009. She took over from retired engineering professor Gerald Karr. But because 鈥渋t was almost the same team as the previous year,鈥� she says, 鈥淚 just let them do it the way they were doing it and provided support when needed.鈥�

The team decided to build a whole new moon buggy with materials typically used in aerospace engineering. 鈥淭hey experimented with composites and designed a beautiful, very unique vehicle,鈥� says Carmen. 鈥淚t was very good experience, and it really set the UAHuntsville team apart from all the other teams. I haven鈥檛 seen any other team that used as much composites as the UAHuntsville team.鈥�

Nevertheless, 鈥渢hey didn鈥檛 win,鈥� says Carmen. Just as in the previous year, the team completed the moon buggy the morning of the competition, leaving no time for a test run. They did, however, successfully finish the race, placing 11th out of 80 entries.

Inspired by that success, Carmen was willing to stay on as faculty advisor for the 2009/2010 academic year 鈥� but she knew something had to change. 鈥淚 had a severe dilemma as to how they were progressing with the design and the schedule,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o my goal that year was to have the team complete the vehicle two to three weeks before the race date so that we could test it.鈥�
To that end, she scheduled a series of design reviews. 鈥淭he goal of these reviews was to force the students to complete the project,鈥� says Carmen. 鈥淏ut it didn鈥檛 happen!鈥� That year, as in years past, the team completed the moon buggy the morning of the competition. But they still managed to place 18th, and in addition, 鈥渨e won two prestigious awards that recognized the design aspect,鈥� says Carmen.

The first was for the best design in the university division. The second was for overall system safety, which was based on the report the team wrote to analyze the safety, hazards, and risks involved in the design of their moon buggy. 鈥淒uring the awards, a NASA engineer and judge said their design report read like a NASA report,鈥� says Carmen. 鈥淲e were flattered by that because it spoke to everything the team had learned and gone through.鈥�

Once again, Carmen was motivated to stay on as faculty advisor for the 2010/2011 academic year. Being another year wiser, however, she told her students that she would do it 鈥渙nly if the team leadership was enrolled into the senior design class.鈥� That way, she could associate a grade with the students鈥� ability to meet important milestones. 鈥淲hen you have a class grade involved,鈥� says Carmen, 鈥渢he students are more prone to meet their deadlines!鈥�

This time it worked. 鈥淲e鈥檙e less than a month out and already able to test the vehicle,鈥� says Carmen. In fact, the team recently competed in a fun run on the test course at the Huntsville Center for Technology and 鈥渢hey did an amazing job,鈥� she says. That bodes well for this year鈥檚 race, which will be held Friday and Saturday on a challenging 0.7-mile course littered with obstacles and hazards.

鈥淎 0.7-mile course doesn鈥檛 seem very long, but when you鈥檙e two people going over such a difficult terrain, it鈥檚 exhausting,鈥� says Carmen. To prepare, the drivers 鈥� who must be one male and one female per the competition rules 鈥� have been undertaking physical training. The team has also made some adjustments to last year鈥檚 moon buggy, which they鈥檙e reusing in order to stay within their $5,000 budget.

All that鈥檚 lacking now is a rabid fan base. 鈥淭his team is actually trying to get the UAHuntsville Charger mascot and the cheerleaders to come to the competition to cheer them on, because it鈥檚 streamed live on the NASA website and it鈥檚 on the local news,鈥� says Carmen. 鈥淥ther school teams in the past have won the team spirit award, though it鈥檚 often Puerto Rico because they bring bongos!鈥�

But even if they don鈥檛 win, Carmen knows that the students are getting much more out of the experience than a trophy. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 compete in anything unless the goal is winning first place! But do I think that鈥檚 the most important aspect? No. You might consider that first team a 鈥榝ailure,鈥� but they learned so much about testing, safety, and composites,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you can鈥檛 be judged by where you place, but rather by what the students learned.鈥�

As for what next year will bring, Carmen says she plans to stay on as faculty advisor. After all, 鈥渟tudents are not quite as jaded as 鈥榦lder folks.鈥� To them, almost everything is possible.鈥�