WVU students win second place in international Mars rover competition
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — A team of West Virginia University (WVU) students took home second place in an international competition over the weekend to build 'next generation' Mars rovers and test them in the field.
This year, the University Rover Challenge (URC) brought together 114 teams from 15 countries to compete at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, which has terrain similar to the real Martian surface.
According to a press release from WVU's Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, this is the third year in a row where WVU's Team Mountaineers' placed in the top two, following a second-place finish in 2024 and a first-place finish in 2023.
Professor Yu Gu, the team's faculty advisor, said in the release that the team focused its efforts on 'refining last year's knowledge while fixing key issues.'
'This year, under the outstanding leadership of [Connor Mann] and [Jalen Beeman], the students represented WVU well against teams from around the world,' Gu said. 'This real-world engineering experience is what makes robotics competition an invaluable educational experience for students.'
EXCLUSIVE: An up close look at the Green Bank Telescope
The competition judges the performance of a team's rover through four different 'missions': science, delivery, equipment servicing and autonomous navigation. Teams performed tasks like analyzing soil for signs of microbial life, delivering samples and navigating difficult terrain.
'The most rewarding part was seeing our hard work and dedication pay off when stacked against the best in the world,' Jalen Beeman said, a team leader and computer science and electrical engineering student at WVU. 'Robotics is hard, so we've also been trying to lower the barrier for entry to the competition by open-sourcing our designs. At the competition, we had the chance to speak to several teams that used our designs which was very rewarding.'
To read the full release on Team Mountaineers' finish at this year's URC competition, visit the WVU website, or go here to learn more about the University Rover Challenge.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Moon over Musk
Presented by The Spotlight The alliance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk — to borrow a phrase from the space community — has undergone a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Yet amid all the fireworks Thursday from the duo's public meltdown, one area of the space world seems to have a brighter future: the moon mission. Context: Musk, the SpaceX founder and well-known Mars enthusiast, has argued against returning astronauts to the lunar surface. But the stunning forced exit of the billionaire's hand-picked nominee for the top NASA job and Musk's massive rupture with the president has handed moon backers in Congress and industry an opening — and they're seizing it. What's happening, Part I: A ton of major space companies — just not SpaceX — are launching an ad campaign going big on the moon, according to two industry officials granted anonymity to discuss the effort. The move is the first sign of real pushback against the behemoth space company and its founder, who only days ago seemed to lock down government contracts every time he blinked. A television ad funded by the companies, who do not go by an umbrella name, will appear on television in the coming days with a pitch clearly aimed at Trump. A narrator, underlaid by dramatic images of America's Apollo missions, implores voters to call senators in support of the moon mission and 'keep America first in space.' A separate letter addressed to the Senate Commerce Committee and obtained by POLITICO backs investments in the moon, and is signed by a lengthy slate of prominent space companies — but not (you guessed it) SpaceX. What's happening, Part II: The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday evening unveiled a new reconciliation bill that would channel $10 billion to NASA, much of it for the space agency's effort to return to the moon through the Artemis program. The White House's NASA budget had proposed major cuts to Artemis, including slashing a planned lunar space station and moon missions. 'Anybody who's following space will have noticed how deeply committed [the committee is] to getting back to the moon, particularly before the Chinese get there,' said a committee aide, who was granted anonymity to discuss the bill. SpaceX'd Out: All of this is happening amid Musk's very public fall from grace. Trump, during the social media showdown with his former confidante, threatened to cancel Musk's contracts with the government. The SpaceX founder responded by saying he would end the Dragon spacecraft contract, which is the U.S.'s only reliable way of accessing the International Space Station. (But he also suggested late Thursday night that he might not actually do so.) And of course, Trump last week abruptly pulled the NASA administrator nomination for Musk ally Jared Isaacman, just days ahead of his likely confirmation by the Senate. Isaacman, speaking on a podcast this week, linked his ouster to Musk's provocative departure from the White House. 'I don't think the timing was much of a coincidence,' he said. What next: This all means Congress may now have a stronger hand in negotiations with the White House over the NASA budget, which was written before Musk's break from Trump and heavily favors Mars. The administration's budget proposes major cuts to spending for the moon in favor of nearly $1 billion for landing an astronaut on Mars. SpaceX, thanks to provisions in the bill, was likely to snag a lucrative contract to build the landing system for any red planet mission. That seems much less feasible now. Senators from states with large NASA centers — think Alabama and Louisiana — are particularly keen to latch onto moon funding. Trump has voiced support for a Mars mission, meaning the idea may not have completely faded. But with Musk's implosion and the latest moon push, a return to the lunar surface is on firmer ground than it was just a week ago. WELCOME TO POLITICO PRO SPACE. It's our inaugural edition and a telling time to start. We've seen deep slashes to NASA's budget, the space agency's nominee pulled, and a feud explode between the world's biggest space contractor and the president. We can't wait for next week. Email me at sskove@ with tips, pitches and feedback, and find me on X at @samuelskove. We're offering this newsletter for free over the next few weeks. After that, it will be available only to POLITICO Pro subscribers. Read all about what we're doing here. Galactic Government MAKE A DEAL: Florida Rep. Mike Haridopolos, who chairs the House's subcommittee on space and aeronautics, told me Wednesday that he was against the White House's massive NASA cuts — making him one of the first Republicans to publicly voice opposition. 'Will a 26 percent cut to NASA hold? Absolutely not,' he said. 'We're going to be talking with the president and his team, with OMB about the paramount importance of space.' China: Haridopolos emphasized competition with China as a driving reason not to slash the space agency's funding. The proposed cancellation of Gateway — a lunar space station partnership with the European Space Agency — opens the way for Chinese influence, he said. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican who leads the committee that oversees NASA, underscored a remarkably similar message during Isaacman's confirmation hearing. The Florida lawmaker said he was optimistic that the cuts wouldn't come to fruition. Trump 'believes in the space program,' he said. 'He knows that we want there's no second place to space.' TICKET TO RIDE: Sens. John Cornyn, Ben Ray Luján, Rick Scott, and Mark Kelly introduced a bill Thursday that would streamline licensing processes for commercial space companies, opening the way to a boom in rocket launches. The bill, dubbed the Launch Act, would allow the Federal Aviation Administration to eliminate overly bureaucratic steps in the application process. The law would also create a streamlined process for licensing commercial satellites used to observe the Earth. And it would move the Office of Space Commerce from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and place it directly under the Transportation secretary, a move that would elevate the office's access to key decision makers. Why it matters: Companies such as SpaceX have long complained about the slow pace of launch licensing. Streamlining the process could lead to a significant uptick in an already booming schedule. Companies launched 145 U.S. rockets in 2024, up from 109 the previous year. Military SPACE COMMAND: Lawmakers pressed Air Force Secretary Troy Meink on Thursday to keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado as the Trump administration weighs moving the headquarters to Alabama. The Defense Department established the command in 2019 and temporarily placed it in Colorado while the Air Force evaluated permanent sites. Trump chose Alabama as the permanent headquarters but former President Joe Biden reversed that decision and selected Colorado. What he said: Meink, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, conceded that Space Command would see civilian employees quit if the HQ moved from Colorado to Alabama. 'It would be very important that we manage that move over a period of time, if that occurs,' the Air Force chief said. Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) called for the Pentagon to resume headquarters construction at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs, calling it the 'most effective' home for Space Command. Context: Officials have paused construction because of a legal requirement to hold off until the Pentagon inspector general and the Government Accountability Office released their reports on the Biden administration's 2023 basing decision. Those reports are out, but Meink said the Air Force is still reviewing the GAO's findings. The Reading Room — Senate Commerce reconciliation bill proposes new space launch fee: POLITICO — Space Force awards BAE $1.2B for missile warning sats in MEO: Breaking Defense — Impulse Space Raises $300M Series C: Payload — Space Force shifts upfront range upgrade costs to commercial firms: Defense News — Some parts of Trump's proposed budget for NASA are literally draconian: Ars Technica Event Horizon TUESDAY: Axiom-4 launches private astronauts to the International Space Station. The Hudson Institute holds a discussio n on defending in outer space with Rep. Jeff Crank. Rep. George Whitesides speaks with SpaceNews on space issues. FRIDAY: The FAA ends public comments on a launch licensing-related issue. Photo of the Week
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Scottish university to test out Mars Rover on billion-year-old Highland rock
Scotland is making a contribution to space exploration by loaning out one of its ancient rocks to test out a robot bound for Mars, with researchers from one of the country's top universities trialling instruments to be used on the European Mars Rover. Researchers from The University of St Andrews will carry out imaging and analysis of one billion-year-old geological formations that are very like those on Mars to boost the rover's intelligence before its set to launch in 2028. A Mars rover is a remote-controlled motor vehicle that is designed to travel on the surface of Mars and allow scientists to examine more territory, target specific features, and study the planet's geology and environment, reports The Daily Record. Some rovers also collect samples for future return to Earth. READ MORE: Edinburgh man hospitalised after riot police lock down street READ MORE: Two Edinburgh schools to be renamed to 'reduce stigma towards pupils' Using the billion-year-old mudstones that are unique to the north-west Scottish coastline, the researchers will be able to understand how the geological capture of ancient microbial life in these sediments changes the chemistry of the rocks. They can also better understand how these changes can be detected using Mars rover instruments. These ancient rocks are the same that would have been found in Mars' ancient terrains when the environment was much more agreeable to life. Led by Dr Clare Cousins, of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, researchers have already been on getting their hands dirty in the fields of north west Scotland with two emulator instruments. "Our understanding of Mars is rooted in geological knowledge inherited from the Earth," Dr Cousins explained. "Rock formations here are vital testing grounds for new instruments that are destined for the Martian surface. "It's hoped these instruments will allow the ExoMars rover team to identify those geological formations at the landing site that not only betray once habitable water-rich environments that existed billions of years ago, but also rocks that are excellent at preserving the long-gone remnants of microbial life.' The University of St Andrews is also part of a larger project in partnership with the University of Western Ontario for their Canadian Space Agency project to test these same instruments at an impact crater site in Germany. It comes after astronomers, including one from University of Edinburgh, have stumbled across a strange object that is emitting radio waves - and they don't know why. The object - a long-period transient (LPT) - is emitting pulses of radio waves and X-rays every 44 minutes. LPTs are a relatively new class of astrophysical objects that are known to emit radio waves periodically. However, this is the first time such objects have been detected in X-rays. Incredibly, the discovery could hint at a new type of physics or new star models in the sky. As of yet, there is no clear cut answer to what the curious entity is, and why it's doing what it's doing. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Teachers travel to Morgantown to gain insight on oil and gas industry
MORGANTOWN, (WBOY) — More than 40 science teachers from across three different states took a trip to Morgantown Thursday to learn how they can teach their students about the oil and gas industry. The pilgrimage came as part of the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia's 7th annual Science Teacher Workshop and teachers hope to take knowledge about the industry back with them in order to implement the subject into their curriculum. Look out for 'Skittles of the bird world' in West Virginia this summer 'A lot of times we end up with too many folks who are at the twilight of their careers so we arte constantly trying to get younger and younger people to take interest in the science, the STEM programs, get interested in the oil and gas industry at a young age so they can study it and hopefully end up employed and stay in this region,' Jim Crews with Marathon Petroleum said. Crews said that teachers who missed out on this year's workshop can still contact the Oil and Gas Association and get the training needed to implement the subject into their school's curriculum. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
