Sunday, June 08, 2008

Mars Society's 2008 University Rover Challenge Winners Announced

The University Rover Challenge site gives a run-down on what happened at the event. It sounds like there were lots of ups and downs and last-minute victories pulled from the jaws of defeat. Here's the official announcement from the event. An excerpt:

After two days of intense competition and hard work from all involved, Oregon State University captured first place in the 2008 University Rover Challenge tonight at the Mars Desert Research Station. They narrowly beat out the defending champions from the University of Nevada Reno. Following hot on their heels in third place was first-time entrant from the York University of Toronto, Canada.

"This year's Rover Challenge was a real success," said URC Director Kevin Sloan. "Not only did we have more teams than last year, the overall quality of the rovers was considerably higher this year. All of the teams should be very proud of their rovers, and of their skills in controlling them. The level of skill on display was amazing."