GOLDEN, Colo., April 29, 2014 – Second-grader Jake Fricke, from Alamosa Elementary, and sixth-grader Cole Hinkson, from DSST: College View, submitted winning entries for the “Name the Rover” essay contest and “Mining in Space” art contest, hosted by Mines team Blasterbotica. The team is using the winning entries for the autonomous mining rover they are building and designing for the NASA Robotic Mining Competition in May.

“This year we decided to run an essay contest as part of our outreach program, to get elementary students interested in space and give them the opportunity to be involved with our team even if they are not in the Golden area,” said Joanne Haas, outreach coordinator of Blasterbotica.

Blasterbotica received more than 40 essay submissions, including the winning entry from Jake on “High-Service Infinity.”

From his essay: “H.S. stands for High Service and I know this robot is engineered for High Service. Infinity means forever. We are going to learn forever and be curious forever. There will never be an era when we know everything. Still, what we do know is big for our world.”

Jake will receive a personal visit from the rover and the team in mid-May.  

Cole’s artwork, “Mining in Space 3-D Universe” (featured on the right) will be displayed at the Blasterbotica booth at the NASA Robotic Mining Competition in May.

“Both contests raise awareness of the importance of space and extraterrestrial technology among students who otherwise might not consider these areas of human development and the advances that come from the exploration of outer space,” Haas said.

Blasterbotica team members spoke on space and space exploration to 150 students at Red Rocks Elementary School in Morrison in mid-March. The team also worked as a mentor to pre-engineering students on a design project at Lakewood High School.

Visit the Blasterbotica website at blasterbotica.mines.edu/outreach.

Contact:

Kathleen Morton, Communications Coordinator / 303-273-3088 / KMorton@mines.edu
Karen Gilbert, Director of Public Relations / 303-273-3541 / KGilbert@mines.edu