Judges inspect the San Diego State University team’s prototype lunar robot during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

Students from the University of Alabama prepare to enter the simulated lunar regolith competition area with their prototype lunar robot during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 19, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

Students from San Diego State University prepare to enter the simulated lunar regolith competition area with their prototype lunar robot during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

Students from Michigan Technological University prepare their prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

Students from the University of Virginia prepare their prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

Students from Michigan Technological University prepare their prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.

Students from San Diego State University prepare their prototype lunar robot for its turn during the finals for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge competition on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, inside the Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Forty-seven teams from around the U.S. designed and built remote-controlled robots capable of traversing challenging lunar terrain while constructing regolith-based berm under conditions similar to those the agency will face as it returns to the lunar surface through Artemis.