Douglas R. Cooke, NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), appears before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics to discuss proposed changes to NASA's exploration program on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Douglas R. Cooke, left, NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) and A. Thomas Young, retired Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin appear before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics to discuss proposed changes to NASA's exploration program on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - University students tune up and tinker with their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, for NASA's first Lunabotics Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's Astronaut Hall of Fame. Twenty-two teams from around the country will maneuver their lunabots in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1, on May 27-28. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The purpose is to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields. It also provides a competitive environment that could result in innovative ideas and solutions for NASA's future excavation of the moon. Photo credit: NASA_Kim Shiflett

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Inside the 'Lunarena' at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's Astronaut Hall of Fame, university students are ready to maneuver their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1. Twenty-two teams from around the country are competing in NASA's first Lunabotics Mining Competition. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The purpose is to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields. It also provides a competitive environment that could result in innovative ideas and solutions for NASA's future excavation of the moon. Photo credit: NASA_Dimitri Gerondidakis

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - University students gather for the opening ceremony of NASA's first Lunabotics Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's Astronaut Hall of Fame. Twenty-two teams from around the country will maneuver their remote controlled or autonomous excavators, called lunabots, in about 60 tons of ultra-fine simulated lunar soil, called BP-1. The competition is an Exploration Systems Mission Directorate project managed by Kennedy's Education Division. The purpose is to engage and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields. It also provides a competitive environment that could result in innovative ideas and solutions for NASA's future excavation of the moon. Photo credit: NASA_Dimitri Gerondidakis

U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, R-CA, makes a point during the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics to discuss proposed changes to NASA's exploration program on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)