Students from across the United States and as far away as Puerto Rico and South America came to Huntsville, Alabama for the 9th annual Great Moonbuggy Race at the U.S. Space Rocket Center. Seventy-seven teams, representing high schools and colleges from 21 states, Puerto Rico, and Columbia, raced human powered vehicles over a lunar-like terrain. In this photograph, the New Orleans area schools team #2 from New Orleans, Louisiana maneuvers through an obstacle course. The team captured second place in the high school division competition. Vehicles powered by two team members, one male and one female, raced one at a time over a half-mile obstacle course of simulated moonscape terrain. The competition is inspired by the development, some 30 years ago, of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a program managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center. The LRV team had to design a compact, lightweight, all-terrain vehicle that could be transported to the Moon in the small Apollo spacecraft. The Great Moonbuggy Race challenges students to design and build a human powered vehicle so they will learn how to deal with real-world engineering problems, similar to those faced by the actual NASA LRV team.

Students from 38 high school teams in seven states competed for top honors during the 2011 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Bayou Regional competition held March 17-19 in the New Orleans area. In this photo, members of the robotics team from Gulfport High School guide their robot during the annual tournament. The robotics competition is designed to help encourage students to pursue studies and careers in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. John C. Stennis Space Center is a supporter of FIRST activities and the Bayou Regional tournament.