Gritty UAH Student Team Overcomes Setbacks to Place Third in 2025 NASA HERC Rover Challenge

BYLINE: Russ Nelson

Newswise — Engineering students from The University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) suffered a failure of the support system for the left rear wheel during their competition on April 11, 2025, while competing in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC).

It’s often said that one of the hardest things to accomplish in team competitions is a “three-peat” – winning three championships in a row. After placing first in 2023 and 2024 in NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC), The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) was set to do just that this year, before a catastrophic mechanical setback on the first day of the two-day competition ended the dream of a third consecutive victory. However, the UAH team rallied in determined fashion, finishing third overall in the university division.

“It was an awesome experience,” says David Fikes, a senior lecturer of mechanical and aerospace engineering and team advisor at UAH, a part of The University of Alabama System. “We crashed and burned on Friday when we broke part of the suspension on an obstacle – the transverse incline – which put us in about 15th place at the time. But we repaired our rover Friday night and got redemption with a third-place finish on Saturday, including performing the incline better than anyone. We also won the System Safety Award.”

The rover challenge is one of NASA’s eight Artemis Student Challenges reflecting the goals of the Artemis campaign, an initiative targeted with returning Americans to the Moon in preparation for future human missions to Mars. Held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), the event tasks teams with designing, building and testing a lunar rover powered by either human pilots or remote control. Teams are awarded points based on navigating a half-mile obstacle course, conducting mission-specific task challenges and completing multiple safety and design reviews with NASA engineers.

UAH rover pilots Tami Harris (front) and Tanner Cowart (rear) carrying wounded ATHENA rover toward finish line.

More than 500 students making up 75 teams from around the world participated in the 31st year of the competition. The squads represented 35 colleges and universities, 38 high schools and two middle schools from 20 states, Puerto Rico and 16 other nations. Campbell University of Buies Creek, N.C, captured the college and university overall title in the human-powered division, while the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) from the Dominican Republic (DR), a school UAH bonded with after an outreach visit last summer to the DR, earned a second-place finish.

This year’s UAH squad was made up of 29 mechanical, aerospace and industrial and systems engineering students who also competed with other teams throughout the school year in areas such as documentation, design review presentation, STEM engagement and fabrication skills.

“This competition encourages team members to combine all of the skills they have learned as engineering students to take a project from concept to completion,” explains Taylor Simmons, a mechanical engineering student and UAH HERC team lead. “It was definitely a comeback. After the breakdown, our pilots had to basically carry the rover in, then our friends from INTEC, a fellow competitor from the Dominican Republic, helped us by driving our rover back to our team area in their truck. We stayed up late, but after many hours in the shop, we had ATHENA back ready to roll for the next day’s excursion.”

Frantic efforts to repair the Advanced Terrain Human Exploration Navigating Apparatus (ATHENA) rover to be ready for the next day’s excursion.

“Things originally looked bleak on the first day, as many tears were shed,” admits fellow UAH team member Rebecca Adkins. “But once we got back to the pit area, we went into ‘fix-it’ mode. There were questions on whether we should try the incline again the next day, but the two pilots, Sami Harris and Tanner Cowart, were determined to go for it. The team ran alongside ATHENA, cheering and encouraging them the whole way. When they crossed the finish line, tears were shed once again, but this time, they were tears of joy!”

STEM outreach is also a major part of the HERC competition. Each team must actively engage with K-12 students, sharing STEM concepts and working through a hands-on activity. While NASA only requires teams to reach 250 students, the UAH team spoke with almost 7,000.

“This year, our team had four main focuses for STEM outreach: local schools, community events, UAH promotion and rural engagement,” Simmons says. “Headed up by Emily Meyer, our STEM outreach team lead, we had major successes in all four areas.”

In Alabama, 55 out of the total 67 counties are classified as rural. The team focused in particular on these areas, showcasing their engineering design expertise and spreading the word about the benefits of STEM opportunities.

“Coming from a small town, Munford, Ala., I have a passion for encouraging students in rural areas to pursue a career in STEM,” Simmons notes. “Oftentimes, students in smaller Alabama communities lack the STEM resources that students in more populated areas of the state receive. STEM education is of vital importance to K-12 students, because it encourages critical thinking and teamwork to solve problems. However, many in rural Alabama counties have limited exposure to these concepts.

The day after the UAH HERC team suffered a mechanical failure, the team’s hard work paid off, turning tears into cheers on their second attempt on the rover course.