Lunabotics presentation judges gather on stage during the opening ceremony for NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition.

At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, Lunabotics presentation judges gather on stage during the opening ceremony for NASA’s Lunabotics Mining Competition. From left, are Lead Presentation Judge Kristina Brink with Kennedy’s Education Office, Chuck Sahm with Caterpillar, Inc., Creg Raffington with Kennedy’s Engineering and Technology Directorate, and Kevin Miller with Kennedy’s Center Operations Directorate.

The mining competition is sponsored by NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Education Office for the agency’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. Undergraduate and graduate students from more than 50 universities and colleges in the U.S. and other countries use their remote-controlled Lunabots to maneuver and dig in a supersized sandbox filled with a crushed material that has characteristics similar to lunar soil. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/lunabotics. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin