In the sixth annual NASA Robotic Mining Competition, held at Kennedy Space Center on May 18-22, 2015, a team of 14 Mines students competed against 53 teams in the design and construction of a mining rover. The Mines Blasterbotica team took second place in the event’s Presentation and Demonstration category. Made up of students in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science, the Blasterbotica team is part of the capstone design program in the College of Engineering and Computational Sciences. Participation in the event was sponsored by the Center for Space Resources, Lockheed Martin, and BHP Billiton, with donations from Sterling Edge, Omnicut, and igus.

Blasterbotica team members Katie Kostecka '15 and David Long prepare the rover for the NASA Robotic Mining Competition held at Kennedy Space Center in May. (Laurie Schmidt)

Blasterbotica team members Katie Kostecka �15 and David Long prepare the rover for the NASA Robotic Mining Competition held at Kennedy Space Center in May. (Laurie Schmidt)