NASA Reveals Winners of 32nd Rover Challenge

Student teams from around the world competed in annual competition to design, build, and test lunar rovers.

Apr. 14, 2026 at 7:44am

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A highly structured abstract painting in earthy tones, featuring sweeping geometric arcs, concentric circles, and precise botanical spirals, conceptually representing the complex scientific and engineering principles behind the NASA Rover Challenge.NASA's annual rover challenge pushes student teams to innovate in the design and engineering of lunar exploration vehicles, inspiring the next generation of space pioneers.Mineola Today

NASA's 32nd annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge, one of the agency's longest-standing student challenges, culminated April 10-11 with its final excursion event at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. More than 500 students representing 42 teams from around the world participated in the competition, which tasks student teams to design, build, and test a lunar rover powered by either human pilots or remote control.

Why it matters

The rover challenge is one of NASA's Artemis Student Challenges, reflecting the goals of the Artemis program to land Americans on the Moon and establish a long-term presence for science and exploration. NASA uses such challenges to encourage students to pursue degrees and careers in STEM fields.

The details

Teams were scored on their ability to navigate a half-mile obstacle course, complete mission-specific task challenges, and pass multiple safety and design reviews conducted by NASA engineers. Awards were presented across human-powered and remote-control divisions. In the human-powered division, Parish Episcopal School in Dallas, Texas earned first place in the high school division, while the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri, won the college and university title. In the remote-control division, Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, earned the top award in the middle and high school division, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville in Huntsville, Alabama, secured the college and university title.

  • The 32nd annual Human Exploration Rover Challenge was held on April 10-11, 2026.
  • The competition has been running annually since 1994.

The players

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.

Parish Episcopal School

A high school in Dallas, Texas that won first place in the human-powered division of the 2026 rover challenge.

University of Central Missouri

A college in Warrensburg, Missouri that won the college and university title in the human-powered division of the 2026 rover challenge.

Gould Academy

A middle and high school in Bethel, Maine that earned the top award in the remote-control division of the 2026 rover challenge.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville

A college in Huntsville, Alabama that secured the college and university title in the remote-control division of the 2026 rover challenge.

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What they’re saying

“This challenge gives students a hands-on opportunity to think like engineers and problem-solvers, applying real-world design principles to complex exploration scenarios.”

— Vemitra Alexander, Leads the Human Exploration Rover Challenge for NASA's Office of STEM Engagement at Marshall

What’s next

The rover challenge will continue to be an annual event, with the 33rd edition scheduled for 2027.

The takeaway

NASA's Rover Challenge provides valuable STEM education and hands-on engineering experience for students, helping to cultivate the next generation of space explorers and innovators.