April 05, 2004
Late-arriving parts sideline SIUC Moonbuggy Club
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Late-arriving parts prevented the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Moonbuggy Club from competing in NASA's "Great Moonbuggy Race" at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., on Saturday, April 3.
However, the setback actually is providing the impetus for building a second moonbuggy for next year's event, according to Scott Nance, a senior in mechanical engineering from Morris and club president.
Nine team members traveled to Alabama to view the half-mile obstacle course and pick up some ideas for next year's race. And the majority of the team, including Nance, will return for next year's competition.
"We got to see how other people are doing and what does and doesn't work. There were quite a few vehicles that broke down," he said.
For the second consecutive year, a team from North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., captured the college division title Saturday. A team from Cornell University was second and a team from Arizona State University was third. There were 26 teams representing colleges and universities from 13 states and Puerto Rico.