Drive me to the moon

On the Artemis II mission in 2025, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and crew will orbit high above the lunar surface more than 50 years after the first manned moon landing. And while he won't be landing on the moon, SJB students were test-driving a prototype of a lunar rover that will be a critical part of future moon exploration missions.

The rover was located in Stratford, Ont., and the SJB robotics team submitted entries for the spring and fall 2023 competitions before learning of their success in December.. 

The SJB Grade 8 Robotics class submitted the winning mission plan for the Lunar Rover Research Challenge, an annual competition jointly sponsored by Let's Talk Science, the Canadian Space Agency, Avalon Space, and Canadensys Aerospace Corporation, the makers of the rover that will be going to the moon as Canada's part of the future NASA Artemis Mission.

Robotics instructor and longtime SJB teacher John Calzavara credits the work done by the spring 2023 class with laying the foundation for the success of the current class.

 "Our team impressed the judges with their ability to articulate why they made the choices they made and what they had learned from the first mission," said Calzavara. "We're very excited for the students to be learning at this level." 

The class worked under the guidance of engineers and scientists to drive the lunar rover and seek out ice deposits in a mock lunar landscape. Leah Davis-Purcell, a space outreach specialist from Avalon Space Research and Technology Company, led the students. She helped the students work in teams to navigate a mock lunar surface to find the ide deposits. 

One group took charge of navigation, while other teams gave commands to drive the rover, monitored the health of the prototype, took measurements and samples, and scientifically analyzed the data to confirm their discoveries. 

While the students felt their planning had prepared them for the mission, the real-world simulation presented unforeseen obstacles. Rover driver Declan Parsons-Moore noted that consulting with the entire class to decide how to manoeuvre the rover was much more chaotic than communicating within their small groups.

Rather than simply reacting to the situation, each of the rover teams had to learn how to gather information and give directions if they were to reach their goal. "It was a little stressful with everyone talking a lot," said Parsons-Moore, "but we got better over time."

The students were one of four national teams to win the Canada-wide Lunar Rover Research Challenge. 

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