The Lunar Loonies won the Montana Regional Apollo Next Giant Leap Challenge, Middle School Division! We are so proud of them! In addition to this awesome Apollo 50 commemorative Lego kit, we are going to Kennedy Space Center!

The Montana Regional Apollo Next Giant Leap Student Challenge (ANGLeS Challenge) was hosted at Montana Learning Center in Helena, MT. 20 teams were entered in the middle school division. We were the only all girls team in the challenge. They worked so hard the last 2 months. All of the teams did a great job!

The challenge had 3 parts as well as creative components.

• Fly a drone carrying a lunar module, drop it off in the landing zone and fly the drone back to base. The drone pilot is flying blind as mission control does from Earth. The technician “on the moon” gave verbal commands to the pilot.
• Replace the lunar module with a Lego robot rover. Complete missions on the lunar surface. Deliver payload to drop zone, move a boulder, retrieve a moon rock and return the moon rock to the landing zone. Again, the rover pilot is blind and relying on the astronaut on the moon to give clear commands. The rover pilot had some pre-written programs, but many had to be coded on the fly based on verbal commands from the astronaut.
• Identify a moon rock sample and give 4 facts about the rock

This trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our girls. They are super excited about visiting NASA in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Most of the expenses will be covered by the award but we do anticipate some financial need to cover travel costs.