Mars Rover team takes 1st place

The Greenhills Mars Rover Team took first place this month in the Michigan Mars Rover competition, sponsored by the University of Michigan.

The competition pits high school teams against each other on knowledge of space exploration, planetary and galactic astronomy, and engineering.

As part of the competition, students design an autonomous robotic Mars rover and a human outpost fit for the Mars environment. They’re also judged on their oral and written presentation skills.

The Greenhills team this year was led by seniors Minna Wybrecht and Brendan Kelly, and presenters were senior Andrew Gitlin and juniors Alex Reeves, Tanwei Chen, and Luke Krasner. Other team members included Cameron Blake, Frank Fazekas, Alex Quinn, Naveen Fujii, and Aakash Mukhi. Science teachers Jim Lupton and Deano Smith co-sponsored the team.