We began our voyage to Hanksville at 2am. We were to arrive well before 8am, which was the earliest the first heat (or competition) could possibly be held. After loading the GPS with instructions on how to get there, we started on our long drive. We arrived in Hanksville at about 5am, and took what we meant to be a small nap. We ended up waking up due to the rise in temperature in our car from the sun at about 9am to find that our group had already left and begun the first heat: Sample Collection.
We arrived just in time to get a few photos of the rover in action, but they had already collected and brought back a sample to test for life signs. We were there long enough for the team to give a full description of the rover, and what type of study it would do on Mars, then we packed up and left to do repairs on the rover and GPS (which at the time wasn't working) for the next heat.
Due to the fact we had had very little sleep, Nathanael and I took a nap during the break while the Electrical Engineers were hard at work. Unfortunately, we set the clock for 2am, not 2pm and missed the second heat (Solar Panel Cleaner) entirely. We heard stories later, but we were sad to have missed it, to say the least.
That night, the team banded together to either work on the rover or get to know one another. A few of us had brought musical instruments, and I had a fun time showing off my mad Ocarina skills. We sang songs to the Ukulele, and told nerdy jokes. It was a magical time, at least for those not involved in fixing the wiring and GPS unit. Those people were frustrated all night.
At the crack of dawn, the team was back up and at it. Our first heat was at 8:30am, and we had to have the rover ready, packed, and the rooms cleared for checkout. So with all our gear, luggage and robotics in tow, we headed for the first competition of the day. Our little Mustang took the terrain really well. It was funny to see another member's bug roughing it as well. The dirt roads were not easy to drive on and probably took quite a toll on our cars. However, we all arrived in one piece, and quickly set to work on setting up the rover.
The time came, and we were all ready for the package deployment system when suddenly, the rover refused to move. We spent our entire competition time taking the rover apart and trying to make it run, but nothing worked. We finally had to leave to our next heat without having even moved the rover outside the launching site.
Suddenly, a desert storm arose out of nowhere and blew right over the site where our next competition was to be held. The judges gave the team ahead of us a little more time due to the storm to finish their heat, which bought us enough time to finish our repairs on our backup rover, the Quadcopter. We left before it flew, but it did an amazing job at flying in 10+ mph wind!
BYU received 2nd, despite getting little to no points on one of our heats. We were all very pleased, and a little disappointed at knowing that had the rover worked faithfully, we would have received first.
All-in-all, it was an amazing trip, with amazing people in an amazing location. To those who like to get a little sandy, don't mind the heat and like being in solitude, you should try camping around there. Goblin Valley is not too far from where we were, and there is a dinosaur dig almost at the town!
Happy Trails!
Christine Stone Mooth
