Photo by photographer: NASA/Emily Riddle
GREENBELT, Md. — NASA is calling on student innovators across the United States and abroad to take part in the 2026 Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC), a competition that tasks participants with designing and testing vehicles for lunar and Martian terrain.
Proposals are due by September 15, 2025, at 8 a.m. CT and must be submitted by email to HERC@mail.nasa.gov, according to NASA’s application page. Selected teams will then complete registration through the NASA STEM Gateway.
The Rover Challenge, part of NASA’s Artemis Student Challenges, invites middle school, high school, and college students to create human-powered or remotely operated rovers capable of navigating a half-mile obstacle course designed to simulate extraterrestrial conditions. The rovers must also demonstrate the ability to collect and analyze soil, water, and air samples, NASA officials said in a recent announcement.
Two divisions are planned for 2026:
- Human-powered rovers with student “astronauts” on board to collect samples.
- Remote-controlled rovers that autonomously gather and test samples on their own.
The upcoming event will take place April 9–11, 2026, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Last year’s competition brought together more than 75 teams and 500 students from across 20 states, Puerto Rico, and 16 countries.
NASA officials emphasized that the challenge is designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers who may one day contribute to Artemis missions and future human exploration of Mars.
For full details, including proposal guidelines and design review requirements, students and educators can visit the official NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge page.
View all photos from NASA’s 2025 Human Exploration Rover Challenge which took place April 11 and 12, 2025, in Huntsville, Alabama, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
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