HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - NASA is searching for the next generation of space explorers to participate in the fun, exciting and educational challenge of designing and building their own version of NASA's lunar rover or "moonbuggy" to compete in NASA's 14th Great Moonbuggy Race.

This annual event will be held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., and is sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Corp of Los Angeles. The high school competition will be Friday, April 13, 2007, with the college competition scheduled for Saturday, April 14.

College and high school students from across the country will put their knowledge to work in a real-world environment as they discover practical uses for science, technology, engineering and math in the unique competitive atmosphere of the race.

Student teams are challenged to meet design criteria set by scientists and engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, where the original lunar rover was designed and tested before it was driven by astronauts on the moon during the last three Apollo missions in the 1970s. The first Great Moonbuggy Race was run in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

Teams will compete for the best time around a half-mile, simulated lunar course. The deadline for schools to register for the competition is Feb. 1, 2007.

For more information, including race rules, information on the course and photos from previous competitions, visit:

http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov