Students Start Company, Design Rover

Ruben Nunez, a senior Aerospace Engineering major, isn't interested in getting an internship anytime soon.

Instead, he's aiming for the moon and NASA has given him a contract potentially worth $10 million to get there.

Nunez, along with a team of students and professionals in the Central Florida area, has joined a competition to build a remote-controlled rover and send it to the moon.

In order to win the competition and the $20 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, their rover, the Omega Envoy, must land and travel 500 meters on the moon. Once on the surface, the rover must then capture high-definition video and panoramic images of its surroundings.

An e-mail and text message must also be sent.

It's a daunting task, but NASA has awarded Nunez's team, which is one of just six nationwide to receive the award, with a $10 million contract if they are able to deliver data gathered from their project on time.

"This contract has given us an incredible amount of credibility," Nunez said. "It's proof that we're capable of doing this."

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