Three Plano students are part of the Parish Episcopal School’s Rover Team that took first place in NASA’s Human Exploration Challenge (HERC).
The HERC is NASA’s longest-standing student challenge, requiring students to design, build and test a lunar rover and compete with groups from around the world over the course of nine months. Parish competed alongside more than 500 other students, with 28 collegiate teams, 13 high school teams and one middle school team.
“This challenge gives students a hands-on opportunity to think like engineers and problem-solvers, applying real-world design principles to complex exploration scenarios,” said Vemitra Alexander, who leads the Human Exploration Rover Challenge for NASA”s Office of STEM Engagement. “BY encouraging innovation and teamwork, we’re helping prepare the next generation to contribute to missions that will take us father into space.”
Parish took home first place overall in the Human-Powered High School Division, the Safety Award, Project Review Award, Phoenix Award, and Task Tool Award. The team was scored on their ability to to navigate a half-mile obstacle course, complete mission-specific talk challenges and pass multiple safety and design reviews by NASA engineers.
Parish’s team includes Plano residents Anushka Nagchoudhury (’27), Nicholas Chronis (’28) and Isaac Lemeshev (’28).
