The Mars Society is proud to announce that Team Aspera, an exceptional multi-national student team, has claimed the top spot in the Third Annual International Mission to Mars Engineering Design Competition. The winning team, comprised of Anay Ashwin (Australia), Tanay Naik (U.S.), Nidhi Mandrekar (U.S.), and Leonardo Berlinski (Italy), achieved an outstanding score of 91.67/100 in this prestigious global challenge.
This year’s competition, which took place from June 3rd to July 12th, 2024, challenged high school students aged 13-19 to design a comprehensive human mission to Mars. Participants were pushed to their creative and technical limits, tasked with developing everything from habitat design and surface vehicles to scientific instruments, crew composition, and mission objectives. Throughout the competition, students benefited from lectures by prominent scientists and engineers from NASA, the aerospace industry, academia, and the Mars Society, including insights from the organization’s founder, Dr. Robert Zubrin.
Submissions were evaluated by a panel of experts from the Mars Society, who meticulously reviewed the written and video presentations. The competition’s director, Nicole Willett, who has overseen the program since its inception in 2022, highlighted the unique value of this experience: “Our Mission to Mars design competition is an extraordinary learning opportunity that integrates all scientific disciplines into one seamless STEM endeavor for students. It not only deepens their understanding of STEM subjects but also fosters essential skills like leadership, teamwork, and compromise—skills that will benefit them well into adulthood.”
The Mars Society extends its heartfelt congratulations to Team Aspera and all the participating teams for their hard work and dedication. In recognition of their achievement, the organization hosted several members of Team Aspera at this year’s International Mars Society Convention at the University of Washington Seattle, with three of the students – Anay Ashwin (see photo), Tanay Naik and Nidhi – sharing their team’s journey and success.
Although typically conducted virtually, this year’s program included a unique opportunity for Ms. Willett to meet and lecture a delegation of 17 students from China in person. This group participated in a condensed version of the Mission to Mars design program while visiting California, forming five teams to tackle the challenge. The students also toured SpaceX’s facility in Los Angeles and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, gaining firsthand exposure to the cutting edge of space exploration.
Ms. Willett has also expanded the Mission to Mars design competition to other on-site locations, including a 2023 session at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, where 15 student teams engaged in a six-week program. The students had direct access to Ms. Willett’s expertise, along with insights from other collaborating scientists. Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin even visited the school, inspiring the students with a talk on the importance of STEM education and the future of human missions to the Red Planet.
As the Mars Society continues to pioneer innovative approaches to STEM education, the annual Mission to Mars competition remains a crucial platform for cultivating the next generation of science and engineering leaders.
For those interested in participating in the Mars Society’s 2025 Mission to Mars engineering design competition, implementing the project in your classroom, or learning more about the organization’s other educational initiatives, please contact Ms. Willett at nicolew@marssociety.org.
