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[music]

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>> How many of you want
to be aerospace engineers? Okay.

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>> Be putting the final touches
on your rover, do some tests,

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figure out things now, before
you get to the field.

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[music/background conversation]

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>> I'm Al Bowers,
I'm the chief scientist

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at NASA Armstrong
Flight Research Center.

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These kids are in the experience
for journey to Mars which is

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to build small Mars rovers
to rescue another rover.

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This is their first real
experience with trying

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to do something and first
real experience with NASA.

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[music]

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>> What's the specific
approach your team has taken

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and what's the challenge
you're trying to achieve today?

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>> Well, right now we're
trying to retrieve all 3 --

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at least we know of 3
rovers on the platform.

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We have a hammer that is going
to use a motorized action

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to bring down a scoop and
hook the rovers back towards

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our base.

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[music]

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>> I'm actually the design
engineer, in a group of three

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right now we're just trying to
finalize our process.

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>> We'll just create a new
program.

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>> We had to reinnovate a couple
times and right now the final

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process is just to put the last
minute things together, and

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the pressure is really going on
right now.

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>> The experience that I had
here was the most life changing

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thing I've ever had.

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I've never worked in
a group like this.

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To come here and work
with people that are

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in the same situation as
I'm in and really want it.

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>> It's not only mathematics
or engineering,

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but also the creativity
aspect is really important.

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And if you want to add some
sort of wow factor or some sort

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of outside the box thought that
maybe another party hasn't come

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up with, you can really
revolutionize an area.

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>> Go!

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[music]

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[rover sounds]

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[sighs/groans]

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[rover sounds]

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[sighs/groans]

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[rover sounds]

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[gasps]

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[sighs/groans]

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>> You don't plan for
things to go well.

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You plan for things to go
horribly wrong, be willing

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to see that risk, you
have to risk things

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to be able to achieve things.

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If there isn't any chance of
failure, it's a demonstration,

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it's not research.

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When we actually launched, we
had a little bit of an

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asymmetric deployment.

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>> Whoooaa!

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>> Those were inflatable wings,
so that destroyed them.

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Experience comes from making bad
decisions, basically.

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The only way to gain some
experience is by failing.

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You do everything you can so
that you can learn from those

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mistakes.

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>> Just seeing everyone else,

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engineers already going through
the same struggles, continuing

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all these struggles and
failures, but being able

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to still turn out fine.

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It's great and it
reinforces that fact

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that I know that I can do it.

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[cheering]

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>> It has motivated me to
continue pushing myself.

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>> Lots of experiments,
and experiments

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and trying and imagination.

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[music]

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[rover sounds]

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[cheering]

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[rover sounds]

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[cheering]

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[rover sounds]

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[cheering]

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>> I've learned to work
really well with teams.

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I've learned the whole entire
robotic design process.

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I've learned about some of
the cutting edge missions

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that they're doing on Mars.

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I've learned -- it
was just crazy --

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it was a very wild experience.

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Just seeing so many
industry professionals

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and so many- how down
to Earth they are,

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and how like-minded they are.

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And just being a part of that
whole corner was just