SPOKANE, Wash. — Lilah Coyan, a 6th grade student at Odyssey magnet school in Spokane, has advanced from a semifinalist to a finalist in NASA’s Power to Explore Student Challenge.
RELATED: Spokane student named semifinalist in NASA exploration challenge
Coyan wrote a short essay on how she would deploy a rover on Jupiter’s second-largest moon, Calisto.
She included what elements the rover would collect that could show the potential for life on the moon, including underground water.
She named her theoretical rover Ambition.
The goal of the competition was to help students learn about NASA’s radioisotope power systems (RPS), which is like a nuclear battery that allows mechanical equipment to function in extreme weather/terrain conditions.
Coyan was one of only nine finalists in the NASA competition nationwide.
NASA partnered with the Future Engineers Association to host the competition.
Winners will be announced May 7, 2025.
Those winners will have the opportunity to visit NASA’s Glenn Research in Cleveland this summer.
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