NASA News National Aeronautics and Space Administration John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 AC 321 867-2468 ____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________ For Release: March 19, 2003 NASA Contact: Tracy Young 321-867-9284 KSC Release No. 24-03 NASA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER CO-HOSTS CENTRAL FLORIDA FIRST COMPETITION NASA, Kennedy Space Center and the University of Central Florida, Orlando, will host the Central Florida Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, March 20-22, 2003, at the UCF Arena in Orlando. More than 40 teams from around the nation will participate in the competition. Students use the first day for practice, inspection and final machine work, with the following two days dedicated to competition. KSC Director Roy Bridges will speak to participants on March 21 at an invitation-only luncheon. Local competing teams include students from Astronaut , Bayside, Eau Gallie, Melbourne, Merritt Island, Palm Bay, Rockledge, Satellite, and Titusville high schools, Edgewood Middle School, Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High School, West Shore Jr./Sr. High School, and Brevard Christian School. Students spend six weeks before the regional competition working with professional mentors to design and construct a first-class robot. FIRST provides the teams with a standard set of rules and a kit of assorted parts to assemble their creations. NASA/KSC, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations are all sponsoring competing teams. The vision of FIRST is to inspire in the youth of our nation an appreciation of science and technology and an understanding that mastering these disciplines can enrich the lives of all mankind. More information on FIRST and the regional competition is available at www.cflfirst.cecs.ucf.edu/ <http://www.cflfirst.cecs.ucf.edu/> and www.usfirst.org <http://www.usfirst.org>. -- end -- ------------------------------------------------------------- For automatic email subscriptions to this KSC originated press releases, send an Internet electronic mail message to mailto:ksc-news_release-subscribe@kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov. With no subject or message. The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription. To remove your name from the list at any time, send an email addressed to mailto:ksc-news_release-unsubscribe@kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov . With no subject or message. or you can (un)subscribe on the World Wide Web at: http://kscnews.ksc.nasa.gov/ Status reports and other NASA publications are available on the World Wide Web at: http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/kscpao.htm .
