NASA Kicks Off 2013 First Robotics Season with Live Broadcast Jan. 5

Jan. 3, 2013

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-003

NASA KICKS OFF 2013 FIRST ROBOTICS SEASON WITH LIVE BROADCAST JAN. 5

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will broadcast the annual FIRST (For
Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics
Kickoff event on Saturday, Jan. 5, starting at 10:30 a.m. EST from
Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. The event also will
be streamed live on NASA's website.

As in past years, NASA plays a significant role by providing public
access to robotics programs to encourage young people to investigate
careers in the sciences and engineering. Through the NASA Robotics
Alliance Project, the agency provides grants for almost 250 teams and
sponsors four regional student competitions, including a FIRST
regional competition in Washington that will be held March 28-30.

Each year, FIRST presents a new robotics competition scenario where
each team receives an identical kit of parts and has six weeks to
design and build a robot based on the team's interpretation of the
game scenario. Other than dimension and weight restrictions, the look
and function of the robots is up to each individual team. This year
more than 2,500 teams from 49 states, and 12 countries will
participate.

Engineer Dean Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 to help convince American
youth that engineering and technology are exciting and 'cool' fields.
NASA participation in the FIRST program is provided through the NASA
Headquarters Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For a complete a list of the regional events, corporate sponsors and
other details, visit:

http://www.usfirst.org/

For more information on the NASA's Robotics Alliance Project visit:

http://robotics.nasa.gov


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