Local astronaut, NASA research director meet with CMU students to see historic new lunar rover

PITTSBURGH — An astronaut who graduated from North Allegheny came to CMU with a NASA research director to talk to local college students who built the smallest-ever lunar rover.

Dr. Warren “Woody” Hoburg has had a busy year. In March he led a group of astronauts to the space station after overcoming some delays.

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Hoburg graduated from North Allegheny in 2004. He was known for having a love of rockets as a student. On Saturday he visited Carnegie Mellon University and shared some knowledge with students who have similar passions.

He was joined by Dr. Jimmy Keaton, a CMU graduate, and they watched the students who designed the new Iris lunar rover simulate a lander test flight.

The rover is expected to be the first-ever American-made robot to drive on the moon and will launch on Christmas Eve.

Kenyon is the new director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Ohio. He said he was very impressed with the students’ knowledge.

“These are students who really are engaged and learning very quickly, and frankly they’re spending a lot of their spare time doing this which just shows a lot of passion for what they’re doing,” said Kenyon.

Hoburg and Kenyon will be honored before the Steelers game on Sunday.

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