A gaggle of students from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh traveled to Florida last month during their winter break. The students, many of them studying to be engineers and scientists, went there to watch a rocket launch that would send a small 4.8-pound robotic rover that they had helped build on its journey to the moon. Afterward, they hoped to have time for some sun and fun, renting a large house just three blocks from the beach. The rover, named Iris, headed toward the moon on schedule in a perfect inaugural flight of Vulcan, a brand-new rocket. “We had a mission,” said Connor Colombo, the chief engineer for Iris.

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Persons: ”, Nikolai Stefanov, Iris, “, Connor Colombo, I’m Organizations: Carnegie Mellon University Locations: Pittsburgh, Florida