Week of June 9, 2022
$1.00
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
GoldenTranscript.net
VOLUME 156 | ISSUE 25
College students are Over the Dusty Moon for CSM competition
Fentanyl bill signed into law before session ends Lawmakers were able to find compromise before legislative clock ran out STAFF REPORT
both said learning how to work with regolith will be important if humanity wants a sustainable presence on the moon. The students’ designs will help advance lunar exploration technology while also giving new them networking and educational opportunities, they said. On June 2, the Laurentian Lunars kicked off the demonstrations, as their screw-augur system moved 100 kilograms of simulated regolith in 11 minutes. Prototypes had to move that amount in an hour or less. CSM geology professor Kevin Cannon explained how the demonstrations was the second phase of the Over the Moon Challenge. The first was to design a concept design during the 2021 fall semester, and 16
On May 11, Colorado legislators approved House Bill 22-1326 with less than two hours remaining in the 2022 session. To push the bill over the finish line, a House and Senate conference Committee was appointed to create a compromise that could pass both chambers. It was ultimately passed in the House by a vote of 35-30 and in the Senate by a vote of 27-8. HB 22-1326 was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis on May 25. In general, the bill creates tougher penalties for fentanyl distribution and provides more treatment options for dependent users, while funding drug education. It also provides money for Naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdose. The bill, an attempt to deal with the state’s growing fentanyl crisis, was contentious, largely because of a provision that could potentially make possession of up to 4 grams of the exceedingly deadly drug, a misdemeanor. In the weeks leading up to the vote, law enforcement agencies warned against passing the bill
SEE DEMO, P2
SEE BILL, P3
The Colorado School of Mines team members explain their lunar dirt-moving system to the judges during the June 3 Over the Dusty PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES Moon Challenge at the CSM campus.
Students build, demonstrate systems to move lunar dirt BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The technology college students showcased in a local parking lot June 2-3 could one day be on the moon. College students from around the world gathered at the Colorado School of Mines last week to demonstrate their prototypes for moving lunar dust. The new challenge, sponsored by Lockheed Martin, asked the students to design and then build their systems over the
school year. On June 2-3, five teams from Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland and CSM demonstrated their systems for moving lunar dirt or regolith. Judges included technologists from NASA and Lockheed Martin, and others who specialize in developing space technology. The teams were judged based on the amount of regolith transported, system mass, energy consumed, dust tolerance and generation, autonomy and overall performance. The Laurentian Lunars from Ontario, Canada took first place and won a $3,000 prize. Poland’s SpaceTeam AGH and Germany’s Moonaixperts took second and third, respectively, and received $2,000 and $1,000 prizes. CSM and Lockheed Martin staff
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 28
DEVASTATION TO DELIGHT Artists forge wonderful works from wildfire’s remains P16