WASHINGTON, D.C.--NASA is accepting applications from teams of U.S. and international undergraduate and graduate students for the fourth annual Lunabotics Mining Competition. The event will be held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida May 20-24, 2013.

Participants in the competition will design and build a remote controlled or autonomous robot. During the competition, the teams' designs, known as lunabots, will go head-to-head to determine which machine can excavate and deposit the most simulated lunar dirt within 10 minutes.

Registration is limited to the first 50 teams submitting applications.

The competition is designed to engage and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, disciplines critical to NASA's missions.

For information on the competition and to apply online, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/lunabotics

For more information on NASA's education programs, visithttp://www.nasa.gov/education .