Above, Mars Robotics team members Lindsey Gourash, 15, and Mitchell Kulfan, 14, work on the prototype designs for this year's competition robot. Below, Jacob Noe, 12, works on a prototype shooting mechanism for this year's Mars Robotics Team robot.

“The first human beings to land on Mars should not come back to Earth. They should be the beginning of a buildup of a colony/settlement. I call it a 'permanence.'”

Those words are credited to Buzz Aldrin, former astronaut and second man to walk on the moon, in a 2014 interview he did for Reddit, a discussion website.

Aldrin was discussing how the idea of a Mars landing conducted by a member of the private sector conflicted with his conviction that Mars could be settled by the first people who land there.

The cost of private exploration alone would dissuade any permanent venture, according to Aldrin.

The mission to understand Mars might be more successful if the U.S. government was behind it, or if it started a little closer to home.

That's where the Mars Robotics Association comes in.

This is an excerpt of a longer article. Pick up Wednesday's Butler Eagle or subscribe online to read the full story about the Mars Robotics Association.