advik: i found that fascinating. announcer: the age of the universe, proving the existence of black holes... man: the heavens just... woman: you know, i think the end of the story is... man: ...human beings on this earth ever imagined that they would be able to see? tanner: and because human life is very precious, we had seven astronauts on the space shuttle. male reporter: everything looking good on board columbia. you see our whole planet go by, and it just left me thinking that, "wow, just 90 minutes and this whole planet has gone by... this one magnificent planet, which is the only place that supports life that we know of..." so i really want to get that feeling again. so that's what i'm looking forward to. (indistinct transmission) female reporter: it's been ten years since the space shuttle disaster. after a 16-day mission... the first woman born in india to travel to space spent a total... female reporter: 15 years after her death... (speaking foreign language) the hindu religion, it's in every part of my life

advik: and that i like-- i still do., some parts, where, like, the code doesn't work, or you don't know what's happening. our team won the first time and lost the second. when advik was 6 1/2 years old, he came home one day, and he said, "can we go back to india, or can you change my skin?" i said, "why are you saying that?" "'cause my friend told me i don't belong here." that was a big, um, uh, wakeup moment for us. i just-- we just wanted him to be very happy in his own skin and with his own lifestyle. praveen: i want him to discover his passion and just pursue it, like, wholeheartedly. growing up back in india, we were all expected to be an engineer or a doctor. usually that's the two most promising careers in india. uh, that's not the case here... you're an engineer and your brother and sister are... -doctors. -doctors. yeah. so you're the only outcast. and you're the only one who lives in america. -yes. yes. -(laughs) outcast. so far-- far from family, yes. siblings are still in india, yes. remember this? this was,

advik: meet the astronaut, jack fischer. well, hello to all my friends in core 16. joyce and cady, and the whole team that put spheres together. what a great program. and it's here, and you're in the finals. all of you are champions. you've gotten this far, and let this only be the first step. don't let this be the end. let this be the start of a journey, a lifelong journey of learning, where you grow and contribute to society. i think given what you've done so far, the future is bright for what you can accomplish. so, with that, good luck to all of the contestants, and let the games begin. (cheers and applause) cady: you too, fisch. that was an awesome, awesome intro, and we are ready for you to start. alvar: and we are ready for the first match. man: west virginia versus massachusetts. alvar: west virginia in the blue satellite versus massachusetts in the orange satellite. he just holding $200,000 robots. if you're on team massachusetts, let's hear it. (cheers and applause) -okay, here we go. -here we go. -local pride. - yeah, we can see that. massachusetts, it's