Meet The Astrobots - LEGOs Go To Mars

from the LEGOs-in-spaaaaaaaaaace dept

Roland Piquepaille writes "In "LEGO robot Mars bound," floridatoday.com says that the Planetary Society announced Saturday that Biff Starling will be the first astrobot to fly to Mars today. Biff was supposed to be a backup astrobot, but Sandy Moondust, the designated astrobot, suffered from a "freak zucchini accident." Here are the details about these robots, designed by the Planetary Society through a partnership with the LEGO Company. These robots are only 1.2 inch high and will land on Mars with a mini-DVD carrying the names of 4 million people who submitted their names before launch. This summary contains additional references and a nice picture of the happy Biff Starling and the adventurous Sandy Moondust." Yes, this is all a little silly publicity stunt for both LEGO and for the Mars trip, but as the article says, techies and scientists seem to have a strong connection to LEGO, so it made sense.