 The Mars Curiosity Rover has been exploring the Red Planet for several months now, but soon you'll be able to craft your own replica in the (non-toxic) comfort of your home. The team at LEGO has selected a model of the Mars Curiosity Rover as the next fan-backed idea it will turn into a real project. LEGO solicits ideas for new models via its Cuusoo website, where fans can vote for their favorites. If any proposal gets over 10,000 votes, LEGO will consider producing it for real. During the last round, which ended in Sept. 2012, three projects topped 10,000 votes: the Curiosity model, a UCS Sandcrawler, and a model based on the video game Portal 2. After considering each project from four angles - brand and strategy fit, business case development, license agreements, and model design - LEGO decided to go with the Curiosity project. "After analyzing the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover project, we learned that this product has niche appeal and strong demand from the space and education communities. The product aligns well with the LEGO Group's mission to 'inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow,' including those who will build our future in outer space," the LEGO team said in a blog post. The model was created by Stephen Pakbaz, who worked on Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and is now at space contractor Orbital Sciences. "I combined this first-hand experience with my LEGO hobby to create a LEGO model that was as faithful to the actual rover as possible in terms of accuracy, details, and mechanical function, while remaining at a reasonable size and cost," Pakbaz wrote in his project description. "The primary purpose of this effort has been to contribute to the educational outreach for this incredible mission," LEGO said. Product development is still in progress, so LEGO does not yet have details about a release date or price. But "the model presented in this project is built very closely to the LEGO Group's design standards and so the final product will be very close to [the] original design." Pakbaz has also created a Descent Stage and Sky Crane model, and posted pics on Flickr. The Portal project, however, might still happen. "As of today, the test results are not yet in; we're still looking into the possibility of releasing a set based on the Thinking with Portals! Project," the team said. LEGO was not at liberty to pursue the Sandcrawler project because of a licensing arrangement with Lucasfilm on LEGO Star Wars products. The deadline for the next round of Cuusso projects is Sept. 1, so be sure to vote for favorites throughout the summer.  via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHt0c3s8XycFo9dYf46QjJgqyKxcg&url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420606,00.asp | |||
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