Curiosity Mars Rover Gets Lego Treatment

The 2,000-pound NASA Mars Rover Curiosity landed on Mars early Monday morning to begin exploring the red planet’s surface, but there’s a lighter, smaller model back on Earth creating buzz at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and across the web.

Lego Mindstorm NXT

 project builders Doug Moran and Will Gorman have created a Lego-version of the Curiosity rover, boasting more than 1,000 Legos and Bluetooth technology to control the device. The model was built for the Build the Future in Space event at the Kennedy Space Center.

The rover contains “thousands” of Lego Technic and Mindstorm bricks, six wheels (four of which are powered) and can make 360-degree turns. It is assembled entirely with Legos, so no glue was needed.

The rover’s arm control can be accessed remotely via Bluetooth.

 

This isn’t the first time the team tackled a Lego-inspired Mars Rover. They presented the first version of the device when Curiosity launched at the Kennedy Space Center in November 2011.

“We made major changes to the robot, including building a more robust chassis and wheels,” the team said via its website.

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