NASA Legonauts set for Jupiter voyage NASA has rather cheekily taken a leaf out of our Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) project manual and is set to launch three miniature astronauts on its Juno mission to Jupiter. Naturally, this being NASA, a common-or-garden Playmonaut simply isn't up to the job, and the agency tapped Lego for $15k worth of aluminium …
The DVDs of messages carried down to the surface on the Spirit and Opportunity rover landers had an image of LEGO astronauts 'Biff Starling' and 'Sandy Moondust' printed on them. A couple of minifigs were supposed to go, but in the end just the pictures were used.
These guys have got a lot further to go. I think we'll probably let the Reg off the Playmobil reconstruction for once..?
[looks around furtively]
I don't see any stars in that photograph. I mean we only have THEIR word that they spent $15k on these figures, I suppose we could ask Lego, but THEY are probably in on it as well.
I mean how many people have actually SEEN these figures? Are they really ON the spacecraft? For all we know there could just be RELAYING the pict...
+++ NO CARRIER
$15k for three bespoke figures? Unpainted!!??!!
There are certain people I know in the models business who'd be fulminating in a righteous outburst of jealous rage at the sight of that.
I know how this goes:
"Customer wants three bespoke unpainted figures in ally. 'Ow much?"
"Complicated stuff?"
"Nah. Lego style."
"Oooh, borrow the standard bits from the kids' toybox, knock out the bespoke detail in wax tomorrow afternoon and cast 'em Friday.....call it 800 quid. Who's asking?"
"NASA."
"Ask for five grand.......whadda they wannem for?"
"Sending 'em to Jupiter in a spaceship apparently."
"Ah, make that 15....."
given the intensity of the radiation belts around Jupiter and approaching solar maximum , I speculate that plastic playmobiles may either
(a) char, (b) seriously distort, (c) sublimate (d) all of the preceding.. Al may only get slightly radiactive. Al may be the best solution for the playmobiles to make to Jupiter. Mg if one needed strenght but it would cost. more. It would burn much better in a launch failure though.
Anyone know the volatility of playmobile plastics in a vacuum ?
What the article doesn't mention is that the cost of the aluminium figures is being absorbed by LEGO themselves, so the the American taxpayer doesn't have to fork out the extra money. I'm sure there will be some cost for affixing the figure to the craft but as I understand it this is in addition to the $15k.
The idea behind all this is to bring younger people into the space industry - you can follow it all here http://www.legospace.com
thinks up these prices? therecertainly is NOT 15k's worth of aluminium in those figures, and to be fair any modeler/scuplture-rer person would be able to sculpt them, of it is is not as if playmobile do NOT have the moulds to go on... so exactly where does the cost come from? maybe they meant 15,000 pennies... i wish i could get away with putting price tags like that on stuff...
now where did i put my $500 hammer again......
With that sort of attitude the human race would have died out ages ago owing to a lack of scientific advancement. Science and exploration is too important dammit.
I'm assuming this was your last post before you sell your laptop along with all your other non-essential possessions so you can send all your money to Somalia? No? Then stop being a fecking hypocrite.
Cost 15,000 or worth 15,000?.
Presumably cost includes concept, design, modelling, risk analysis (bit of a bastard turn if a bit fell off and jammed something important) p+p, licensing, business lunches,
Did NASA pay for them or did Lego donate/contribute?
These things could be out there for an enternity - I don't know that ABS lasts that long compared to Al.
From New Scientist’s Juno story:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20765-waterscouting-probe-to-take-off-for-jupiter.html
“… no one knows what matter does at the extreme pressures inside such a massive body.
“These pressures are estimated to be 50 million Earth atmospheres, says Bagenal: "Think of 100 elephants standing on top of each other with the bottom elephant standing on one foot – on a stiletto heel."”
50*10^6 A = 1 hecto-jumbo-mono-something?
"Naturally, this being NASA, a common-or-garden Playmonaut simply isn't up to the job, and the agency tapped Lego for $15k worth of aluminium miniatures."
Excuse me for pissing on everyone's parade, but for all anyone knows, there could be hundreds of aluminium miniatures for that $15k, for that is how Lester has written the piece, is it not?
And did anyone notice that comments software favours aluminum as opposed to aluminium in its spell-checker ...... and favor to favour too.:-)
"England and America are two countries separated by a common language." .... George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)?
From the law offices of Doohey, Rapem and Howe.
Dear NASA,
At the behest of our client, The Register; we hereby order you to cease and desist in your plans to use small toy figures in your upcoming flight to Juno.
Our client has provided our law firm with sufficient prior art and published documentation so as to clearly prove that they were the first to think of this use for toy figures and follow through with actual flight testing.
On behalf of The Register, we are demanding payment of royalties and penalties in the sum of 15,000 English Pounds (None of those worthless American dollars, please).
Our client is willing forgo payment in cash if the following two conditions are met:
a) A permanently funded & irrevoccable pub tab is set up at an establishment of our clients choosing.
b) Paris Hilton must be strapped, completely naked; to the top of the launch vehicle, attended by all of the Kardashians & Houswives of New Jersey; who are to be garbed similarly to Ms. Hilton and strapped to each of the solid fuel boosters while a full audio/HD video feed of their predicament is streamed worldwide over the internet and to all television stations except those owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Furthermore, the liquid hydrogen fuel for the launch vehicle must be certified and tested to have come from the rendered fat of the cast of Jersey Shore and the entirety of the US Congress and Senate.
Oh, yes, can't forget one last requirement, Sarah Bee must return as the Moderatrix of the Register Comments.
Your immediate reply is required.
Very truly yours,
Snively J. Bastard, Barrister
"Oh, yes, can't forget one last requirement, Sarah Bee must return as the Moderatrix of the Register Comments."
I'm missing Sarah's gentle reprimands, the softly lilting tones of her put downs and the CRACK! of her whip striking across the buttocks of the latest victim of her ire.
Sniff,
I miss her.
So, it seems that what our engineers refer to as an HLV (Heavy-Lift Vehicle) is called over there a BBR -- a Bloody Big Rocket. Much more simple and elegant, I think.
Atlas is a pretty fair-sized brute for sure, but still, the Saturn V -- now, _there_ was a BBR.
Also, on the subject of toy spacemen being launched into space -- I recall a Buzz Lightyear puppet being flown aboard a Shuttle mission a while back. Kind of funny watching a video downlink of crew members doing all their serious scientific stuff, and suddenly Buzz Lightyear comes drifting into the shot.
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