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NASA Teams With LEGO To Offer Model Competition
coondoggie writes "NASA today said it would team up with Lego to offer a competition to see who can build the coolest models of future airplanes and spacecraft. The 'NASA's Missions: Imagine and Build' competition is open now with an entry deadline of July 31. Winners in each category will be selected by a panel of NASA and LEGO officials and announced Sept. 1."
Oh, I wish I had pics of the Winnebago I built when I was a kid... It was complete with a toilet, a ladder that extended down from a hatch in the bottom, and of course the ludicrouspeed drives that flipped out from a compartment in the back.
minecraft would have been a good option too
Another great project would be to teach you to spell.
I mean, why NASA has to go the LEGO route when free and opensource 3D raytracing programs are available to all ?
Furthermore, constructing space crafts using LEGO means people are unnecessarily being restricted by availability of the shape/size/color of the LEGO blocks
On 3D programs people get to create whatever shape/size and use whatever color they want, on their creations
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Don't build toys, Build real rockets. If you haven't already forgotten how to.
If you read the article, you will see the the prize is just a set of legos and some NASA memorabilia. There is no cash prize, and the Lego sets are donated by Lego. This is costing the taxpayers nothing, is not taking any funds away from NASA's "real" missions, and just might inspire some kids to do something meaningful with their lives.
I fail to see how this may foster NASA's progress to its (supposed) goals. Any ideas?
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Kids make models => kids want to become engineers => kids grow up and work for NASA and build future ships
On the other hand, with the use of open sourced3D ray-tracing programs ...
Kids make 3D models on screen
=> kids can test out their 3D models with simulation programs available online (many open sourced) while learning about aerodynamics at the same time
=> kids fine-tuning / enhancing / modifying their 3D models
=> kids get all excited and learn more about various rocket engine designs
=> kids unknowingly become very knowledgeable in things that will open a lot of doors for them
=> kids become space craft designers on their own rights
=> profit !
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
My point is that NASA should focus on space exploration, R&D etc. instead of promoting toys.
Lego are doing really great on their own.
I just think that NASA should be a bit embarrassing, wasting time on PR campaigns and product branding, piggybacking on an already successful toy manufacturer.
It kind of puts things into perspective, when you think about what people at NASA did in the sixties.
Instead of doing business and mingling with Lego, NASA should be worried about how to build a working scramjet, single stage rockets and new propulsion systems.
>and just might inspire some kids to do something meaningful with their lives.
Show them the Apollo program on youtube.
And tell them the story. When dad was young, the rockets where three times as powerful as what we have today.
You could fly to Paris from New York in the morning on the Concorde and be back for dinner.
Back then we had ambitions, to go to the moon, build space stations. Real science fiction.
You could probably fit all the combined computing power that was available to NASA forty years ago in the palm of your hand, if you own a smartphone.
But at the time, it was enough. Think about what can be done today, with the available technology and materials.
Perhaps slashdot could integrate with google.translate some day.
To be fair he seemed to be able to spell just fine, it was the inability to form meaningful sentences that was the problem.
and then build in legos. Just like Legoland.
I hate being bipolar; it's awesome!
nice information
'cause I got no real mod points...
Your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
In the 60's (with SLIDE RULES) NASA built the Apollo program and put men on the moon. Today we can't lift our own astronauts into space and NASA's 'move ahead' plan is to play with Legos. Pathetic
Your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
http://ldd.lego.com/en-us/
Lego has their own free 3D-ish design program. I have played with it a bit - it can be finicky, but it's pretty cool.
It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
Yeah! And Homer beat their brains out!
First against the wall when the revolution comes
Don't think they will twitting about the attack on the US Liberty.
Maybe this will inspire Lego to bring back a line like the old Classic Space series. The space sets they make are fine, but I wish they'd bring back a "pure" space series: no aliens to fight, no giant space bugs, no space police and villains -- just exploration, discovery, and settling. For a nice example of how to update the line, check this out.
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