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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.
Another great project would be to teach you to spell.
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 mean, why NASA has to go the LEGO route when free and opensource 3D raytracing programs are available to all ?
My impression from reading the article is that LEGO is very involved in organizing and funding this contest, and they have no interest in promoting something that is not their product.
That is really not how kids work. They want immediate results, they do not want to fiddle with a program for a week to get their design to a stage they are happy with. If that happens they will find other stuff to do.
This exercise is about getting kids interested, not weed out the majority because they don't have the patience for 3D modelling. Come time when they do, and stand in front of the choice "do I become an engineer?" you want them to remember their brush with NASA fondly, not as a week of endless torment in front of a program they didn't understand.
... whatever