NASA's Mars rovers have been accomplishing a lot away from Earth and now, they have inspired a new toy.
The Denver-based LEGO Group announced Friday that the next release in their CUUSOO line will be the Mars Curiosity rover, CollectSpace.com reported. LEGO's Tim Courtney said in a blog post on the company's website that the Mars rover aligned with the toy company's educational goal.
"We learned that this product has niche appeal and strong demand from the space and education communities," he said. "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."
CUUSOO is a line of products made by LEGO, but it is also a website where fans can share ideas and vote on new products. Curiosity met the qualification of at least 10,000 votes to be considered for release in August 2012.
Stephen Pakbaz introduced his idea for the LEGO Curiosity in Nov. 2011, before the real rover launched for the red planet. Pakbaz worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where he saw the design firsthand.
"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," Pakbaz said.
The Curiosity rover on Mars is currently traveling to its next destination and hopes to uncover the planet's deepest secrets. It's already returned a trove of discoveries in the field where it had camped for six months.
"My hope was to have a set produced while the real rover was still active on Mars so that the model could help kids learn about the real rover's discoveries as they occurred," Pakbaz said in an interview last year with CollectSpace.com.
The LEGO Curiosity rover has some time, as the real rover shows no signs of slowing down.
"The final product is still in development," Courtney wrote. "Exact pricing and availability is still being determined, so stay tuned."
