BB-8 visited the NASA jet propulsion laboratory and nobody told me?!?! I only live a few miles away. I have friends who work there.
Ahem, anyway.
So BB-8 visited the JPL back in early March of this year. Gizmodo has great pictures of BB-8 in his visitors badge, and taking selfies with various robots, including the test double for the Mars Curiosity Rover.
Now there’s video of BB-8’s historic visit. First, BB-8 learns that there are a lot of women working at the JPL, including Maggie, a double of the Mars Curiosity Rover. She does test runs in the JPL’s “Mars yard” so that they can maximize the Curiosity Rover’s ability to determine whether there was life on Mars. JPL Scientist Diana Trujillo explains that Maggie has two sets of two cameras on her sides, and two cameras inside. Maggie also has a six-foot arm to aid in science experiments, like obtaining and analyzing samples. As a result, Maggie has helped determine that “Mars has the chemical composition that is needed to hold life.”
Maggie can also take selfies.
No word on whether BB-8 got any of these NASA space tourism posters as a souvenir, though.
(via Gizmodo)
