NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has returned its first photograph – a calibration shot of “about 3,000 stars in the Carina constellation.” While the star-filled image was impressive, we couldn’t help but think their explorer sure looks a lot like an encased astromech.
NASA has described the cryostat as resembling “a giant Thermos bottle” or “the Star Wars robot R2-D2″, and being “about the height and weight of a big polar bear, only wider”. The agency’s big polar bear in this case is 2.85 metres tall, 2 metres wide, 1.73 metres deep and weighs 661kg.
Read more about it here:
NASA infrared survey returns first snap
Tags: NASA, Robots, Science & Tech
Doesn’t look like R2 but you never know.
They took our droid!
I kinda see the resemblence of r2 towards the top of it but is the bottom half suppose to be a rocket of what.
It is pretty cool lookn though.
DANGER DANGER
looks more like a dalek to me
@anonymous: Ha ha! You’re right it does look like Robot from Lost in Space.
A pretty good mix of both I think…
pray it completes its work
Have they found the Star Wormwood yet?