24/10/2011
Florida’s brilliant sunshine greeted Ohio natives Eric, Josh, Matt, Will, and Daniel, winners of this year’s MoonBots Challenge. They arrived at the newest LEGOLAND® theme park last week to experience their First Prize trip accompanied by their fathers.
The boys were escorted around the park on an exclusive VIP adventure right before the Grand Opening day, which included time with a Master Model Builder, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Model Shop. During their visit they even had a chance to chat with Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, owner of the LEGO Group!
The excitement didn’t end with two days of fun at LEGOLAND® Florida, as the group then travelled to Kennedy Space Center for an unprecedented tour of the facility. Both dads and sons were astonished to be led into the massive Vehicle Assembly Building and allowed close enough to nearly touch the space shuttle Endeavour. This rare opportunity was exceeded a few minutes later when the lucky winners were given time to speak privately with Astronaut John Creighton about his experiences in space. This long time FIRST® LEGO® League team had worked very hard on the MoonBots challenge, and their excitement about sharing their project with a real astronaut could be read on each smiling face.
The representatives of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Team, and The X PRIZE Foundation who accompanied the boys on this trip were proud to see that the team did not neglect their studies while away, and know they took time out to get their homework done while on the road. Your dedication is truly amazing. Team LEGOAces ˗ we can see why you won the competition!
We look forward to seeing what is next for the MoonBots Challenge...
Play on!
The LEGO MINDSTORMS Team
Click to read more about the MoonBots Competition, LEGOLAND® Florida or Team LEGOAces
Our thanks to the partners and sponsors supporting the MoonBots contest, in particular: Chanda, Mitch, Amanda and Bob @ X PRIZE; Debbie and Jane @ Kennedy Space Center; the WIRED and GeekDad/GeekMom crew, Anna and her team @ FIRST and James, Dave, and Jenn for their contributions toward making this a success!