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NASA’s Curiosity Team Gives Us a Geeky Reason To Go to the Inauguration Parade

Although the rover itself could not make the trip from Mars, a full-size model will roll in the parade alongside the real-life crew

Rachel Nuwer

January 18, 2013

The NASA team assembling Curiosity back in 2011. NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Floats, marching bands and President Obama won’t be the only things on display at Monday’s Inauguration Parade. NASA will be participating, too, and they’re bringing along the Curiosity team. Although the rover itself could not take time off from Mars to make the parade, a full-size model will stand in instead. Orion, the capsule that NASA plans will take astronauts farther into space than ever before, will also be on display in model form.

Members of the Curiosity team will greet parade-goers on the sidelines, and the NASA Headquarters is also opening its doors to spectators looking to warm up from the cold or check out the facility throughout the day on Monday.

Other parade highlights include a Hawaii float in honor of Obama’s birthplace, which will feature a large volcano modeled after the Diamond Head Volcano, and a Martin Luther King, Jr., float, which creates a visual representation of his quote, “out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”