 Hey guys, it's Sean O'Kane with The Verge. And Lauren Grush. We're here at NASA's booth at CES 2016. It's the first time that NASA has been at the conference before, and they're showcasing a lot of the technologies that they use on the International Space Station and hopefully on Mars someday. And we're such big space nerds that we had to come check out everything that they have here. So we're about to go take a look at it. Robonaut, if you're ready, give me a thumbs up. That works. So I'm about to see the SLS rocket fire. This thing's not going to fire for a couple years, but this is NASA's next gigantic rocket that will hopefully take people to Mars and, for us, I think we hope maybe to the moon someday. But definitely hopefully to Mars. I'm really close to this thing at the very bottom. You don't want to be here when it takes off. The coolant is firing. Getting the rockets ready to go. And now I'm being lifted in the air by some magical sleigh or something. I've got a countdown going in my ears. Oh, this is so cool. We've only seen renders of this thing, but this is the most realistic version I think anybody's really probably seen so far. NASA just started building this thing, so it's not actually even done yet. 15, T minus 15. All right, here we go. Oh, T minus 10. Oh, I'm going to leave. Oh, God, that's dizzying. Five, four, three. Oh. Cuts off right at the good part. Oh, it went dark. Did we run out of funding? So this is Billy Allen, and he built this mock-up robot, the Curiosity rover. So tell me a little bit about this guy. So this rover is sort of a traveling rover that goes with NASA and JPL to public events like elementary schools, middle schools, high schools. It's meant to be kid-friendly, open for people to approach it, interact with the rover, look at it. Because when you're thinking of rovers that are on Mars, it's like you get those pictures that are back that are really cool, but you can't quite imagine like what is actually going on short of the pictures. So it's cool to see something in real life that can drive around. This guy's on remote control. It's got a camera. It has sensors that will tell what's around it. We've been teaching it recently to drive autonomously so it can drive around and avoid running into things. So you couldn't be bothered to bring the actual rover from Mars to CES this year? The actual one is like this big. It's really, really big. I mean, he really wanted to be impressive at CES. So this is a consumer electronics show, so how much is this going for and when can we buy it? So unfortunately it's not for sale. What time in 2016? If I close my eyes, it's almost like I'm on Mars. Wait, I found water. Guys, we found water. So as Sean and I have demonstrated, we don't necessarily meet the qualifications to be NASA astronauts, but here at the CES booth, we've got the next best thing, pictures as astronauts. So for more from CES 2016 and the NASA booth, head to theverge.com and go to youtube.com slash verge and click subscribe. How's that feel? So how's your day going, Lauren? Actually, it feels kind of nice. Oh my gosh. These are better than those massage chairs. I'm not psyched about this carpet though, not gonna lie.
 Hey guys, it's Sean O'Kane with The Verge.
 And Lauren Grush.
 We're here at NASA's booth at CES 2016.
 It's the first time that NASA has been at the conference before, and they're showcasing
 a lot of the technologies that they use on the International Space Station and hopefully
 on Mars someday.
 And we're such big space nerds that we had to come check out everything that they have
 here.
 So we're about to go take a look at it.
 Robonaut, if you're ready, give me a thumbs up.
 That works.
 So I'm about to see the SLS rocket fire.
 This thing's not going to fire for a couple years, but this is NASA's next gigantic rocket
 that will hopefully take people to Mars and, for us, I think we hope maybe to the moon
 someday.
 But definitely hopefully to Mars.
 I'm really close to this thing at the very bottom.
 You don't want to be here when it takes off.
 The coolant is firing.
 Getting the rockets ready to go.
 And now I'm being lifted in the air by some magical sleigh or something.
 I've got a countdown going in my ears.
 Oh, this is so cool.
 We've only seen renders of this thing, but this is the most realistic version I think
 anybody's really probably seen so far.
 NASA just started building this thing, so it's not actually even done yet.
 15, T minus 15.
 All right, here we go.
 Oh, T minus 10.
 Oh, I'm going to leave.
 Oh, God, that's dizzying.
 Five, four, three.
 Oh.
 Cuts off right at the good part.
 Oh, it went dark.
 Did we run out of funding?
 So this is Billy Allen, and he built this mock-up robot, the Curiosity rover.
 So tell me a little bit about this guy.
 So this rover is sort of a traveling rover that goes with NASA and JPL to public events
 like elementary schools, middle schools, high schools.
 It's meant to be kid-friendly, open for people to approach it, interact with the rover, look at it.
 Because when you're thinking of rovers that are on Mars, it's like you get those pictures
 that are back that are really cool, but you can't quite imagine like what is actually going on
 short of the pictures.
 So it's cool to see something in real life that can drive around.
 This guy's on remote control.
 It's got a camera.
 It has sensors that will tell what's around it.
 We've been teaching it recently to drive autonomously so it can drive around and avoid
 running into things.
 So you couldn't be bothered to bring the actual rover from Mars to CES this year?
 The actual one is like this big.
 It's really, really big.
 I mean, he really wanted to be impressive at CES.
 So this is a consumer electronics show, so how much is this going for and when can we buy it?
 So unfortunately it's not for sale.
 What time in 2016?
 If I close my eyes, it's almost like I'm on Mars.
 Wait, I found water.
 Guys, we found water.
 So as Sean and I have demonstrated, we don't necessarily meet the qualifications to be NASA astronauts,
 but here at the CES booth, we've got the next best thing, pictures as astronauts.
 So for more from CES 2016 and the NASA booth, head to theverge.com and go to youtube.com slash verge and click subscribe.
 How's that feel?
 So how's your day going, Lauren?
 Actually, it feels kind of nice.
 Oh my gosh.
 These are better than those massage chairs.
 I'm not psyched about this carpet though, not gonna lie.