LEGO NXT robots are on display at the LEGO Build the Future event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

LEGO NXT robots, designed to look like Mars rovers, are on display at the LEGO "Build the Future" event at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.

The festivities coincide with the launch of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), carrying a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, to the red planet. Part of the Space Act Agreement between NASA and LEGO A/S, the activities are designed to inspire students of every age to consider an education and careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, disciplines. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled for Nov. 26 from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasa-lego-partnership.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett