Mario the NASA Satellite Said ‘It’s a Me!’ and Nintendo, Don’t Ruin This for Us

The MARIO CubeSat, or Measurement of Actuator Response and Impedance on Orbit, just pulled off one hell of a Mario impression. As reported by CNET, one of the CubeSats up above the Earth right now is a funnily little thing called MARIO. On December 29 the satellite, which is no bigger than a loaf of bread, put out a transmission just after it was launched: “Its-a-me, Mario!”

"Its-a-me, Mario!"

Last week, NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative deployed its 150th CubeSat! Four CubeSats were released from station, including MARIO from the University of Michigan. It quickly sent a transmission referencing the famous catchphrase. https://t.co/wPGAOeyYVw

— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) January 5, 2023

We’re getting reports now that Nintendo (the makers of the Nintendo Switch) is priming its first rocket to send a formal cease and desist up to the International Space Station, from where MARIO was launched (I’m just joking, Nintendo’s too busy with Earth-based IP protection). No, but seriously, this launch marked the 150th launch for NASA’s CubeSat initiative. It was developed by the University of Michigan and was deployed alongside three other CubeSats: petitSat, SPORT and TJREVERB. The CubeSat initiative has a simple mission at the moment: to provide low-Earth orbit access to U.S. educational institutions, nonprofits with an education or outreach component, and NASA centers and programs for training and workforce development. “Small satellites, such as CubeSats play a valuable role in the agency’s educational, science, and technology investigations, including planetary exploration, Earth observation, and fundamental Earth and space science,” director of launch services within the Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters Bradley Smith said back in August. “They are a cornerstone in the development of cutting-edge NASA technologies, such as laser communications, satellite-to-satellite communications, and autonomous movement.”

I mean, now that NASA has done a Mario satellite, what will the next one be? Luigi? Peach? Toad? No, Rosalina, the commander of the Comet Observatory. It’s only logical. Or maybe I just know too many Mario characters. I do love it when cool pieces of tech get nerdy names like this. Anyway, wahoo! You can read NASA’s post on the transmission online.

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