FirstNews had a great morning today with the Kansas City Space Pirates. They are a group devoted to developing robots. In their second year, this group has been very successful.

In September, they competed for NASA in a worldwide competition. Only 22 groups participated, including some prestigious universities like M-I-T! The Space Pirates came in second place, missing a $500,000 prize by only 25 seconds! Very impressive!

It was no easy task for them...they had to create a "climber," and drag race up 100 meters in 50 seconds. Here's the thing...they couldn't use any batteries or fuel. Out of all 22 entries, nobody was able to hit that mark in the specified time. So, the prize of $500,000 increases to $2 million next year.

Folks of all ages are members of the KC Space Pirates. You can read more about them and see pictures of their robots at www.kcspacepirates.com. And if you would like to attend the next meeting of the KC Robotics Society, it will be held at Science City on December 1.