A little satellite named Mario couldn’t be more Mario if he tried

The Mario movie based on the game Super Mario Bros. coming in april It’s nice. But have you heard of Mario in Space?

Mario — short for Measurement of Propulsion Response and Orbital Impedance — is a satellite about the size of a sandwich loaf built by the University of Michigan. After its launch into orbit on December 29, the satellite launched an an important message to Earth: “It’s me, Mario!”

On Thursday, NASA’s ISS Program Office of Research tweeted view of Mario’s rollout and noted, “Quickly sent a transmission invoking the famous catchphrase.”

The transmission was the satellite’s way of letting its operators know that it was working as intended and could communicate with the ground.

“The goal of the mission is to characterize the performance of piezoelectric actuators and health monitoring systems in low Earth orbit conditions,” the Michigan Exploration Lab, which is part of the university’s College of Engineering, said in a blog post.

Mario entered orbit on December 29 with its release from the International Space Station. The satellite is part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative program, which works with educational institutions “to inspire and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers and technologists by offering a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research and develop/demonstrate new technologies in space. ” CubeSats are relatively small and inexpensive satellites.

The little satellite won’t collect coins or stomp Goombas in space, but it does Super Mario Galaxy feel a little real.