Fry's guinea pig was the object of Fry's science project for the Nerd Search '88 Science Competition in 1988, which consisted of Fry infecting it with the common cold and launching it into space to see if it got cured by cosmic rays and for which it was dressed as an astronaut. According to Fry, Buzz Aldrin ran it over in the parking lot. Fry's guinea pig was first seen in a concept art, released by the Countdown to Futurama on June 5, 2011.