Ryan Andresen has been a Scout for 12 years. (Andresen family)

[Updated at 5:50 p.m. ET]

A longtime Boy Scout claims he's being denied the organization's highest honor because he's gay.

Ryan Andresen, who lives near San Francisco, recently finished an extensive service project needed to earn his Eagle Scout award, but his troop leader refuses to give him the rank.

"He said he can't because Ryan said he is gay," said Karen Andresen, the scout's mother.

Ryan claims the scoutmaster knew about his sexual orientation well before he started the project and paperwork for the honor.

"He had been telling me all along that we'd get by the gay thing," Ryan told Yahoo News. "It was by far the biggest goal of my life. It's totally devastating."

The scoutmaster of Troop 212 in Moraga, Calif., did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment.

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The Scouts' national spokesman, Deron Smith, said late Thursday that Ryan contributed to his situation by disagreeing with the BSA's religious principles.

"Recently, a Scout proactively notified

Left: Mars print (NASA); right: moon print (NASA/AP)One small step for the Mars rover, one giant roll for robot kind. While cruising the red planet, NASA's Curiosity rover left a familiar imprint on its surface.

If the scuff mark left by the rover gives you a sense of déjà vu, it should. The print bears a striking resemblance to the boot prints left by Buzz Aldrin while he walked the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission back in 1969. However, unlike the moon boot print, which is still around today (no wind on the moon), the tracks on Mars will eventually disappear. Universe Today explains that the marks on Mars should be gone in two years.

In other rover-related news, Curiosity recently "checked in" on Foursquare. The social network allows users to check in at businesses around the world using their smartphones. Folks who check in often are awarded ceremonial titles. For example, if nobody else checks in from Mars over the next 60 days, Curiosity will become the mayor of Mars. Something tells us the rover is gonna have that

This undated photo shows Barack Obama with his grandparents Stanley Armour Dunham and Madelyn Lee Payne. (Obama …

KitchenAid, maker of dishwashers and other home appliances, has a big social media mess to clean up.

During Wednesday night's presidential debate, Barack Obama credited his tenacious grandmother who helped raise him and passed away three days before he was elected president.

Moments later, @KitchenAidUSA, the company's official Twitter account, sent this:

"Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! 'She died 3 days b4 he became president'."

The insensitive tweet not only went to the company's 25,000 followers, but also included a hashtag to make it a part of NBC News' social debate conversation.

The company hastily deleted the tweet, but the damage was done. Many quickly retweeted the comment, while others replied with scathing remarks.

"I love how people are going 4 @KitchenAidUSA 's throats. Now watch as the Breville sales increase." — AshLemonade, @Ashlemonade

"Never, ever, mix brand with personal. @KitchenAid is learning the hard way during their last tweet." — Kate-Madonna