LEGO into Space
- 1st Mar 2024
- Author: Emma Mosley
Brickish are visiting us here at the National Space Centre this March and are bringing their enthusiasm for all things LEGO. LEGO and space go together like marshmallows and hot chocolate, rhubarb and custard… So, it is no surprise that there are lots of space themed LEGO available!
LEGO has been making space themed sets starting all the way back in 1964 with a space rocket. Inspired by the space race happening at the time and with advancements in their production technology, another set was released in 1973 with a rocket base. In 1975, LEGO released a space module with astronauts which was the Apollo Lunar Lander and some rather brick shaped astronauts.
What we call ‘classic space’ LEGO made an appearance from 1978 using some of the first minifigures as astronauts. LEGO has worked with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) over the years to create their models as accurately as possible. With a large range built from the Space Shuttle to the martian rovers like Perseverance. LEGO and NASA have also been creating educational outreach resources for schools, teachers and parents based on NASA missions.
But has LEGO itself been into space? Yes it has, and here is a list of the furthest travelled pieces of LEGO ever built!
To the edge of space!
In 2016, Old Dominion University engineering students took part in a NASA programme for students to design and build experiments to fly on a sounding rocket. A sounding rocket flies a suborbital flight path while taking measurements of the upper atmosphere conditions and to test new technology.
Onboard supervising the mission was none other than Benny, the 1980s spaceman from the LEGO Movie. According to the University’s project co-leader Branco, Benny was picked for the solo mission for his ‘enthusiasm for space’ and that he ‘brought his own spacesuit, so that saved us valuable time and resources.’
NASA used a Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket and for the programme it was flown past the 100 kilometre Kármán Line, which is where space starts. Benny is now officially an astronaut!
Floating about the ISS
Since 2000, the International Space Station (ISS) has been permanently inhabited by astronauts, so naturally LEGO has made its way onboard. In 2011, LEGO and NASA sent a range of kits up to the ISS for the astronauts to build as part of their educational outreach, with experiments to show how the LEGO would behave in microgravity. And it turns out it’s harder to build LEGO sets in space than on Earth!
Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen has been to the ISS twice and on his first visit in 2014, he brought some LEGO friends along - thankfully only 20 of them! Each is in their own spacesuit with Mogensen's mission patch on, Mission IRISS. When they came back, these LEGO minifigures were then handed out as prizes to a competition for Danish school children.
Over the years, lots of LEGO has made its way into orbit around Earth, whether onboard a weather balloon, Space Shuttle, a Soyuz capsule, or floating about the ISS. The furthest travelled by these is the ISS, which orbits our planet at about 400 kilometres above the surface.
To the Moon and back!
NASA are trying to send astronauts back to the Moon with the Artemis missions and in November 2022, Artemis I was launched. Artemis I was a dry run for Artemis II, which is going to be the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years.
During the Artemis I mission a 'special crew' were onboard to help supervise the mission. They flew past and around the Moon before returning to Earth - with the furthest point of the journey being 432,210 kilometres from Earth!
The mission had no human crew but instead assisting the Snoopy and Shaun the Sheep plush characters from NASA and ESA, was a group of incredible 'astronauts', handpicked by LEGO. They are Kate and Kyle from LEGO Education, and Julia and Sebastian from LEGO City.
These four LEGO minifigures went on to help NASA and LEGO’s ‘Build to Launch’ STEAM learning series available to teachers and parents.
Is there life on Mars?
While Mars is one of our closest neighbours it is on average, 225 million kilometres away! And to quote a line from everyone’s favourite Bowie song ‘Is there life on Mars?’, NASA launched two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, to find out.
Landing in January 2004, they have explored the martian surface finding evidence of water and analysing the rocks and soil. Both went well beyond their expected operation time with Opportunity becoming the longest working rover on Mars having racked up 15 years!
Onboard the lander for each of these rovers was a DVD containing the names of four million people, who signed up through NASA's website. On each silica glass DVD was a picture of a robotic LEGO minifigure, Sandy Moondust on Opportunity and Biff Starling on Spirit. The DVD was then mounted to the lander using magnetic LEGO bricks, which were to collect any martian dust that is magnetic. All the pieces were tested to ensure they would survive landing on Mars to be a time capsule for future explorers!
Hitchhiking to Jupiter
In 2011 NASA launched a mission to Jupiter called Juno, named after the Roman goddess who was married to the king of the gods, Jupiter. The story goes that Jupiter cheated on Juno multiple times and used clouds to hide himself from her. Juno then developed the ability to see through these clouds and see Jupiter’s mischievous antics underneath. So there is no hiding from Juno!
Jupiter is the fifth planet in our Solar System and is between 588 and 968 million kilometres away at it’s closest and furthest points to Earth, respectively. So no wonder it took five years for Juno (the spacecraft) to reach the gas giant!
Since arriving, Juno has been exploring Jupiter and it's many moons. Onboard are some mystical mythical minifigures in the form of the Jupiter, Juno, and the famous scientist Galileo Galilei (who discovered the four large moons around Jupiter in 1610). These are not your average plastic LEGO minifigures though, they are made from space grade aluminium! They were rigorously tested to the same standards as the instruments onboard to ensure they would survive the journey. The special passengers are sat comfortably under a thermal blanket protecting them from the harsh conditions around Jupiter.
After all that travelling, who knows where LEGO may go to next?
Full references / credits:
(Banner image) IRISS Lego mini figure floating on ISS. Credit: ESA
(1a) NASA’s Terrier-Improved Orion Sounding Rocket. Credit: NASA
(1b) Lego Benny. Credit: Willis Lam CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED https://www.flickr.com/photos/85567416@N03/33381779792/in/photolist-SRQm8s-p5S7Ba-pQwmGU-s1F98o-ymRWzU-qfkaS9-oF97ie-oVB1TL-oF9yDS-oXAVPw-oF98bN-oXCZzM-oF8XdF-oVAXtu-oF9zYc-oF9FTt-oF9rDs-oF9oKk-oXDaMR-oF9xkr-oXCJCT-oXCNFn-oF9gVm-oXB4GL-oF9vyS-oVBimf-2n8yyXw-oF9aWN-oF8Zy3-oXntqe-oXBkUf-oF9DsN-2opq5Xf-oF9pDh-oXnFuz-oF9jd6-oXBmLf-oXBjeb-oF8FXa-oF9PAd-oF9XUg-oXnHf8-oF9tHB-oF9xT3-2mGqNtj-oXD3hR-odr8ZF-oXnH3p-oVAR8J-oFa1hc
(2a) JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa holding Lego ISS. Credit: NASA
(2b) JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa using a box to build Lego. Credit: NASA
(2c) Lego minifigures with IRISS mission. Credit: ESA
(3a) Lego minifigures stood outside Artemis I. Credit: NASA
(3b) Infographic showing the path of Artemis I. Credit: ESA
(4a) DVD LEGO assembly which is attached to each lander of Spirit and Opportunity missions. Credit: The Planetary Society CC BY-NC 3.0 DEED https://www.planetary.org/space-images/dvd_assembly_prphoto_2
(4b) Rover 1 on top of it’s lander in a stowed position. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
(5) Juno, Jupiter and Galileo aluminium minifigures. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
