LEGO Space is taking on a whole new meaning.
The European Space Agency (ESA) recently turned to LEGO brick design for inspiration as it worked on plans for launch pads and shelters for astronauts heading to the moon. The organization’s bricks are similar to LEGO Bricks, but 3D printed with meteorite dust to test the material’s viability. LEGO plans to display the bricks, inspiring young builders to shoot for the stars.
With the ESA team using the LEGO System-in-Play to advance space travel, it shows kids the sky really is the limit when it comes to LEGO brick building and we hope it encourages children to have a go at building their own space shelters!
Daniel Meehan, Creative Lead at The LEGO Group
Fifteen of the ESA Space Bricks will be displayed in select LEGO stores in the U.S., Canada, the UK., Germany, France, Denmark, Spain, and Australia, as well as the LEGO House in Billund, Denmark.
Designers at ESA hope that bricks can be built using the regolith found on the moon, a material similar to the tested meteorite dust. The printed Space Bricks can now be utilized to test small-scale versions of larger structural designs.
“Our teams are working towards the future of space travel and take inspiration from not just what’s above us, but also what we can find on Earth,” says ESA Science Officer, Aidan Cowley. “No one has ever built a structure on the moon, so we have to work out not only how we build them but what we build them out of as we can’t take any materials with us.”
LEGO is no stranger to exploring space, with a number of sets inspired by the wider universe beyond Earth. The company will display the Space Bricks created by ESA in U.S. LEGO stores in Bloomington, Minnesota; Disney Springs, Florida; Water Tower Place, Chicago; Disneyland Resort, California; and 5th Avenue, New York, as well as in a number of locations across the globe.
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