The title is a quote from the novel Artemis by Andy Weir. It points out the wit of scientific redundancies meant to keep people safe and this suit is a testament in its own right. Space nerds like me have been blessed by the LEGO Group in recent years. Sets like the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander, the International Space Station, and recently the Space Shuttle Discovery, give the rocket scientists and astronomers in all of us a big thrill. There are so many iconic elements from the past that would make great sets but let’s take a peek at the future of scientific idiot-proofing with Spacemanship123’s NASA Artemis Spacesuit.
Tag Archives: NASA
It takes Ingenuity to fly a craft on Mars
What does NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Stephen Pakbaz do for fun when he’s not working on real-life Mars vehicles? Well, it turns out he builds Mars vehicles in LEGO. Here is a 1:1 scale, motorized model of the Ingenuity Helicopter that spans about four feet (1.2 meters) across. In case you’ve been living under a meteorite this past month this craft has made headlines with a number of historic flights.You can keep up with the latest real-life shenanigans of the helicopter on Mars on Nasa’s official website. As for LEGO-life shenanigans, you may notice that Stephen has also built the Ingenuity a leeetle friend in 1:3 scale. That one he has launched on LEGO Ideas in hopes of gaining the votes needed to maybe make it an official set at some point. This isn’t Stephen’s first orbit with LEGO Ideas. He was successful in turning the Curiosity Rover into an official set back in the early days when LEGO Ideas was called Cuusoo. Check out our interview from 2013.
Didn’t get a Ulysses? Build your own! [Instructions]
If you were looking forward to the LEGO Ulysses Space Probe set, but like the majority of fans didn’t get one when they sold out in mere minutes, you can do what Jonas Kramm did and build your own design that’s even better than the official one! This gorgeous model has significantly more detail than the official one, and employs drum lacquer gold elements instead of yellow, which really amps up the coolness and accuracy.
And when I say that you can do what Jonas did, I really meant it. Jonas has provided free instructions for his design.
LEGO 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery and Classic Space Coin now available for order [News]
After being announced a few weeks ago and generating quite a lot of buzz, LEGO’s newest space-inspired set is now available for purchase. 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery has just gone on sale. The 2,354-piece set depicts the iconic orbiter on 1990’s STS-31 mission to launch the Hubble Space Telescope, and includes stands to display Discovery and Hubble separately or together as the satellite is launched from the spaceplane’s payload bay. The set is now available from LEGO for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £169.99.
Check out our full, hands-on review of the set to see what we thought: TBB Review of 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery.
The LEGO Classic Space coin is also available now in the VIP Reward Center for 1,150 points: US | CAN | UK
Check out what we thought of the first LEGO Collectible Coin: TBB Review of the LEGO Castle Collectible Coin.
LEGO has also revealed the Ulysses Space Probe set that will be available as a VIP reward for 1,800 VIP points. This was originally announced as a promotional item to accompany the Discovery Shuttle set, but today LEGO told us that “Due to unexpected circumstances, there is a delay in the release of the space probe VIP reward. We do hope that it will be available soon. As soon as more information is available, we will make sure that we let all our fans know!”
If you’re thinking about picking up one of these sets, or any LEGO products, consider using the links in this article or on the right side of the page. Purchasing products from LEGO via these affiliate links is one of the key ways that TBB can keep providing you awesome LEGO content for free.
LEGO Creator Expert 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery launches with Hubble Telescope [Review]
LEGO Space Shuttles are a mainstay of the brand’s space themes, with the company having produced well more than a dozen models across a variety of scales, themes, and degrees of accuracy. But there’s something about the iconic design of NASA’s black-and-white reusable space plane that captures our imaginations and keeps drawing us back. The latest set from LEGO is the largest and most detailed yet. 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery has 2,354 pieces and includes both the Discovery orbiter and the Hubble Space Telescope that Discovery launched on the STS-31 mission in April 1990 (the same year as LEGO’s first Space Shuttle set, 1682 Space Shuttle Launch). LEGO is also celebrating 2021 being the 40th anniversary of the first shuttle flight. The new shuttle set is part of the Creator Expert lineup and will be available starting April 1, retailing for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £169.99. Today we’re going to dive in with a full, hands-on review of this massive spaceplane.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
LEGO 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery with Hubble is revealed as 2,300-piece Creator Expert set [News]
2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the first NASA Space Shuttle flight in 1981, and LEGO is marking the occasion by launching its biggest shuttle set yet. 10283 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery rings in at 2,354 pieces and features the iconic orbiter on its most famous mission, STS-31. This 1990 mission launched the renowned Hubble Telescope, which is still in operation. The new 18+ Creator Expert set will be available starting April 1, and will retail for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £169.99.
LEGO sat down with Dr. Kathy Sullivan, a former astronaut who served as a mission specialist on STS-31, to reveal the set and discuss the mission to launch Hubble, as well as talk about engaging children in STEM and space exploration. The full interview can be viewed on LEGO.com/gobeyond.
Watch for our full review of this set coming very soon, and check out the rest of the details below.
Jumping for joy on the moon
For some, the month of April in the year 1972 may not be memorable but for astronaut John W. Young this date marks the journey of a lifetime – he became the ninth person to walk on the moon. Young’s iconic jumping salute which has been captured both in photography and video is recreated in LEGO bricks by spacemanship123.
This brick-built astronaut seems to make use of a lot of tile type pieces as well as some slopes and a few LEGO Technic elements. A spacesuit does seem like it would be a tough model to design because of its bulky nature and also its requirement for articulation seeing as it is a figural build striking a pose. Designer spacemanship123 was able to make it happen by using various clip pieces in addition to some ball and joint elements. Overall I would say the idea behind this build is unique, perhaps even out of this world! It’s not an everyday occasion that a human lands on the moon, or that an astronaut is built out of bricks.
Kennedy Space Center awesomeness in 10...9...8...
Here at The Brothers Brick we often feature LEGO spaceships, shuttles, and rovers both real and fictional and we are usually quite impressed. But as you can imagine we achieved a new level of…impress-ness when we saw the entire Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A. This stellar creation was built by Lia Chan. Lia is a person of few words, no words, in fact. Other than providing a title we have no idea how many pieces this has or how long it took to build. One thing is clear is that this was a labor of love and the end result is just breathtaking.
Lia could have stopped there and we would have been plenty impressed enough, by golly! But an alternate configuration features the shuttle launching with a realistic plume of exhaust. That is just…stellar!
LEGO Ideas officially reveals 864-piece 21321 International Space Station [News]
LEGO has just announced the final design of the fan-voted 21321 IDEAS International Space Station. Catered for adult LEGO fans as a display piece with authentic ISS details including rotating joints and adjustable solar panels, the main build is accompanied by a buildable mini NASA space shuttle and cargo spacecraft. The 864-piece set will be available in LEGO stores and online on February 1st, 2020 retailing at US $69.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £64.99. We’ve already got our hands on an early copy, so be sure to check out our review: 21321 LEGO Ideas International Space Station Review.
Click to see more images and the full details of the International Space Station
LEGO Ideas feels right at home in orbit with 21321 International Space Station [Review]
Many of us here at The Brothers Brick are space fans in one way or another, so we were pretty excited to see that the next LEGO Ideas set would be 21321 International Space Station when it was proclaimed the winner of the 10th-anniversary fan vote last summer. Now less than a year later, LEGO is revealing the final version of the set today, and we’ve got our hands on a copy to bring you a full review. Retailing for US $69.99 | CAN $99.99 | UK £64.99, the newest model from the LEGO Ideas crowdsourcing platform has 864 pieces and will be available starting Feb. 1.
Click to read the full, hands-on review
InSight has landed
Because I grew up during the time of M:Tron and Blacktron, I tend to think of fantastical fictional ships when I think of LEGO space creations. Of course, this totally neglects all the models built of real world spacecraft. Luckily, LEGO fans like Cyndi Bourne produce amazing space creations like her NASA Mars InSight Lander to remind me that space is a real place. This detailed model was originally commissioned by an employee at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, but it was Cyndi’s idea to add the landscaped base. Her landscaping always impresses me and clearly she can build the surface of any planet! While it might seem simple, as the whole landscape is built from various sizes of dark orange plate, achieving this look requires both patience and creativity. You have to know just where to put each plate, and Cyndi clearly knows.
To the stars and beyond: my microscale LEGO spacecraft inspired by NASA – part 2
Continuing on my fad of building “hard sci-fi” spaceships that look like they might have been designed by NASA or SpaceX, after completing the Vanguard, I found myself with a handful of leftover modules. So I set about building another ship and employing some of the techniques I’d learned and adding others. Last time my ship had topped out at 89 studs in length, but the I.E.A. Discovery rings in at 120 studs.
One of the main things I wanted change was the color scheme. Although the solid black-and-white motif is very classic NASA, I was trying to build a spaceship of the future, so perhaps a little color was in order. My two chosen highlight colors were sand green and flame yellowish orange (or bright light orange, if you prefer Bricklink’s nomenclature). Both are vibrant and bold, while still capturing the vintage space-race color palette I wanted. Continue reading