Tag Archives: NASA

LEGO Creator Expert 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander [Review]

Along with Town, Castle, and Pirates, the theme of space exploration has always been one of the pillars of LEGO philosophy. It all started with 801 Space Rocket set released just three years after the first human spaceflight in 1961. Throughout the decades of play bizarre space sub-themes like Insectoids, Ice Planet 2002 and Spyrius have appeared. But it turns out kids (and adults, too!) are fascinated with the real spacecrafts just as much as sci-fi ones. The memorable LEGO Discovery line-up brought us models of the most amazing human-made space ships and commemorated the landmarks of space exploration, and LEGO’s first Lunar Lander was way back in 1976. Now celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, LEGO is taking us back to the moon with a very special LEGO Creator Expert 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander set. The set consists of 1,087 pieces, includes two minifigures of astronauts and retails at US $99.99 | CAN 139.99 | UK £84.99, and is currently available with a special promotion of a commemorative LEGO Apollo 11 patch.

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LEGO NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander now available with stellar space patch promotion [News]

A new month means new LEGO sets on sale, with June seeing the launch of the recently announced 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander and general availability of 75810 Stranger Things The Upside Down. The Lunar Lander comes with 1,087 pieces and two minifigures for US $99.99 | CAN 139.99 | UK £84.99, and the Stranger Things set comes with 2,287 pieces and eight minifigures for US $199.99 | CAN $269.99 | UK £179.99.

LEGO is also offering this awesome Space Patch reminiscent of those from NASA with purchases of the Lunar Lander from June 1-9 while supplies last. If the previous reaction to the LEGO Mustang Keychain promotion gives us any idea, this patch will be quite popular as well.

For our international readers, many of the newly announced summer wave of sets including Architecture, Friends, Harry Potter and City Space sets are available now as well. (U.S. availability for summer LEGO waves will begin in late June/early August.) Also the LEGO Ideas 40335 Space Rocket Ride promotion we reviewed earlier this week will begin in a few days on June 5th, so if you want to double up on promos you will have to wait a few days.

LEGO unveils Creator Expert 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander to celebrate 50th anniversary of the Moon landing [News]

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, LEGO today unveiled the Creator Expert 10266 NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander. The set features a highly detailed replica of Apollo 11’s Eagle lunar module along with a brick-built lunar surface and crater, minifigure footprints and a U.S. flag.

The set was developed in partnership with NASA and contains 1,087 pieces with two astronaut minifigures, and launches this weekend starting June 1st for US $99.99 | CAN 139.99 | UK £84.99.

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Massive NASA Vehicle Assembly Building gets miniscule LEGO tribute

It’s still the largest single-storey building ever constructed, so what better tribute could there be to NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building than a teeny-tiny microscale LEGO version? The level of detail packed into Ryan Olsen‘s small model is impressive — the grille bricks providing texture on the sides, the machinery on the roof, and the massive shutter doors. Don’t miss the Saturn V rocket on its way to the launch-pad atop the crawler-transporter, or the perfect shaping of the Launch Control Centre with its sloped windows, jutting at an angle away from the main structure. The only thing I’d challenge on this model is using 1×1 plates for cars — unfortunately they don’t quite fit the scale. The rest of it is bang-on though, making me want to head back to Florida and get a refresher boost to my space-geekery.

LEGO Microscale NASA Apollo 11 Rollout

So long, and #ThanksOppy – Mars rover Opportunity declared dead after 15-year mission

By the time the Curiosity Rover landed on Mars with its splashy “Sky Crane” in 2012, the unassuming Opportunity rover had already been trundling across our neighboring planet’s surface for 8 years. But on February 13, NASA declared its 15-year mission over, having received the last transmission from the rover ahead of a major dust storm on June 10, 2018. To commemorate the end of the mission for what is arguably one of humankind’s greatest achievements, here’s my LEGO Opportunity that I built back in 2012.

Mars Rover Opportunity by Andrew Becraft

Farewell Nancy Grace Roman, you are now truly one with the stars [News]

Nancy Grace Roman, the astronomer and “the mother of the Hubble” passed away on December 26 at the age of 93. She worked on the Hubble Space Telescope in the early stages and was honored in the LEGO Ideas Women of NASA set in 2017. She was also the first woman executive at NASA and also one of the first chief astronomers. She will dearly be missed by the lives she’s touched and inspired all over the world, and her legacy will be long remembered. On behalf of the LEGO community and the team at The Brothers Brick, we bid you farewell. Nancy, you are now one truly with the stars and you will always shine with brightness in the sky, leading the way for aspiring youth to light the path to even greater things. Rest in peace, Nancy.

Apollo–Soyuz Test Project ushers in a new era of détente

In July 1975, American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts met in low Earth orbit, shook hands, exchanged gifts, and conducted joint scientific experiments as they docked their spacecraft together for over 40 hours. Luis Peña has recreated this historic spaceflight in LEGO, complete with an Astronaut conducted an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity). Like the designers of the wonderful LEGO Saturn V set, Luis has overcome the inherent challenges of building conical and spherical shapes in LEGO, with the Apollo Command/Service Module in gray and the Soyuz 7K-TM in iconic sand green.

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project LEGO Model 1:32 scale

Take a closer look at these amazing LEGO spacecraft

Microscale Apollo 11 is landing

Building the lunar lander module from the Apollo 11 mission presents a unique challenge: to create the base of the lander in gold, which traditionally has not been a very common color for LEGO elements. However, with the help of some newer pearl gold elements, tankm has accomplished this very nicely. The model almost feels like minifig scale, considering just how cramped the lander was. Some flower parts in light gray make perfect thruster nozzles (just like on the official LEGO Saturn V moon rocket), and I love the use of black roller skates as ladder rungs. Maybe we will get a rover to go with it?

tkm-LM-ArrivalDeparture-01

LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA available now [News]

We reviewed 21312 Women of NASA last week, and the set is now available from the LEGO Shop starting right now (midnight Eastern time, November 1st).

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The set retails for $24.99 and includes 4 minifigures with 231 pieces. We hope that LEGO makes sufficient quantities for everyone to have this lovely little set, but based on the frustratingly limited availability of highly anticipated sets like 21110 Research Institute, 21309 Apollo Saturn V, and 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon, we’re forced to expect limited availability ahead of the holiday season.

LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of Nasa [Review]

LEGO recently unveiled its latest LEGO Ideas set, 21312 Women of Nasa. The set includes four minifigures depicting women astronauts, scientists, and engineers from throughout the US space program’s history. LEGO sent The Brothers Brick an early review copy of the set, which is due out on November 1st.

21312 Women of NASA

While the minifigures are certainly the heroes of the set, the set also includes three mini-builds, with 231 pieces. When released, the set will retail for $24.99. Given the science-oriented, minifig-centric nature of both LEGO Ideas sets, comparisons to 21110 Research Institute will be inevitable among LEGO fans, and we’ll do our best to compare and contrast them along the way.

Click through to read our full review of LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of Nasa

LEGO Ideas 21312 Women of NASA unveiled [News]

Back in February, we shared the news that LEGO Ideas chose Maia Weinstock’s Women of NASA project as one of their newest additions to the LEGO family. Today, LEGO is unveiling 21312 Women of NASA, available November 1. The primarily minifigure set has 231 pieces, and will retail for $24.99 USD.

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The model, similar to LEGO Ideas 21110 Research Institute, includes four minifigures based on real-life NASA pioneers: astronomer and educator Nancy Grace Roman; computer scientist and entrepreneur Margaret Hamilton; astronaut, physicist, and entrepreneur Sally Ride; and astronaut, physician, and engineer Mae Jemison.

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21312 Women of NASA also includes three mini-builds illustrating three areas of science including programming software for the space program, a model of the Hubble Space Telescope and a mini Space Shuttle Challenger with three removable rocket stages

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More photos and info about 21312 Women of NASA after the jump

Saturn 0.5 is go for launch

If the latest LEGO Ideas set NASA Saturn V is a little too big for your shelf or for your wallet, we have the perfect solution. Jussi Koskinen has built a compact Saturn V that can still separate into the launch and mission stages, just like the official set. Jussi has taken care to ensure each stage has the correct number of engines and maintains the same separation function as the larger model. I am impressed with the shaping achieved, since making a cylindrical LEGO rocket can be a challenge.

Mini Saturn V stages separated

As you can see, despite being small in size, Jussi’s mini Saturn V still looks the part when launched.

Mini Saturn V