Image from CollectSpace.com
NASA issued a press release yesterday stating that they have signed a Space Act agreement with LEGO. The partnership will focus on promoting interest in science, technology, engineering and math. At the launch event, NASA will actually be launching a shuttle built from LEGO bricks. It will be aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, on what is Discovery’s last scheduled mission.
“Partnering with The LEGO Group is a perfect fit. We have taken the excitement of NASA’s missions and coupled that with kids’ love of creating things with the iconic LEGO bricks,” said Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for Education. “These projects not only foster creativity but also instill in the young builders a real sense of the engineering and design principles that NASA uses every day. Fun learning activities like these can help inspire kids to become the next generation of explorers.”
Also our readers may be excited to hear that 4 NASA sets will be included in LEGO’s City line as a part of this partnership.
See the entire NASA press release here.
Many thanks to Vinny for the heads up!
Sounds promising. But will LEGO remember how to make astronauts without guns? It’s been awhile…
I realize it’s not, and I’m quite excited for the sets, but I must shamefully admit I thought you were pulling our legs April Fools-style with this post at first.
YES! I was incredibly excited with the shuttle adventure set, and now 4 more sets! Cool. Awesome that a Lego craft will be on Discovery’s last mission.
I’m hesitantly excited about this partnership. Overall we could end up with some really neat kits coming out of it. The Shuttle Aventure was pretty remarkable for a minifig set.
Interesting. Perhaps Megablocks will start a rival Cosmonaut line?
It would be a cheaper option of course, and possibly also more accident-prone.
^ Comment win.
I’ve always loved the NASA-themed LEGO sets (and Shuttle Adventure is still sitting on my coffee table, one of the few recent set builds I haven’t immediately disassembled), so I can’t wait for more.
I think this is great. Aside from the inherent awesomeness that is NASA-themed Lego sets, this can only result in more NASA-themed sticker sheets, which would be a gold mine for space builders.
And anything that simultaneously promotes Lego and NASA wins right out of the starting gate.
Irony: recently I was reading some of the stories about commercial space tourism, and thinking what I’d want to do if I went up on one of those trips. I think I’d want to bring a Galaxy Explorer set with me (just the instructions and parts from Bricklink; no need to blow money on an actual in-box set) and build it in zero-gee. Then photograph it (and maybe some other space MOCs) hanging there in space. With some Classic Space guys floating around it doing an EVA.
NASA LEGO = LOVE THIS!
I was at the Kennedy Space Center this spring with my son and we got to see the real Discovery launch in the pre-dawn. It was just as amazing as you’d think. When we went into the gift shop I was… well… horrified. Not a lego to be seen, but they had a Megablocks Shuttle set. A Really, really bad Megablocks Shuttle set. NASA is kinda awful about merchandising so this is really welcome news! I can’t wait to see what comes out of this venture.
Come ooooooon, ISS! Oh, I hope, I hope, I hope!