LEGO Model of ESA NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Gabriel Russo's idea for a Hubble Space Telescope model could become a real LEGO toy set if fans vote.

Credit: GRusso /LEGO Ideas

The Hubble Space Telescope is an iconic spacecraft responsible for almost a quarter of a century of astronomical discoveries and stunning stellar images.

As such, it is due time for it to be immortalised as a Lego model.

At least that is the idea of Gabriel Russo, a Lego fan and admirer of the orbiting observatory, who designed a Lego brick version of the space telescope and uploaded it to the Danish toy company's social website, "LEGO Ideas."

And judging by the number of supporters Russo's Hubble has recruited to date, just over 6,300 at press time, he is far from the only person who thinks it is a good idea.

"A Lego model of this amazing piece of space engineering would come as a perfect homage to its 25th anniversary in 2015," Russo wrote as a part of his model's description on the website.

LEGO have also recently celebrated the anniversary of the Moon Landing in LEGO.

The build in the picture took around 2-3 weeks for building techniques.

The "Moon" was just a grey blanket made similar to the Luna ground.

This set will include the Brick-Built version of the "Eagle" also known as the "Luna Lander", Neil Armstrong with his unique printed face and a removable helmet and a clip on chrome gold visor, Buzz Aldrin also with his unique printed face and a removable helmet and a clip on chrome gold visor and last but not final...Michael Collins, Again with his unique printed face and a removable helmet and a clip on chrome gold visor.

Angus MacLane's character Wall-E produced by LEGO.

LEGO Ideas, which was previously known as CUUSOO, invites Lego fans to share their proposals for new brick-built models.

Other fans and the public can then cast their votes on the website for their favourite ideas.

The concepts that successfully attract 10,000 supporters are considered by the toy company for commercial distribution.

Toy Fair 2014: Space Age Toy Awards

Benny's spaceship from the LEGO movie has a long history. 

The blue spaceman was an early LEGO space figure, and the callback to the early history of the toys pleased both adults and kids watching the film.

Credit: Miriam Kramer

From a build-it-yourself UFO to a robot that can balance a can of soda, 2014's Toy Fair showcased a diverse range of playthings and gadgets for kids of all ages.

Each year, Space.com honours the best science- and space-themed gizmos at the four-day-long Toy Fair with the Space Age Awards.

The finalists and winners were chosen in seven different categories: High-Tech Toy, Amazing Robot, Cosmic Space Toy, Sci-Fi on Earth, Little Scientists, Retro Future and Do-It-Yourself Science.

The 111th annual American International Toy Fair ran from Feb. 16 to 19 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, NY.

Lego Space Shuttle: YouTube video

Raul Oaida (from Romania) LEGO tribute to the end of the space shuttle era. Proving that although retired, this machine can still fly, albeit in toy form.

The launch took place from central Germany (easy flight clearance) and reached a max altitude of 35000m. A 1600g meteo balloon filled with helium was used alongside a GoPro Hero, Spot GPS and of course Lego Space Shuttle model 3367.

He launched it on the 31st of December 2011, the equipment was recovered via GPS tracking 240 km S-E from a remote area.

He wishes to thank Steve Sammartino for the opportunity to do this project and the german airtraffic control for the understanding.

Full Story: http://microblade.blogspot.com/2012/03/2001-brick-odyssey.html

Japanese Astronaut Furukawa Builds LEGO Space Station

Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa poses with the LEGO model of the International Space Station that he built on board the real space station.

CREDIT: NASA

It took more than 200 astronauts from 12 countries more than a dozen years to build the International Space Station (ISS).

Satoshi Furukawa, an astronaut from Japan, matched that feat in just about two hours and he did it all while aboard the orbiting outpost itself.

It helped that his space station was made out of LEGO.

"It was a great opportunity for me to have built the LEGO space station," Furukawa, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) flight engineer, said in an interview after he returned to Earth. "I enjoyed building it."

"The ISS was put together in space, piece by piece," said Furukawa. "It's very similar to how you put together LEGO bricks on Earth."

CANADA Lego Man in Space - YouTube

A video posted on YouTube shows the amazing voyage of a Lego man sent into space on a homemade spacecraft by two Toronto students.

Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, both 17, used a weather balloon ordered online and a makeshift Styrofoam spacecraft to send the plastic astronaut 15 miles into the stratosphere, reports said.

Their high school principal Lecourgos Papathanasakis confirmed the "amazing voyage" but neither of the teens was immediately available for comment.

The accelerated video clip shows highlights of the Lego man during his 97-minute odyssey.

Ultimately, he is seen holding a Canadian flag with the curvature of the Earth and the blackness of space in the background.

Canadian media said the pair had fitted a box tethered to the balloon with four cameras and a cellphone enabled with a GPS (global positioning system) device to capture the journey.

They then added a home-made nylon parachute, using Asad's mother's sewing machine, so the Lego man would return to Earth safely.

The balloon was filled with helium purchased from a party supply store.

The whole enterprise cost less than £320.

The duo then consulted a website to calculate the estimated landing spot of the weather balloon based on launch coordinates, prevailing winds and other data before launching it from a soccer pitch in nearby Newmarket, Ontario.

At four miles in altitude, the balloon travelled out of cell phone range and the GPS signal also cut out, so they went home and waited until Ho's iPad beeped.

The Lego man had called home. It had re-entered the atmosphere, picked up the cell signal again and touched down in a field 75 miles from the launch point.

Michael Reid, an astrophysicist at the University of Toronto, said what Ho and Muhammad were able to achieve is extraordinary.

"There are people that are doing it, but I haven't seen many examples of 17-year-old kids doing it," Reid said. "It's a pretty impressive accomplishment."

Lego Space Site

Click on the picture above to visit the Lego Space website

Here

NASA: Build the Future

Students used LEGOs to 'Build the Future' at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010.

The 'Build the Future' event was part of pre-launch activities for the STS-133 mission.
NASA and The LEGO Group signed a Space Act Agreement that features educational games and activities designed to spark children's interest in science, technology, engineering and math.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Using LEGO® to simulate ESA's touchdown on a comet

YouTube - Using LEGO® to simulate ESA's touchdown on a comet

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This is not the first time that LEGO bricks have been used by the Rosetta mission. Detlef once created a LEGO model of the whole spacecraft to visualise its flight path during meetings. Not only did the orbital journey become apparent in those meetings, so did the desire of everyone to own a LEGO version of Rosetta.

What started as a small model has blossomed into a high-fidelity education kit. It was obvious on the student’s faces and those of the professors that this was an unconventional ‘first’ in the history of the ancient University of Rome.

The lander model comes together

“It was quite difficult, because all the moving parts are not so easy to rebuild so we had to figure out something, some way to realise some mechanism that could move,” said Filippo Ales, a student of aerospace engineering.

For example, Philae has ‘ice screws’ on its legs that drill into the comet at impact to stop it bouncing off in the low gravity. A harpoon also holds the lander on the surface.

On top of the lander is a small rocket engine that fires to keep Philae in position while the screws and the harpoon finish their job of anchoring it.

Some of these features are reproduced on the model. LEGO Mindstorms components allow moving parts to be controlled by a simple home computer.

"I liked it a lot to assemble everything, I thought is was real fun,” said student Monserrat Olympia Pineda Arqueros. “I would recommend it to all students to do this assembly exercise with LEGO."

The feedback from the engineering students on the prototype will be used by ESA, the German Aerospace Center DLR, Europlanet, Lightcurvefilms and LEGO to finalise the Education Kit and adapt it to the needs of European curricula.

ESA Space Scientist Detlef Koschny demonstrates the prototype LEGO® Philae lander

YouTube - ESA Space Scientist Detlef Koschny demonstrates the prototype LEGO® Philae lander

Augmented Reality and Lego