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The toy company unveiled the upcoming Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System and Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy sets on Thursday (April 25). Both sets will be available for purchase from May 15. From building a detailed scale model of NASA’s new moon rocket, complete with launch pad and support tower, to assembling our own galaxy, these two new building sets are designed to engage adult Lego fans.
“Today, the Lego Group unveils two new sets that allow space enthusiasts to outdo the world by exploring the engineering excellence behind human space missions and getting a glimpse of what’s out there,” said the Denmark-based toy company’s press release.
SLS, the Lego set for space
In November 2022, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) lifted off on an unmanned spacecraft for a 25-day mission around the moon. At the time of launch, the 98-meter rocket became the most powerful vehicle ever successfully flown and the target of NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the lunar surface this decade. Lego has now captured the complexity of the SLS in a new 3,601-piece set priced at $259.99 (€259.99 or £219.99) as part of its line of replica models.
The Lego Icons NASA Artemis Space Launch System includes the multi-stage rocket with its two solid-fuel boosters and a detailed mobile launch tower with retractable umbilicals and crew arm. It also includes an Orion spacecraft and a European service module, which can be displayed separately or placed on top of the SLS as it was launched during the Artemis I mission. When fully assembled, the rocket and tower stand over 70 centimeters tall, creating a 1:144 scale desktop model. The set does not contain minifigures (nor is it in minifigure scale) but comes with a printed plaque detailing the SLS and Orion.
In a galaxy…
While the moon may sometimes seem like a distant destination for a rocket, the second recently announced Lego set offers a much broader view of deep space. The Lego Art The Milky Way Galaxy set (no. 31212; $199.99 / €199.99 / £169.99) creates a colorful, dimensional map of our own galaxy, covering more than 1,000,000,000,000,000 kilometers or approximately 100,000 covers light years in a mosaic 65 centimeters wide. “This awe-inspiring work of art consists of 3,091 pieces, which you build in layers to create a 3D effect of incredible depth and texture,” reads the Lego description of the set. “Packed with features, this wall artwork includes some of the Milky Way’s most famous stars, clusters and other spectacles, including Trappist-1, the Pleiades, the Crab Nebula and the Pillars of Creation.”
In addition to the astronomical sights, the mosaic also includes a “You are here” sign where our solar system is located and what appears to be a spaceship (although only four probes have just left our solar system and a fifth is on its way).
Source: Space.com/Lego
