The Danish firm continues to inspire young and old alike with two impressive sets of its famous bricks. First it is Artemis which is in the spotlight, with the enormous Space Launch System (SLS) rocket marketed in May, then Apollo, with the “lunar jeep” made of LEGO Technics, announced for the month of August.
LEGO continues its love affair with the space sector. The sets are numerous, whether it is the Saturn V rocket, which carried the Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon, the STS space shuttle with the Hubble telescope, the Martian rovers, the lunar lander (the LEM ) or the International Space Station. Without forgetting more artistic sets or LEGO Creators, with the possibility of assembling an astronaut.
In this spring of 2024, the designers have decided to strike hard, with nothing less than the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket intended for the Artemis lunar program!
Artemis, for the most patient
To let your imagination take off in NASA’s big orange rocket (it will undoubtedly go faster than in its real version, the next launch is not scheduled until September 2025), you will have to wait until May 18. You will also need a well-stocked wallet, with a “LEGO Icons” price of 260 euros (259.99 exactly). Knowing that with 3,601 pieces, it is one of the cheapest when we compare the cost to the number of small bricks.
For this price, the rocket itself measures 70 centimeters high, and you will also need to build its launch and access tower for the astronauts as well as the block that supports the rocket and tower, which measures 30 centimeters long and 27 centimeters wide. We will therefore have to think carefully before sacrificing a quarter of the surface area of a Parisian studio for the Space Launch System, which will nevertheless be delivered with a small scale Orion capsule. It will be able to detach from its base, and each stage of the rocket will be separable, like a real one, just a few billion dollars cheaper.
The Apollo 17 lunar jeep, surprise!
This 1er May, and while we are still waiting for an official communication on the subject, we also learn of the upcoming release (in August) of a LEGO Technics set which will contain the famous “Lunar Jeep” used during the Apollo missions, centered on that of Apollo 17, the last to have rolled on the surface of the Moon. With fewer parts, the latter will contain a fairly nice replica of the vehicle which can be folded, like the real one which was stored on the side of the LEM. There will also be scientific instruments (enough to reproduce Harrison Schmitt’s samples or the deployment of Eugene Cernan’s packages) and some lunar rocks. History does not say if we will be able to replace one of the mudguards with a flight plan! The set is expected to contain 1,913 pieces and cost $220 (European pricing will have to wait for the LEGO announcement).
In addition to all these lunar adventures, if you’re not satisfied, LEGO is also offering a new LEGO Art (a sort of 3D puzzle-board) on the theme of the Milky Way, which is also coming out on May 18. Enough to still dream of other horizons.
Source : LEGO
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