Space and Lego have always gone hand in hand, both in the form of more realistic sets, with the Icons and Ideas collections, and in the creative field, with City and Friends. That's part of the wonderful trick of a Lego brick or any other piece, with which you can build whatever you imagine.
As the release of two new space sets, Artemis 5 and the Milky Way, approaches, Lego is sharing some new data about a study the toy company conducted. Lego found that 86% of children aged four to fourteen are interested in space, showing renewed interest from previous years.
To celebrate, Lego asked kids to design a spaceship that would one day take them from Earth to the unknown.
Of all the submissions, Lego was narrowed down to six winners. His designs were converted into suitable sets by Didac Pérez Soriano, associate master builder of Lego House.
The ships were then shown high in the sky. As? A drone show, with the New York City skyline as a backdrop. The six winning boats were enlivened by a drone display, from a T-Rex with a jetpack to a bed with wings.
You can skip to the video at the bottom or continue reading to learn more.
Present at the event were Dan Meehan, creative leader of Lego Space, and Kelli Geradi, astronaut, citizen scientist and one of the first 100 women in space. TechRadar sat down with the pair to discuss the resurgence of space enthusiasm for Generation Alpha, the drone show, and Geradi's space trip.
Regarding the survey results, Geradi noted that “hearing statistics about Generation Alpha and knowing that the enthusiasm for space is only growing is really exciting. “I'm someone who believes that space is our shared past and future, so I'm very excited to see that there is that innate curiosity about it.” She says Lego is reaching out to those kids with a platform that inspires creativity, both with this contest and various sets.
Regarding the winners' boats, Geradi shared that “sometimes we tend to think of space as a very academic or sterile environment,” but she sees it as “human history.” Going deeper: “seeing that kids can apply that human lens to things like space, creativity, and design is really cool.”
@jakekrol ♬ Walking Around – Instrumental version – Eldar Kedem
Mehan took the time to discuss the Lego Space theme. Space was one of Lego's original themes, along with Castle and City, which meant the past, present and future were covered. Initially, the sets were more creative than realistic, but “in recent times, we have made space sets much more factual, scientific and realistic.” He mentioned the Artemis space launch system, a collaboration with NASA.
Taking into account new data showing that 86% of children want to discover new planets, stars or galaxies; and 77% want to go to space, Mehan shared: “It's about going to space, but maybe it's a little more fantastic than it seems.” [Lego] had been doing in recent years.” It is about catering to different audiences, potentially adults and children, with various sets.
One thing that's new for 2024, and a first for Lego, is a common element across different themes: City, Friends and Technic all feature an alien design. Building elements allow sets of different themes to connect. This theme even extends from the most basic Lego Duplo to the latest space art set design for older builders. Mehan shared that there is a clue “hidden in the Milky Way art SKU.”
We also talk about Geradi's space flight. As a payload specialist on Virgin Galactic's Galactic 05 research mission in November 2023, Geradi shared that “it was an intensely emotional experience. He was very well prepared for science. [as] “I have been researching microgravity astronautics and parabolic flights here on Earth for a decade.”
Geradi says nothing really prepared her for seeing Earth from space with her own eyes. “They coined it the big picture effect, that cognitive shift in perspective,” she says, which further motivated her to help other people see that vision.
Like many of us (including this author), Geradi has been working in Lego for a while and says one of his favorite sets was a space shuttle that he still has. The various details of the shuttle helped her “understand exactly what the vehicle was and what it might be like for someone working or living in it.”
Geradi also works as a citizen scientist and still actively leads and contributes to several research projects, including diabetes research focused on the use of continuous glucose monitors in space.
You can watch a full video of the drone show Lego produced below. Whether you're building from the manual or going the creative route, Lego is ready to give you the tools you need to complete the mission.
you might also like
