As the world marks the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, it’s the perfect opportunity to take a little look at some of the LEGO® sets which have been inspired by the work of NASA. Beyond sets which have been directly inspired by real life space missions, that monumental moment in 1969 changed popular culture forever. It inspired everything from the Jetsons, to the Clangers and more obviously Star Wars. It also inspired one of the original LEGO themes, which is still adored by the AFOL community today. Mankind’s journey to the stars has inspired many other LEGO sets and themes since the 70s but in recent years, it’s influence has been the direct inspiration for a number of impressive sets. Sets which have managed to capture the imaginations of those beyond the AFOL community. The biggest evidence of these is the LEGO Ideas platform.
The first set to be released under the LEGO Ideas/CUUSOO banner was the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover. Although not connected to a mission to the Moon, it paved the way for future projects to be given the greenlight.
In 2017 one of the biggest LEGO Ideas (at the time) was released. Not only was the scale of the set a first for LEGO Ideas, it also proved that LEGO Ideas sets could have high piece count and a higher price, yet still be successful. The NASA Apollo Saturn V was an amazing success, selling out for a number of weeks since it was launched. Interesting fact regarding the piece count, it’s 1969, the same as the date the mission to the moon took place. The set is still available from shop.LEGO.com and a number of LEGO retailers.
As important as the Saturn V rocket was in getting us to the Moon, there were many people behind the scenes who were prevalent in making it all happen in the first place. Which was the inspiration for the LEGO Ideas set 21312: Women of NASA. The set featured Nancy Grace Roman and Margaret Hamilton, along with NASA astronaut Sally Ride and Mae Jemison. Between them they were key to helping NASA prefect space travel.
With LEGO fans making their love of space known through the LEGO Ideas platform, one of the most recent LEGO Creator Expert sets is a direct celebration of the Apollo 11 mission. With the Women of NASA helping get the mission started and the Saturn V blasting mankind into space, it was the Eagle Lunar Lander which actually delivered man to the surface of the Moon. Set 10266: NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander is a detailed LEGO recreation of the lunar modular which touched down on the Moon in 1969.
To celebrate 10 years of LEGO Ideas, a number of past projects which had reached 1o,ooo votes but didn’t become an actual LEGO Ideas set, were brought back for a fan vote. One of those sets was the International Space Station and the winning project in this special vote. The set is currently be worked one and will be one of the future LEGO Ideas releases.
You can discover the full range of space-themed LEGO sets by following the links below. These include the LEGO Ideas Saturn V, the LEGO Creator Expert Lunar Lander and a new range of LEGO City sets inspired by the next great space aspiration, the exploration of Mars.
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