Scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) have turned to their love of Lego brick building when designing launch pads and shelters for astronauts visiting the moon.
To test whether space materials can be used to create structures, the team 3D printed meteorite dust in the shape and style of Lego bricks to see if they could be used as building blocks on small scale versions of structures.
The actual structures will be built on the moon, using materials found there, but the scientists first needed to understand if a space material could even be made into building blocks.
“Our teams are working towards the future of space travel and take inspiration from not just what’s above us, but also what we can find on Earth”
ESA science officer, Aidan Cowley
The resulting ESA space bricks are on display in the Lego Store, Leicester Square. The hope and objective is to inspire the builders of tomorrow on how Lego brick building can help solve lunar and beyond problems.
The space material on the moon is regolith, but there is only a very small sample available on Earth, which was collected from the Apollo missions. So, the team turned to another, very similar space material – meteorites. The team ground samples into dust and mixed it with a small amount of polylactide and regolith simulant. The result was 3D printed bricks as a potential guide to making the ESA space bricks.
ESA science officer, Aidan Cowley, said, “Our teams are working towards the future of space travel and take inspiration from not just what’s above us, but also what we can find on Earth. No-one has ever built a structure on the moon, so we have to work out not only how we build them but what we build them out of – as we can’t take any materials with us.”
Daniel Meehan, creative lead at the Lego Group said: “With the ESA team using the Lego System-in-Play to advance space travel, it shows kids the sky really is the limit when it comes to Lego brick building and we hope it encourages children to have a go at building their own space shelters.”
The ESA Space Bricks will be on display in the LEGO Store, Leicester Square from until 20th September.
