LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models

LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models — page 3 — FIXIT 42 LUNA MOTH FLYING SAUCER 44 MANTIS GALILEO 46 MERCATOR GONDOLA TT5 50 MINTAKA G8 88 90 94 98 GREEBLE GURU 52 MONARCH 104 GUMBALL MINER 60 NEST 108 HEAVY HAULER 66 NIGHTINGALE 114 JABBERWOCKY 74 NOMAD 124 KAMURO 80 ODYSSEY 132 viii

LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models — page 4 — OMNISHIELD 134 SERRATUS 166 PONY EXPRESS 136 STARHOPPER 168 PRAETORIAN GUARD 140 SUN DRAGON 170 QUANTUM SLED 144 THUNDERWAVE 178 RED TIDE 148 TRISTAR 182 RING RACER 152 UPLIFTER GT 186 SAMARITAN 156 WATERWORKS 188 SCIMITAR 158 WHISPERNET 3000 194 SEED VAULT 160 ZEPHYRUS 198 ix

LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models — page 5 — INTRODUCTION

LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models — page 6 — Exploration is an outward journey but it begins with an inward journey of imagination We wonder what exists beyond the horizon and we dream about how we’ll get there Tools of discovery are historical waypoints of human ingenuity We have pushed forward with inventions such as snowshoes sailing ships hot air balloons and helicopters Every innovation is a building block for another Today Earth is being continuously mapped by satellites We can see what lies over the horizon on a smartphone Our home planet’s surface has been meticulously charted so we look skyward for new adventures The new frontier begins 60 miles 100 km above our heads and stretches to an unknown point millions of light years away Discoveries await in a universe as large and mysterious as imagination itself Our forays into outer space have just begun It’s hard to believe but our current spacecraft will one day seem as quaint as horse-drawn carriages As a species we are restless and exploratory drawing from a deep well of creativity that will drive us ever closer to the stars Spaceship design is boosted by a feedback loop of creative thinking that flows between science and art The contributions of scientists and engineers are clear Every spaceflight documentary contains enough lab coats to clothe a small city In popular culture rocket science is the pinnacle of intellectual achievement Everything else is easier in comparison because it’s not rocket science Art’s influence on spaceflight is based more on intuition than mathematical proofs Science fiction writers moviemakers and artists are already living in the future conceptually speaking Their visions of tomorrow inspire scientists working on real-world technology today Jules Verne published From the Earth to the Moon in 1865 four decades before the airplane was invented Arthur C Clarke envisioned how communication satellites would work 12 years before Sputnik circled the globe Fictional technologies such as tractor beams teleportation devices and warp drives are all subjects of serious scientific study Like a science-fiction artist you don’t have to leave your house to explore the universe LEGO lets you build your own starship fleet on a kitchen table A small pile of LEGO bricks can be assembled in millions of combinations You can experiment with galaxy-hopping spacecraft that fit in your hand Take inspiration from real life spaceships and puzzle out how to build propulsion systems heat shields and solar collectors or take a page from science fiction and make warp drives self-healing hulls and photon beams This book is filled with instructions for a wide variety of spaceships Build them as is or use the building techniques as a launchpad for your own designs When you build a LEGO spaceship you also create the beginnings of a story Hold a LEGO spaceship in your hands and the world re-creates itself as you imagine where your craft will travel and what stories it will send home Will it find a world of peace or will interstellar conflict provide epic drama LEGO bricks are like the elemental building blocks of the universe itself Their potential is limitless Remember the words of Maya Angelou You can’t use up creativity The more you use the more you have

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