LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models

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

LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models — page 7 — SPACESHIP DESIGN Space offers no resistance to objects passing through it so spaceship designs can take any shape Voyager I our farthest traveled spacecraft appears to the untrained eye like a random assembly of scientific instruments Spaceships in science fiction however are designed with appearance in mind Looking cool is a valid design principle Consider the variety of automobiles on city streets all performing the same function but with different styling The essential elements of a crewed LEGO spaceship are the fuselage propulsion system and cockpit Each of these components can be represented with one brick resulting in an instantly recognizable three-brick spaceship 4589 3005 54200 Three bricks combine to make a basic LEGO spaceship complete with a fuselage propulsion system and cockpit Replace the standard 1 1 brick fuselage with a 1 1 Studs Not On Top SNOT brick 4733 and you gain four open studs for adding options such as maneuvering thrusters airlock doors antennas weapons sensors windows or solar panels You will find many examples of spaceship additions throughout this book Mix and match them to suit your design preferences 1x 4733 1x 4589b 2x 30162 1x 54200 1x 98138 1x 4588 1x 4733 2x 60849 1x 54200 1x 4073 1x 4733 1x 4589b 3x 64567 2x 4697b 1x 88811 1x 54200 xii

LEGO Space Projects: 52 Creative Models — page 8 — Science-fiction spaceship design features are used to symbolize the world they come from Some fictional worlds are home to scrappy rebels and others have reached utopian bliss Combine styles to make a unique world for your own starship fleet GREEBLES SLEEKNESS Greebles are fine details that give a spaceship complexity visual interest and an impression of increased scale Greebles are a common design feature on Star Wars ships Model makers for the original Star Wars trilogy invented the word greeble Sleek spaceships embody an elegant vision of the future fusing polished design with advanced technology This style expresses utopian ideals Star Trek’s Federation ships have a sleek design philosophy RETROFUTURISM WINGS Retrofuturistic spacecraft take their design cues from ideas of the future that were prevalent in the 1950s It’s a nostalgic style that projects sunny optimism The Jetsons and Futurama both use retrofuturism in their spacecraft designs Wings aren’t required for spaceflight but they are a metaphor for flight You’ll find winged spaceships soaring throughout science-fiction worlds A winged design gives a vessel the imposing appearance of a dragon or a bird of prey xiii

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