LEGO travels to jupiter onboard space probe

three LEGO figurines– italian astronomer galileo galilei and the two roman gods jupiter and juno– are headed for a five-year mission to jupiter

three LEGO figurines are traveling to jupiter, affixed to the space probe ‘juno’. the models represent the italian astronomer galileo galilei, the roman god jupiter, and the roman goddess juno

created by LEGO on a special commission from NASA, the three figures are composed of aluminum, created at a cost of about 5,000 USD each. special manufacturing was required to ensure that the figurines do not interfere with the spacecraft’s sensitive measurements and instruments.

‘juno’ is expected to arrive on jupiter in july of 2016, where the solar-powered probe will collect information about the planet, its moons, and atmosphere over the course of one year. it is scheduled to launch aboard the unmanned ‘atlas V’ rocket at 11:40 AM EDT on august 5th.

galileo carries a telescope and a model of the planet jupiter

jupiter carries a lightning bolt

juno carries a magnifying glass

the figurines onboard the ‘juno’ space probe

rendering of the ‘atlas V’ rocket, which carries the ‘juno’ space probe with the figurines onboard

via wired