Lego launches 2,354-piece epic NASA Space Shuttle Discovery Series

Every time you lose your mind to go to a striking Hubble image, thanks the crew of the Discovery spacecraft that delivered the space telescope into orbit in 1990. Lego celebrates the groundbreaking mission with a 2,354-piece Discovery and Hubble set.

The new kit is a Lego version of the STS-31 Hubble implementation mission. STS stands for ‘space transport system’. The $ 200 (£ 170) kit is equipped for 18 years and older and will be launched in April.

Lego has partnered with NASA to design the set, with movable cargo doors on the shuttle. The Hubble model can fold up and fit in the shuttle, or the sunshades can be unfolded to show the telescope in its full glory. Other details include a robotic arm, a command module that opens to show the flight deck and deployable landing gear.

“This dynamic duo represents the greatest pursuit of mankind – the search for knowledge. Discovery and Hubble continue to inspire,” NASA tweeted Monday in response to Lego’s unveiling of the shuttle.

Former NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan, one of the five STS-31 crew members, has joined Lego to launch the new kit.

“I was delighted to see the spacecraft in LEGO form, and was very impressed by the amount of intricate details they were able to convey from the module where we slept earlier to what we’ve the ‘milking stalls’ on the telescope, ”Sullivan said in a statement from Lego on Sunday.

Lego and NASA build on a history of plastic brick collaborations that the Apollo 11 moon lander, a Saturn V-rocket and the International Space Station.

The spacecraft remains one of NASA’s most iconic vehicles. Hubble, which has celebrated more than thirty years in space, is responsible for the most beautiful views of our cosmos ever seen. It’s been decades since the two worked together in real life, but they are once again miniature together, an inspiring tribute to their shared legacy.