From Billund to the Moon: How Lego Is Inspiring Lunar Construction

Lunar infrastructure, specifically launch pads and shelters for astronauts visiting the moon, has been a focus for scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) of late. It may — or may not — come as a surprise that Lego played a fundamental role in testing construction concepts.

The material question

The first question when considering building something in outer space is: What do you use? Transporting material to the moon is not possible, and while a potential building material called regolith is abundant on the lunar surface, it is exceedingly rare on Earth: Only a small sample collected during the Apollo mission exists here. The researchers settled on the next best thing to test construction concepts — meteorite dust, which they 3D-printed into Lego-like bricks. These ESA Space Bricks are currently on display at various Lego stores around the world.

Clutch power

While they have a rougher appearance than the smooth Lego bricks we’re used to, the all-important clutch power is intact, said ESA Science Officer Aidan Cowley. Because they click and snap together just like Lego bricks, the scientific team is able to “test different building techniques,” said Cowley.

The ESA Space Bricks have a rougher appearance than the conventional Lego bricks, but they snap and click together just like the real thing. Image courtesy of Lego.

A substitute for the ABS plastic of most Lego pieces, the space dust used by the ESA comes from a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite found in northwest Africa in 2000. It’s packed with space materials such as large metal grains, inclusions, chondrules, and other stone meteorite elements, explained Lego, which is ground up with a bit of polylactide and what the ESA calls a regolith simulant.

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To boldly build . . .

“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,” said Cowley. “My team and I love creative construction and had the idea to explore whether space dust could be formed into a brick similar to a Lego brick so we could test different building techniques. The result is amazing.”

You (and your kids) can judge for yourselves at Lego stores in the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN; Water Tower Place in Chicago; Fifth Ave. in New York; at the Disney resorts in Florida and California; and in West Edmonton in Alberta. They are also showcased in various Lego stores throughout Europe and Australia. The Space Bricks will be on display through Sept. 20, 2024.