NASA To Launch Lego Characters Into Space

[great_bear]

Strangely enough this isn't a joke.

NASA is set to launch three Lego figures into space on Friday. The lucky trio are Jupiter, Juno and Galileo:

More on NASAs news web site here <click>

(I've submitted this for inclusion on the SGL Space News section)

[John]

I guess it's better than Smurfs ...............

[661-pete]

Just what exactly is Juno (presumably the one in the middle) holding?

Looks like a frying-pan. Talk about sexual stereotyping! Or maybe I'm wrong...

I guess that what Jupiter ® is wielding is supposed to be a thunderbolt!

(In case you're wondering, I never did care for Lego much...)

[glowjet]

Good grief what nex!!!!.

[Willarnold]

Must be the budget cuts.....meet the new astronauts!

[yeti monster]

They should send an Action Man astronaut, in his little capsule, to see how well it copes with re-entry.

[Superewza]

Just what exactly is Juno (presumably the one in the middle) holding?

Looks like a frying-pan. Talk about sexual stereotyping! Or maybe I'm wrong...

I guess that what Jupiter ® is wielding is supposed to be a thunderbolt!

(In case you're wondering, I never did care for Lego much...)

Pretty sure that's a magnifying glass

[JamesF]

Pretty sure that's a magnifying glass

The NASA page says it is indeed a magnifying glass.

James

[earth titan]

I seem to recall that Jim Henson put 'pigs in space'......

[yeti monster]

^^^Police shuttle?

[Euan]

You know all the people that like to get ripped into NASA for being a waste of money?...

DON'T SHOW THEM THIS

[great_bear]

Yes - and the kind of people who don't get the point of NASA will say:

"How much are they spending in order to get these Lego characters into space?"

[yeti monster]

NASA aren't a waste of money, that Hubble Space Telescope is worth every US$ they spent each time I see it.....

[Skiddins]

Just what exactly is Juno (presumably the one in the middle) holding?

Looks like a frying-pan. Talk about sexual stereotyping! Or maybe I'm wrong...

I guess that what Jupiter ® is wielding is supposed to be a thunderbolt!

(In case you're wondering, I never did care for Lego much...)

Juno is Jupiter's wife

"In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. From Mount Olympus, Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt"

[661-pete]

Pretty sure that's a magnifying glass

The NASA page says it is indeed a magnifying glass.

Juno is Jupiter's wife

"In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. From Mount Olympus, Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt"

Aha! I didn't read far enough down!

I must say, that's some lens: a magnifying-glass-and-a-half!

Funnily enough, I don't recall any mention of it in my schooldays whilst stumbling through my Virgil, my Ovid and my Euripides, but there! perhaps my Latin and Greek masters left those bits out... Never mind.

Perhaps she ought to donate it to Galileo: it'd make a damn sight better objective for his telescope, than the one he's got in at the moment. He might even be able to pick out the GRS...

[blackparticle]

Did they deliberately leave them unpainted to save on weight?

As they are, I worked out that the 3 figures will cost NASA approx $110 to put into space (and that's only based on the costs for LEO)

[661-pete]

As it happens, I understand that at the end of its mission, Juno is to be de-orbited and plunged to self-destruction in Jupiter's atmosphere - along with its 'passengers'.

What a waste!

There must be a myriad of kids worldwide who would have loved to have them as playthings....

Never mind. Perhaps the next deep space mission - à la Pioneer or Voyager - will carry a selection of Earthlings' toys for any alien intelligences it may encounter, to puzzle over. Remember the Pioneer plaques? Actually, just to be blumming-minded, I hope they send out a video recorder complete with multilingual instruction book ....

[Superewza]

As it happens, I understand that at the end of its mission, Juno is to be de-orbited and plunged to self-destruction in Jupiter's atmosphere - along with its 'passengers'.

What a waste!

There must be a myriad of kids worldwide who would have loved to have them as playthings....

Never mind. Perhaps the next deep space mission - à la Pioneer or Voyager - will carry a selection of Earthlings' toys for any alien intelligences it may encounter, to puzzle over. Remember the Pioneer plaques? Actually, just to be blumming-minded, I hope they send out a video recorder complete with multilingual instruction book ....

It's not much of a 'waste' considering that after the end of it's mission (and some before) most of it's instruments would be fried due to radiation. So it would just be a $1bn flying piece of scrap - and i believe the Outer Space Treaty has a clause regarding the contamination of "space and celestial bodies".

Doesn't stop us from creating a metric **** ton of debris in Earth orbit every other day, but still - it could turn out that some of the last data we receive from Juno could be the most valuable.

[mcro89]

Thats awesome