Lego Has a New Space Shuttle and It Looks Awesome

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By Tariq Malik
( space.com-spaceflight )
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In summer 2017, Lego will release a new space shuttle kit, the Lego Creator Space Shuttle Explorer. The building set was unveiled at New York Toy Fair 2017 Saturday, Feb. 18.
In summer 2017, Lego will release a new space shuttle kit, the Lego Creator Space Shuttle Explorer. The building set was unveiled at New York Toy Fair 2017 Saturday, Feb. 18. (Image credit: Tariq Malik/Space.com)

NEW YORK — Lego has a new space shuttle set for 2017 and it promises to be one any space fan can enjoy.

We got a close-up first look at the new Lego Creator Space Shuttle Explorer 3-in-1 set at the New York Toy Fair 2017 Saturday (Feb. 18). It's a 285-piece set under Lego's Creator line, which encourages creativity through multiple builds. It will be available this summer for $29.99.

The main build is the shuttle itself, which has the hallmark features of past Lego shuttles, such as payload bay doors that open, a robotic arm and a satellite to move around. It also includes one minifigure (an astronaut, of course) equipped with what looks like jetpack similar to the Manned Maneuvering Unit used by NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless during a real-life shuttle flight in 1984. [Lego & Space Travel: A Cosmic Toy Gallery]

At first glance, there are some clear design departures from past Lego shuttle kits, which ranged from the relatively small Utility Shuttle of 2015 to the massive Spaceport set from that same year. Unlike other recent Lego shuttles, which used large canopy pieces for the nose and big fins for the tail, Space Shuttle Explorer features a brick-built nose and tail made of sloped and curved pieces to give it the angled shape of a reusable spaceship. The tail also has some limited articulation and can be moved up and down.

The 2017 Lego Creator Space Shuttle Explorer set can also be used to built a space base and a rover, as seen in the box art inserts at right. (Image credit: Tariq Malik/Space.com)

While the shuttle looks to be a solid build on its own, the pieces in the Space Shuttle Explorer set can also be used to make two other models. One is a rover suitable to roaming whatever brick planet your child (or you!) can dream up. The third build is a planetary base where your astronaut minifigure can plan the next voyage across the brick frontier.

According to Lego representatives, Space Shuttle Explorer will be available Aug. 1. It's a perfect companion to the Lego Creator Robo Explorer, a 3-in-1 robot building set that can be rebuilt into a robot dog and bird. The Robo Explorer was released in January.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.