One small step for man, one giant leap for LEGO-kind.
LEGO Education announced that two of its LEGO minifigures will launch into space on the uncrewed Artemis I mission. Minifigures Kate and Kyle will take the journey as part of LEGO’s collaboration with NASA on Build to Launch: A STEAM Exploration Series. LEGO City Minifigures Julia and Sebastian will join Kate and Kyle on Orion, making it a quartet. The minifigures’ space journey and the 10-week digital learning series are meant to further spark student curiosity and interest in STEAM. The Artemis I mission is the first integrated launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) mega-rocket to send the Orion spacecraft around the moon and back to Earth before taking future flights with astronauts on board.
Minifigures Kate and Kyle will represent the Build to Launch flight crew of the new LEGO Space Team, which also includes a six-person ground crew. In the digital series, each Space Team minifigure represents a real-life counterpart, such as a command pilot (Kate) and mission specialist (Kyle), to help students understand the roles, backgrounds, and skillsets within the Artemis I team. Each minifigure will host episodes featuring their NASA counterpart, in which they can interact with students and teachers who submit questions and share their learning experiences on social media using the hashtag #BuildtoLaunch.
The Build to Launch Series was designed in partnership with NASA to create free, interactive lessons that teach students about STEAM concepts and careers inspired by the Artemis missions. 10 weeks of space-themed STEAM curriculum follows the journey of the LEGO Space Team to put kids in the shoes of NASA engineers, scientists, and astronauts while exploring forces and motion, energy transfer, computational thinking, and more. The interactive episodes and open-ended prompts will guide students through three learning themes: Getting to Space, Testing and Transport, and Working in Space.
Teachers and parents can visit legoeducation.com/buildtolaunch for more information, downloadable resources, and an option to register for updates and bonus content throughout the series.
