The Head of NASA Science Spent a Whole Weekend Building a LEGO Rocket
NASA Space Technology Early on a recent Monday morning, the head of NASA’s science division shared to social media a triumphant photograph of a massive LEGO rocket. Scientific American called Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, and she revealed that she bought the LEGO set—a mini version of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket—as a gift for herself. The kit includes 3,601 pieces and stands more than two feet tall when fully constructed. In comparison, the real rocket stands more than 300 feet tall. That rocket saw its first launch in 2022, when it flew Artemis I, an uncrewed test mission around the moon and the first step in the agency’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade.Scientific American talked with Fox about her LEGO hobby,...
