'ESA Space Bricks' landing at Lego Stores could help build real Artemis moon base (2024)

Scientists may have just found the "building bricks" for future moon bases in the toy store — and the public can soon see them there, too.

European Space Agency (ESA) researchers discovered more than inspiration when they looked at Lego sets while working on possible designs for habitats, launch pads and other structures for astronauts to use on the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program. Using the iconic plastic pieces as a model, the ESA team used 3D printers to create similar bricks made in part from meteorite to show that the tubes at the bottom wedge together with the studs at top, just like the toy.

"My team and I team 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," said Aidan Cowley, ESA's science officer, in a statement released by Lego on Tuesday (June 18). "The result is amazing, and, whilst the bricks may look a little rougher than usual, importantly the clutch power still works, enabling us to play and test our designs."

As a stand-in for regolith, the ESA team used the dust from a 4.5 million-year-old meteorite, which was added to polylactide (a biodegradable polymer) and lunar regolith simulant to form the feedstock for their 3D printers. The meteorite was originally found in Northwest Africa 24 years ago. Classed as an L3-6, the rock was a brecciated stone, comprised of large metal grains, inclusions, chondrules and elements.

With their structural testing complete, the ESA Space Bricks have been given a new mission: "to inspire the builders of tomorrow of how Lego brick building can help solve out-of-this-world problems."

"With the ESA team using the Lego System-in-Play to advance space travel, it shows kids the sky really is the limit when it comes to Lego brick building, and we hope it encourages children to have a go at building their own space shelters!" said Daniel Meehan, creative lead at the Lego Group.

Fifteen of the ESA Space Bricks are landing on display at Lego locations around the world, including:

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Robert Z. Pearlman

collectSPACE.com Editor, Space.com Contributor

Robert Pearlman is a space historian, journalist and the founder and editor of collectSPACE.com, an online publication and community devoted to space history with a particular focus on how and where space exploration intersects with pop culture. Pearlman is also a contributing writer for Space.com and co-author of "Space Stations: The Art, Science, and Reality of Working in Space” published by Smithsonian Books in 2018. He previously developed online content for the National Space Society and Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, helped establish the space tourism company Space Adventures and currently serves on the History Committee of the American Astronautical Society, the advisory committee for The Mars Generation and leadership board of For All Moonkind. In 2009, he was inducted into the U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2021, he was honored by the American Astronautical Society with the Ordway Award for Sustained Excellence in Spaceflight History.