LEGO sends 1,000 legonauts into the stratosphere

LEGO launched 1,000 astronauts into the sky last weekend. And to be more precise, figurines in the form of astronauts. They rose to a height of 34 km, into the stratosphere, on a large ball and returned safely to Earth.

Legonauts like them already nicknamed in the media, took off from a small airport in Slovakia, sitting on a platform that looked like a space shuttle without a roof. It was 3D printed from a strong yet lightweight carbon composite material.

The shuttle was designed by a team of space architects and engineers from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They wanted their brainchild to inspire future generations to explore space, reported on the Czech Crunch website.

The balloon itself, which raised the platform, was made of a special latex material filled with helium. As the altitude climbed, the stratostat gradually expanded and grew from the original two meters in diameter to ten.

At an altitude of 34 km, the balloon burst, and the landing platform returned to Earth with the help of a special parachute. According to space architect Thomas Rousek, the team wanted to make sure none of the astronauts fell off the shuttle. Two cameras filmed the experiment throughout the flight: one controlled the crew compartment, the other, attached to the boom, showed a side view.

The project does not end with the flight itself. It will now be followed by a competition where the purchase of any LEGO set will award one of the figures from this shuttle.