Dave’s Cool Toys Blog

Three Lego Minifigs ready to blast-off

Three Lego Minifigs will (hopefully) blast-off on their way to Jupiter today, August 5, 2011 on the Juno space probe.

They aren’t actual plastic production Minifigs. Rather, they are specially constructed aluminum Minifigures created just for the mission. They are the same size all the standard Minifig.

The three figures are the Roman god Jupiter, his wife June, and Galileo.

The Lego project was a secret until August 3, when it was announced. It was initiated by NASA scientists, who apparently love Lego. They approached Lego and the company loved the project, and underwrote the cost to produce the three figures for $5,000 each. They had to be specially constructed to assure that they wouldn’t interfere with the spacecraft or it’s instruments.

Lego will feature the trio’s adventure on their Lego Space site.

Soon, the three Minifigs will be the fastest moving toys in the universe, they will eventually be the farthest toys from Earth (that we know of), and eventually, the Juno probe will purposefully de-orbit and crash, along with it’s "passengers" into Jupiter, so that the Minifigs will become part of the planet.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter’s true nature. Galileo Galilei made several important discoveries about Jupiter, including the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honor).

Each figure includes features that represent these characteristics. Jupiter carries a lightning bolt, Juno has a magnifying glass to represent her search for truth, Galileo is carrying a telescope and a model of the planet Jupiter.

The launch period for Juno opens Aug. 5 and extends through Aug. 26. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The mission will investigate the gas giant’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere and will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet’s poles.