Nicola Fox, the head of NASA’s science division, recently shared a photo of a LEGO rocket she built over the weekend as a stress-relief hobby. The LEGO set is a mini version of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and includes 3,601 pieces. The real rocket, which stands over 300 feet tall, flew Artemis I, an uncrewed test mission around the moon in 2022.
Fox mentioned that assembling the LEGO rocket was a fun experience, especially since many people from NASA were also building it over the weekend. She completed the rocket in one weekend, with some progress made on Saturday and the final touches on Sunday. Despite a time stamp of 5 A.M. on her social media post, she clarified that she did not pull an all-nighter to finish it.
When asked about her excitement for upcoming NASA missions, Fox highlighted the Europa Clipper mission set to launch in October. The mission aims to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa, a potential water or ocean world, in hopes of finding clues about the building blocks of life.
Additionally, Fox expressed her pride in the Voyager spacecraft team’s efforts to bring Voyager 1 back into normal operations after a communications glitch. The spacecraft is currently 15 billion miles away from Earth and continues to send valuable information about uncharted territories in space.
Overall, Fox emphasized the importance of NASA’s ongoing scientific missions, with over 140 projects in progress. The agency is dedicated to delivering groundbreaking science every day, pushing the boundaries of space exploration and discovery.
