ESA’s Rosetta comet-chaser goes LEGO

What does a scientist do to visualise a space journey? Build a model, of course. A model of Europe’s Rosetta comet-chaser made out of LEGO(R) blocks started out in this small way and has grown into a high-fidelity Rosetta Lander Education Kit. Engineering and art students of the University of Rome gathered yesterday to test the prototype of the Rosetta Lander Education Kit. Not only did they build the LEGO MINDSTORMS comet lander, they also learnt why ESA’s mission is travelling all the way to Jupiter’s orbit to rendezvous with comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. More.