Spacecraft lego crew members. They have launched aboard the space shuttle, visited the space station and flown to Mars. Now, three more "very special" LEGO figurines are set to fly to Jupiter with NASA's Juno spacecraft.
The specially-constructed LEGO Minifigures are of the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno, and "father of science" Galileo Galilei. The LEGO crew's mission is part of the Bricks in Space project, the joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the collaboration between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

"NASA has a long-standing partnership with the LEGO company," Scott Bolton, principal investigator for the Juno mission and space science and engineering director at the Southwestern Research Institute in San Antonio, said in a press conference on Wednesday (Aug. 3). "Any of you that have children know that LEGOs are very popular with kids, as well as really helps teach them about building and engineering."

Juno and the minifigures are scheduled to arrive in July 2016 and orbit Jupiter for a year (33 revolutions) before intentionally crashing into the giant gas planet. The spacecraft is set to launch on Friday (Aug. 5) aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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