Lego Designed a Lunar Lander that can Fly!

It’s not quite as challenging as actually landing a pair of astronauts on the moon, but aerospace engineer and talented toy hacker Adam Woodworth has managed to upgrade Lego’s Apollo 11 Lunar Lander set with all the motors and electronics needed to make it actually fly and recreate that memorable landing all over again.

Lego’s official Apollo 11 anniversary set is pretty slick already, but Woodworth detailed the build in an Imgur gallery, and it’s seriously impressive. He hollowed out the inside of the set to make room for a battery and flight controller. (The battery is hidden inside the ascent stage half of the set, while the electronics are in the base). He also added the four T-Motor F40 spinning 4-inch propellors that allow it to actually fly. The motors are staggered to overlap so that Woodworth could actually get enough thrust from the set. He notes that the model is pretty heavy for its size, which made it difficult to design.

The finished model can only fly for 90-second increments, which may not sound like a lot, but it should be just enough time to reenact the lunar landing as Woodworth does in the video. Woodworth isn’t planning to stop here, either: he’s already working on a functional ascent stage modification.

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Photo Credit:  Everett Historical / Shutterstock.com