LEGO has produced space-related sets since1973 and most recently, two astronaut minifigures "hitched a ride"with the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity that arrived at the red planet in2004. Thisis not the first time that LEGO products have flown in space or have beenthemed around the space program. "Ifyou are trying to duplicate what a child has done on the ground in a one-Genvironment, it can definitely be done but the question is how long it willtake," said Melvin. Melvin,who last flew in space in November 2009, expects the weightless environment toslow Coleman's progress building the toys in space. "Shehas the first three kits with her right now and her 10-year-old son is trainingher on how to use them," said Biggs with a smile. Oncedelivered to the station, astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman will bethe first to attempt building the LEGO models, based on special training she isreceiving now on the ground. Theshuttle and station kits are slated to be released for sale to the public in2011 as part of the LEGO City line of toys. Thespace station, which recreates the modules, solar array wings and trusssegments on the real station, will fly as two kits due to its large size. It features a payload bay that opens and reveals a satellite. TheLEGO shuttle kit that will be aboard STS-134 builds a bigger model than theSTS-133 toy. "There is a spaceshuttle set and then there are two kits that are the space station." "Thefirst set is actually just a workbench, it has pegs to help us control ," Biggs told. The first three will launch with STS-134, shuttle Endeavour'sfinal mission. Morethan a dozen LEGO building activities will be flown to the station over thenext two years. "We'llbe doing different activities, building demonstrations and then demonstrationswith the models once they are built," added Debbie Biggs, an educationspecialist for the ISS National Lab education projects office. "Weare going to use the classroom of space - the International Space Station - tohelp the next generation of explorers," explained Leland Melvin, a formerastronaut who last month was appointed as NASA's new associate administratorfor education.
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