Gallery: Space Exploration Looks Even More Awesome in Lego
01Curiosity Rover
NASA's Curiosity rover is probably making some kind of awesome discovery on Mars as you read this.
02Sputnik
The USSR launched Sputnik in October 1957. The tiny satellite spent three months circling the Earth, [scaring Americans into a Space Race](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/07/badass-space-machines/?pid=7233) that culminated with the Apollo program that landed men on the moon.
03Moon Landing
Neil Armstrong made history when he became the first man to step foot on our natural satellite. The historic event was watched by an estimated 600 million people in 1969.
04Footprint
The footprints left behind by Apollo astronauts represent America's prowess in space technology. Their historic and sentimental value makes them some of the best candidates for preservation, an idea recently suggested in Congress through the [creation of a national park on the moon](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/?p=155016).
05Voyager
Voyager 1, already the farthest man-made object from Earth, recently [crossed the boundary into interstellar space](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/09/voyager-left-solar-system/). Along with its twin probe Voyager 2, the mission delivered some of the [greatest photos of the outer solar system](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/voyager-35th-anniversary/).
06Opportunity
The twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity long outlived their initial shelf life of three months. Though Spirit has reached its final resting place, Opportunity is still roving around and even making discoveries about [ancient water on Mars](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/evidence-water-mars/).
07Launch
A future space-shuttle-like rocket takes off from a launch pad, bound for the Helium-3 mines of the moon.
08Explorer
Much further in the future, mankind has formed a *Star Trek*-like Federation devoted to space exploration. Here an ship called the *Explorer* is prepped for another mission.
