Lego has created pieces from meteorite dust and they are on display in select stores.

There are a lot of Lego sets that feature astronauts, but now there are Lego bricks made from things that astronauts find in a vacuum. Danish brick maker (ESA) to make Lego pieces from real meteorite dust. Pretty cool, right? It’s on display at Through September 20, including the large Fifth Avenue branch in Manhattan.

This project isn’t just for laughs, it’s also really fun. It’s a proof of concept for how astronauts could use moon dust to build lunar structures. Considering the enormous amount of energy and money it would take to transport building materials from Earth to the moon, building everything from pre-existing lunar materials would be a game changer.

There is a layer of rocks and mineral deposits on the moon’s surface, called lunar regolith. It has long been thought that glacial regolith of some sort would be required. They are readily available and there are several potential ways to turn them into building materials. After all, humans have been making structures out of dirt, soil, and sand for thousands of years.

But there aren’t many moon rocks here on Earth for people to experience. ESA scientists made their own moon rocks by grinding up an extremely ancient meteorite. The dust resulting from this meteorite was transformed into a mixture that was used in 3D printing Lego pieces. Now, we have pieces of the moon. They can be linked together just like regular Lego pieces, although they only come in one color (space grey, of course).

ESA Science Officer Aidan Cowley said: “No one has ever built a building on the Moon, so it’s been great to have the flexibility to try out all kinds of designs and construction techniques with our spacecraft. It’s been fun and useful in understanding the limits of these techniques scientifically.” .

In fact, humanity is moving towards establishing the first true lunar base. NASA has teamed up with the Italian Space Agency and the space company Thales Alenia to build the first permanent human base on the Moon, although this won’t happen until at least the 2030s. Modern designs for lunar habitats have ranged from something resembling a mobile home to… .

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