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Friday, March 23, 2018

LEGO® Creator 31066 | Space Shuttle Explorer

03.23.2018 – Space may be the final frontier and this theme has been part of LEGO since the early days of the brand. There was an entire theme dedicated to a space theme that long time fans who grew up hoping to see it again.

But for those who just want to appreciate any random theme the Space Shuttle Explorer set number 31066 may be the one for those who are into Creator. Its also one of those themes that younger kids might take up interest in science and space exploration who knows you’ll probably inspired by this set too.


For the first time this Creator theme goes into space with the Space Shuttle Explorer. LEGO has probably produced every Space Shuttle out there even though the actual space vehicle has been retired in 2011 having been operational since 1981 that also help built the International Space Station. Now you can only find the remaining shuttles euther in NASA's storage facility or in the Aerospace Museums in the United States.













Shuttling Service

A brief history of the space shuttle was originally a reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The first prototype that was launched was named STS (Space Transportation System) Enterprise and at that time the original cast of the Star Trek TV series was present for the inauguration and that same Shuttle is now on displayed at the Aerospace Museum.

There were five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); conducted science experiments in orbit; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds









3-in-1 Explorer

The Space Shuttle Explorer with set number 31066 has 285 pieces that includes one Astronaut Minifigure. It has authentic white, black and gray color scheme this includes three manuals that can also rebuild into the Moon Station and Space Rover. When you open up the box revealing the contents mentioned and the pieces separately bagged but it’s not numbered.

Putting together the Shuttle it uses up all of the pieces and the process going through pages in building this would be challenging for any young explorer. For the adult builder an hour is enough to have this shuttle ready for the launch.







Matt Damon’s Ride

If you’re into space vehicles this shuttle must be for you as kids would enjoy playing this that features a satellite that fits with its foldout wings in the payload that can be launched using the robotic arm, and at the same time the Astronaut in his removable jetpack can do repair work while doing his space walk.

Entirely the set seems to be loosely inspired by the 2015 film The Martian, which stars Matt Damon, a Mars astronaut who was thought to have died but actually survived and was stuck in the red planet for days living in the Moon Station. But he has to move and find another ship to launch out of orbit that he has to use the Space Rover to find it.









Launched into Orbit

Overall the Space Shuttle Explorer is a fun build that require attention to detail as a reminder that it was an iconic space vehicle that used to be part of the NASA space program. It has been translated by LEGO into several sets so many times, and the recent set prior to this was produced for the CITY theme in 2015.

Though there are features that makes this shuttle a must have for everyone. The only thing it doesn’t have is a landing gear as underneath it is entire belly is just a black flat surface as sometimes you’d wonder if it would return to Earth. But entirely this shuttle certainly has enough playability to inspire young minds to dream of making space travel possible for generations to come.

NEXT: Moon Station!





“Space Shuttle Explorer” is the primary build from the set 31066 3-in-1 Creator theme which was originally released in 2017 acquired at Kmart in Westfield Marion for $29.00 AU Dollars.

Special acknowledgement to Ms. Bee Bricks for this gift you can check out her series of LEGO Photography by following her at @MsBee_Bricks on Instagram!

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