LEGO Minifigs Stow Away on NASA's Juno Spacecraft Mission To Jupiter.

Okay, so they weren't really stowaways, but certainly not your expected passengers. The special cargo - three 1.5" tall aluminum LEGO® Minifigs- left earth on NASA's Juno deep-space probe on August 5th for a five-year mission to Jupiter as part of NASA and LEGO's Bricks In Space program, a joint partnership to inspire children and broaden awareness of the importance of planetary research.







above: the Lego Minifigures affixed to the Juno probe before take-off.





In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. From Mount Olympus, Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt:







The third LEGO crew member is Galileo Galilei, who made several important discoveries about Jupiter, including the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honor). Of course, the miniature Galileo has his telescope with him on the journey:







The LEGO Minifigures will help get attention for Juno’s mission to improve understanding of our solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.





above: click to enlarge and get a better look at the Juno Spacecraft



The inclusion of the three mini-statues, or figurines, is part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.







Video of the August 5th launch (on which the minifigs were affixed to the space probe):





The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The mission will investigate the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno's color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet's poles.



More information about Juno is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu. You can follow the mission on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nasajuno.



images courtesy of LegoSpace, NASA and Wired

Ride-On Torpedo Toy For Kids In 9 Cool Designs by Jerry Koza.

Jerry Koza is a designer whose speakers for Symbio I shared with you many moons ago. His name is back in the blogosphere lately with his sleek ride-on toy for kids.




Despite being designed in 2005, Jerry Koza's Torpedo has been getting a lot of attention lately, largely because of Gessato's nice post on the toys on their Gblog.

The Czech designer created laminate shell children's toys in a sleek shape with glossy colors, images and numbers.








Be aware that the images are a little misleading. The toys are very small (26 x 70 x 36 cm) as seen below:

and are available for purchase here

images and info from Prague Art & Design

Amazing Outdoor Playhouses For Kids Inspired By Modern Architecture.

When I was a youngster, the only available "playhouses" for us kids were leftover boxes from kitchen appliances or if you were lucky enough to have a handy dad, he might actually build a rough hewn one. Worst case scenario, we draped blankets over the backs of chairs and created a fort. Years later, some of my more spoiled friends had large plastic ones, often pink with ornate gingerbread-like trim in which we had tea with our dolls. There were some that resembled barns with the split front door, but there were nothing like these.




In 2009 David Lamolla Kristiansen, who studied Architecture at the Politechnical University of Catalunya, founded SmartPlayhouse. Inspired to create a place for his first born daughter to create and discover without the direct intervention of her parents, David created a company who designs and manufactures beautiful outdoor [and some indoor] child-sized playhouses that are inspired by modern and contemporary architecture.




The four models [the Illinois, the Forum, the Hobikken and the Kyoto] are authentic pieces of design work created to be safe and stylish environments that provide kids with a comfortable and safe space in which to develop their creativity and social skills.




Special consideration to details like methacrylate impact-resistant windows which do not chip or break like glass and door jams that don't crunch little fingers are designed following strict guidelines that exceed the European Safety Standard requirements.



All of the outdoor playhouses are built on a platform to keep the flooring from getting wet. Crafted with high quality materials [predominantly birch marine wood], that they are resistant to all sorts of weather conditions and the roof has thermal insulation and precast waterproof EPDM rubber material with a water drain pipe incorporated from warehouse, so that no welding or attaching materials is required.

The playhouses can be personalized with accessories like various door handles, different flooring and a wide range of colors to choose from. Curtains, indoor lighting, and soft pavement are also available.

The Illinois:
Inspired by mid 20th century architecture, the Illinois has sliding doors and a platform deck.









The Hobikken
A warm contemporary wood cottage available in three sizes; the mini, the junior and the maxi, as well as an indoor version.

The Hobikken Maxi:




The Hobikken Mini:



The Hobikken indoor:



The Kyoto
Like the Hobikken, the futuristic looking Kyoto is also available in three different sizes and an indoor version:




The Kyoto Junior:


UPDATE- The two story Kyoto Maxi:
with stairs safe for both children and adults to climb and room for friends to sleepover!






The Kyoto is also available in an indoor version:




The Casaforum
Perforated steel panels with leaf designs make this outdoor garden playhouse both durable and stylish.





And the big bonus for parents is that the SmartPlayhouse playhouses are delivered pre-assembled from the warehouse and are very easy to set up.

For pricing, size and delivery options visit SmartPlayhouse.