ISS Base Set - International Space Station 1998-2007

This is the Base Set for the LEGO ISS (1998-2007)

I’m constantly amazed by space and those that dedicate their lives to exploring it. LEGO originally released a small version of the ISS in 2003 as it was in 2001. But there have been many modules, structural elements, and science that’s gone into it since then.

I originally researched and designed this ISS LEGO model two months ago, but once I started assembling, I found that the real ISS benefits quite a bit from only existing in microgravity. Duh. So I’ve been tweaking the build over the past several weeks and have it in a good place. It still maintains the ability to rotate the thermal and solar panels. And you can remove the individual modules and stick them together in other configurations. This is especially fun if you want to build it and configure it in the order in which it was actually built. I put together a stop motion video here:

If you’d like to learn more about the ISS, Wikipedia is of course an excellent resource. You can also view the Google Doc I used to research and keep images for the design and build: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gkW1Vck0phHm8OqnVfqfvNM1IWS0BbPdlEA0XzaDzMs/edit?usp=sharing

This Base Set of the ISS LEGO is .9 meters by .8 meters (34”x31”). It’s really big and at approximately a 1:90 scale. LEGO Ideas are limited to 3,000 pieces. So I couldn't do the full 2017 configuration at this time. Didn't want to compromise on scale and detail. This set comes in at 2,984 bricks!

The Base Set includes:

• 6 Modules

  • 3 Russian modules (Zarya, Pirs, and Zvezda)

  • 3 US modules (Unity, Destiny, and Quest)

• 5 Truss parts

• 4 Rotating large solar arrays

• 5 Rotating thermal control arrays

• Canadarm2

  • An amazing feat engineering - this runs along a track on the trusses and is fully articulating

• 7 Stands to support it

Fun fact: November 2nd, 2017 was the 17th anniversary of the International Space Station being continually occupied.

If you want this model to become a real set, make sure to tell your friends and share this project. I’d really love this model to become an official Lego set!

THANK YOU!!