Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing with these incredible NASA Lego sets

The Lego Apollo 11 Lunar Lander and Saturn V rocket are two of the best sets the company's ever made

Lego Apollo Lunar Lander
(Image credit: Lego)

It's the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing on July 20th at 20:17 UTC (that's 21:17 BST, 16:17 EST, 13:17 PST), so we're celebrating in the best way possible: with two astounding Lego sets that commemorate the occasion.

The Lego Apollo 11 Lunar Lander and Apollo 11 Saturn V rocket might cover some of the same ground (or, er, Moon dust), but they're different beasts in terms of size, so you can choose which best suits the space you have… or, as I genuinely did, just get both and leave Future You to worry about shelf space.

Lego worked with NASA on getting both of these just right, from the details to the exact colours, and you can tell all the love that's gone into designing them.

Lego Apollo Saturn V

(Image credit: Lego)

Lego NASA Apollo Saturn V

A 1:110-scale model that breaks into stages and has extra vehicles

Specifications

Pieces: 1,969 (get it?)

Fully built, this thing is over a metre long. 100 actual cm. It's a genuine stunner, and is made to be a true show-piece – it doesn't even ask you to fiddle about with stickers to get the writing and flags on the side in the right place, instead printing all that stuff right on the bricks so that it'll be perfect.

The rocket comes apart into the multiple stages of the real rocket, or click together into one whole. There are scale versions of the lunar lander module and the command module, both in little dioramas (and the lunar module fits into a space in the rocket body too). 

And it even comes with microfigure (about the size of a normal Lego minifigure's leg) astronauts, which are to scale with the whole thing. Plus stands to display it on in all its glory.

(Image credit: Lego)

Lego NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander

The Eagle has landed in beautiful block form

Specifications

Pieces: 1,087

Added to Lego's line-up this year, especially for the anniversary, the Lunar Lander set is a much more manageable size than the rocket, coming in at 7 inches by 8 inches by 7 inches when built.

It's a thoughtful recreation of the complete landing module, include separate descent and ascent stage that come apart, both of which are carefully detailed, from the specific gold colour of the lower panels, to the realistic instrumentation inside the top stage, which opens up so you can put the two astronauts inside.

And it has a cratered Moon surface, of course, with name plate for where it's displayed. This is clearly crafted as a piece of memorabilia rather than a playset.

Matthew Bolton

Matt is T3's former AV and Smart Home Editor (UK), master of all things audiovisual, overseeing our TV, speakers and headphones coverage. He also covered smart home products and large appliances, as well as our toys and games articles. He's can explain both what Dolby Vision IQ is and why the Lego you're building doesn't fit together the way the instructions say, so is truly invaluable. Matt has worked for tech publications for over 10 years, in print and online, including running T3's print magazine and launching its most recent redesign. He's also contributed to a huge number of tech and gaming titles over the years. Say hello if you see him roaming the halls at CES, IFA or Toy Fair. Matt now works for our sister title TechRadar.