Lego's supersized Hubble deserves a little more shine

Lego has released its largest Hubble Space Telescope yet – a model built at approximately minifig scale that dwarfs the observatory included with its Space Shuttle Discovery set.

The first thing to say about this set is that there is an awful lot of grey.

This is perhaps the greatest weakness of an otherwise excellent set and feels a little penny-pinching on the part of the Danish brick botherer.

Lego has produced several versions of Hubble over the years.

There is a version to fit in the payload bay of its large Space Shuttle Discovery set, and a much smaller incarnation on a plinth in the Women of NASA set.

Both are retired, so scratching that Hubble itch with a current official set means dropping £119.99 on the Icons Hubble Space Telescope.

It's a large set.

According to Lego, the 1,252-piece set measures 32 cm tall, 38 cm long (with the aperture door open), and 38 cm wide.

An astronaut minifigure is included to indicate the model's approximate scale – a shame there's just one, since the servicing missions had a pair of spacewalkers – along with a power tool.

There is also a stand featuring some of Hubble's iconic imagery and a plaque with more information, including the dates of the Space Shuttle servicing missions.

Lego has not included replacement instruments to recreate the various servicing activities.

Inside are Lego representations of Hubble's instruments and systems, including its gyroscopes, primary mirror, and secondary mirror.

Outside are posable solar arrays and antennas, along with an aperture door that opens.

Some parts are a little fiddly, and the set is aimed at ages 18+.