Calling all aspiring astronauts! The incredible Katherine Bennell-Pegg (the first astronaut trained under the Australian flag), will be stopping by the largest Lego store on the planet this month – and you could meet her. The Sydney-born explorer will be greeting space enthusiasts at the CBD’s sprawling Lego megastore from 10am on Tuesday, July 16. Here’s what you need to know.
As champions of all things creative, the people at Lego have been working on something "out of the box" (couldn’t resist) and somewhat "out of this world" over the past few years. One of the brand’s latest (and perhaps most otherworldly) releases is inspired by outer space, and rather than just releasing alien-style figurines, Lego decided to go all out – creating a Lego-style brick from (4.5-billion-year-old) meteorite dust donated by the European Space Agency (ESA) where Katherine trained.
The ‘Space Brick’ was inspired by what Lego is referring to as ‘The Space Generation' – the generation of children growing up in today's Australia, 70 per cent of whom want to travel to space (according to a study carried out by Lego). To foster and support the curiosity of the younger generation, Lego aims to connect Australian children with the reality of connecting to the cosmos.
Before announcing their partnership with the Australian Space Agency, the team at Lego decided to generate interest by creating what appeared to be a 50-metre alien crop circle in a field in regional NSW. And now, they’re celebrating the partnership with an in-person meet and greet with one of the galaxy’s most impressive explorers.
In her role as the Director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency, Bennell-Pegg is the first Australian woman to be trained as an astronaut by an international space agency, and the first to be trained while representing the Australian flag. Though two Australian-born people (aerospace engineer Andy Thomas and Sydney-born oceanographer Paul Scully-Power) have made it into space with NASA in the past, both were American citizens at the time. This means that if Katherine continues on her flight path, she’ll make history as the first-ever astronaut to enter the cosmos adorned with the Aussie flag. So there’s really no better-suited Australian to inspire ‘The Space Generation’ to believe that following your curiosity can help you achieve your dreams.
The meet and greet will take place at 10am on Tuesday, July 16, at Lego Store Sydney – 400 George Street (entry via Pitt Street Mall). You can learn more over here.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.