LEGO 10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System Set Review
LEGO joins NASA in its return to the stars with the LEGO 10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System Set, providing audiences with a new rocket, launchpad and tower to build. It’s a blast to build, with the launch tower connecting to the rocket, the boosters coming off and even featuring a minature ORION shuttle. LEGO did kindly provide this set for review.
To talk about the specifications first, this set will come with 3,601 pieces, no minifigures and its rated 18+. It’s part of the LEGO ICONs set line, and is 28 inches/70cm in height, 11 inches/27cm in width and 12 inches/30cm in depth. It wil cost $259.99/£219.99 and for me it took 12 hours and 20 minutes to build, making it a very substantial set. While the rocket is built separately from the tower, there is only one instruction book, so there can’t be more than one person building it.
Fans will find the instruction book itself a work of art, with the first few pages dedicated to facts about the Artemis Launch programme, including a journey overview, breakdown of the rocket, and the five planned Artemis launches. There’s also a brief interview with Hans Burkhard Schlömer, the designer for the set too, giving an insight into his design process. But the instructions don’t just frontload all of the facts, sprinkled throughout the book are small little tiddbits, like the factoid about the fuel canisters.
The set iself is a marvel to behold. The launch tower, while building all of its levels does get a bit repetitive, is detailed with cables, supports, strong latticework and an obvservation level at the top. On the pad, there are the fuel canisters, railings, and even places that indicate the placement of stairs and doors. It’s a very well thought-out design, and it avoids it from feeling cluttered. The rocket also has plenty of detail on it, with places fo the clamps and the fuel line. It’s lovingly put together.
While the set is rated 18+, that doesn’t mean that the set is devoid of play features. The gantry swings along with other gear, and there are clamps to hold the rocket in place. The rocket itself is separate from the launchpad, and the boosters detach. Inside the top portion of the rocket is the Orion spacecraft, which has a separate display and foldable panels. It’s something that shows that LEGO know their audience and know how to bring out the inner child in everyone.
The set is impressively tall, but because of the way LEGO designed the set, it’s very sturdy, and so when it’s moved neither the rocket or the tower fall. The rocket isn’t even fully connected either, making this even more surprising. This last bit adds to the playability that’s present, there’s no messing about with pulling the rocket apart from any complex mechanisms.
Disappointingly, this set part has a high amount of stickers, covering mainly the rocket and the boosters. While there would have been an acceptable limit of stickers, there are 12 different types and multiple stickers of this type. The little information plaque that the set comes with is also a sticker, which is extremely frustrating, this should have been printed. When a set costs over £200/$200, this amount of stickers is too high. There are some printed pieces, like some of the booster pieces or the which makes this decision confusing.
Overall, the NASA Artemis Space Launch System is an impressive set with engaging detail, encouraging viewers to look to the stars. It features digestible information within its instructions, both about the set and the build experience, although this is mainly for display there are some play features cleverly put in there for the inner child, and there’s an impressive level of detail wihin the set. It’s just a shame that the sheer amount of stickers drag the set down, especially when the vast majority are for the rocket.
