Lego's latest collectable set is a faithful 1:70 scale recreation of Space Shuttle Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope, complete with a display stand.

It's been 30 years since the STS-31 mission launched in April 1990. Discovery and its five crew members worked to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. Ever since, Hubble has shared images of deep space, leading to breakthroughs in astrophysics and space exploration. 

Lego's NASA Space Shuttle Discovery set celebrates 30 years since Hubble Telescope launch photo 1

The set includes 2,354 pieces and naturally has plenty of detail. There's functional landing gear plus payload bay doors that open one after the other. The doors also have reflective stickers that represent the cooling radiators found on the real shuttle. There's also a detailed flight deck and crew area configured just as it was on STS-31 plus payload bay.

The Hubble Space Telescope part of the model has a hinged mirror housing just like the real thing. Naturally, it can be stowed in the payload bay ready to be lifted out by the Remote Manipulator System, or RMS robotic arm just as it was three decades ago. 

There have been Lego sets made of Discovery before - one set in partnership with the Discovery Channel and also an older Technic set

"The Space Shuttle is the most complex vehicle ever made, so as you can imagine, translating this into LEGO was an exciting challenge," says set designer Milan Madge.

Lego's NASA Space Shuttle Discovery set celebrates 30 years since Hubble Telescope launch photo 3

"In the real vehicle, every inch of space is used in ingenious ways. Generally, in a Lego model we can rely on the size to accommodate the structure that holds the whole set together, but on the Discovery Space Shuttle we needed to create a smooth exterior and an interior capable of holding the payload. Add functional landing gear and you have a real puzzle.

Lego's NASA Space Shuttle Discovery set celebrates 30 years since Hubble Telescope launch photo 2

"This was without a doubt the most challenging part of this model - trying to couple the front and main landing gear without removing any space from the payload bay and without compromising the structure of the model. My favourite part of the set is the tiny blue seats that carried five human beings away from their home planet on a mission that allowed us to discover parts of the universe never seen before!"