NASA Sends Lego-Men on New Jupiter Mission

When NASA launches its Juno exploration mission to Jupiter on Firday, the spacecraft will have three plastic passengers, namely LEGO figurines.

Meant to "inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics," the 1.5 inch toys represent Galileo Galilei, the Roman god Jupiter and his wife Juno.

"Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt," NASA said in a news brief.

"The third LEGO crew member is Galileo Galilei, who made several important discoveries about Jupiter, including the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honor). Of course, the miniature Galileo has his telescope with him on the journey."

The Juno craft is expect to reach Jupiter in 2016. It will investigate the origins of the planet, as well as the structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere of the gas giant.

Juno features a color camera that will take close-up pictures of Jupiter, hopefully including the first-ever images of the poles of the planet.

The probe has a launch window from Aug. 5 through Aug. 26. It will hold a temporary orbit around Earth before rockets blast the craft toward jupiter.

In addition to the plastic spacemen, Juno features a plaque dedicated to Galileo, which was provided by Italy's Space Agency. The plaque features the scientists own words.

"On the 11th it was in this formation -- and the star closest to Jupiter was half the size than the other and very close to the other so that during the previous nights all of the three observed stars looked of the same dimension and among them equally afar; so that it is evident that around Jupiter there are three moving stars invisible till this time to everyone," it reads.