There's no denying that two of the greatest things humankind has done is go to space and invent Legos. Therefore, combining these two passions can only yield something amazing.

And that's exactly what has come from two brick-based artists named Peter Reid and Tim Goddard in a book called LEGO Space: Building the Future. In it, they beautifully render important scenes from the last half-century of spaceflight. Their Lego recreations show the launch of Sputnik, Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon, and incredible robotic missions such as Voyager and Curiosesity, seen roaming through a tiny Martian sandpit in the image above.

That's not all. The bulk of Reid and Goddard's book is devoted to a science-fiction exploration of mankind's potential future among the stars. The Lego minifig astronauts of tomorrow find themselves building moon and Mars bases, working with intelligent robots, constructing wormholes to distant worlds, and even battling evil aliens and mad scientists that have infiltrated their ranks. All of this is illustrated in detailed photographs of Lego brick spaceships and stations. There's even instructions on how to build your own version of some of the vehicles.

LEGO Space: Building the Future will be out at the end of October.

All images copyright Peter Reid and Tim Goddard. Reproduced with permission of No Starch
Press.