Unlike space-based observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope, which launch on top of a rocket before being deployed into orbit, the SOFIA telescope is built into an airplane.

About 30,500 bricks are used for the model to mark the landmark observatory's 80th ... specifically with a 3D ... a Lego model of the Lovell telescope to mark the observatory's 80th ...

The 3D-printed model of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) . (Image credit: NASA/SOFIA) This 3D-printable version of SOFIA is built to a scale of 1/200 and is just under ...