Dear Lego,

First off, let me start by saying "Thank you." Like for so many kids, Lego was an important part of my childhood. New sets were the toys we'd dream about getting for birthdays and holidays. We'd drool over the largest sets at department store toy aisles and we'd be infinitely excited for and jealous of our friends' latest sets. We all knew the kid who had the Lego airport or the Lego train set and we'd try to build our own facsimile out of the parts of other sets we'd acquire over the years.

My fondest memories of Lego come from the classic space-themed sets of the 1980s. These sets were of moon bases and moon buggies, rockets and space ships. The mini figures were astronauts and explorers. They settled on the new frontier wearing jet packs (or oxygen tanks) and carrying cameras or two-way radios. Compared with the gun-toting Space Police series or the current Alien Conquest, classic space embodied a spirit of exploration and discovery that was devoid of narrative story arcs involving good guys and bad guys.

Lego is the only toy I've kept from my childhood because it's more than a toy. Lego is an idea. An idea waiting to be built. It is the ultimate construction toy lending to infinite possibilities of exploration and expression. Lego inspires us to dream, and when we dream, we can build that dream into existence.

Which brings me to the subject of this letter.

Two days ago, the world watched as NASA/JPL engineers and scientists performed the most complicated landing maneuver ever attempted on another planet. I stayed up that night watching the NASA TV feed, chatting with friends about the incredible feat mankind was attempting at that moment, and shared in the excitement the world felt during each stage of Curiosity's entry, descent and landing. When we got confirmation of touchdown and the first hazcam photos were sent back, I cheered and smiled and even got a bit of Martian dust in my eye. At our best, mankind can accomplish incredible things.

My son, like most 6-year-olds, is fascinated by space. He watches shows on Netflix such as How the Universe Works over and over again. He saw his first planet, Saturn, through our telescope a few weeks ago and for his birthday this past weekend, we gave him the Lego Space Shuttle (3367) and the Lego Space Moon Buggy (3365). We watched YouTube videos of the shuttle program and I explained to him how satellites work and how the Space Shuttle would deliver them, just like the model. He has spent the past few days launching his imagination into space, delivering and repairing satellites and landing on the moon to visit and drive around his moon city, using the gray moon tiles my wife saved from her childhood.

With the retirement of the shuttle program there was sentiment that NASA was giving up on space exploration. But in the past few months, we've seen quite the opposite. There is genuine excitement from SpaceX's recent rendezvous of its Dragon capsule with the International Space Station and now with the perfect landing of Curiosity on the Martian surface. NASA is to be commended for the openness in which they operate and their efforts to continue to make space exploration exciting for us all, both in the technical realm and in their social outreach efforts.

I was excited when Lego released the Shuttle sets two years ago. These were models of real space hardware and made mankind's current space efforts tangible. This should not be overlooked. Releasing new sets ripped from today's scientific headlines is a great way to inspire kids to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Which is why I'd love to see Lego release a Martian Explorer series. Release official sets of the Viking landers, a little Sojourner rover and even a Curiosity rover that can descend from a sky crane. Give us building plates that reflect the color and topography of Martian soil. Take us on a journey into the near future of interplanetary exploration and we will give the world a generation of new explorers eager to chase the next frontier because their childhoods comprised of dreaming and building what was possible.

Is it silly to think that a toy can inspire a generation? Maybe. But Lego is a special toy. It's more than a toy. Lego is an idea – an idea waiting to be built. Help us build it.

And if you agree, readers and Lego fans, let us know what sets you'd like to see in the comments.