Among the many problems NASA scientists solve during a typical workday, one of the more perplexing is getting the general population to understand what the hell they actually do in their labs. When pondering outer space, the average mind usually drifts to Mars missions and walks on the moon. Educating people, particularly kids, about the nitty gritty science that goes into those fantastical voyages is tough. I mean really, what nine-year-old wants to learn about infrared communication when they can make a papier mache Saturn?

So around 18 months ago, NASA called littleBits, the NYC hardware company that makes modular circuit kits that can be used to build things like synthesizers and roboticized objects, and said: Help us build a kit to make learning about space fun.

The resulting Space Kit is a little box filled with Lego-like components that allow anyone to conduct NASA-approved experiments and build miniature, but functioning, versions of NASA’s famous machines. Using the parts included, you can do things like measure the atmosphere, build a mini satellite, explore light waves or construct your very own Mars rover.

>You can do things like measure the atmosphere and build a mini satellite.

The banner goal of littleBits is to make technology, specifically electronics, more accessible and understandable for the average person. Since 2011, the company has released various kits that are comprised of open source electronic modules (wires, light and sound sensors, power sources, etc) that magnetically snap together to create various creative projects. There’s the aforementioned synth kit as well as a starter kit that’s essentially a blank slate for creating electronic projects.

“We’re taking one field at a time where technology is prevalent but people don’t really understand it, then we’re breaking it down and giving people the bricks so they can participate in it,” explain Ayah Bdeir, founder of littleBits.

In the case of the Space Kit, it was a matter of digging deeper than the Hollywood representation of outerspace and finding out what NASA engineers were actually passionate about. “In the beginning it was really sitting down with them and being like, why do you work at NASA? What’s cool about what you do?” Bdeir says.

Boiling Down the Big Ideas

Turns out, the scientists at NASA were pretty excited about the experiments they were conducting on a daily basis, the kinds of unsexy things that put kids to sleep in science class. It was up to littleBits to take those concepts and distill them down into digestible, hardware-based projects that would actually capture their attention.

like NASA's, but the basic technology is the same. Image: littleBits/NASA

In the kit, you’ll find instructions for conducting experiments on heady concepts like infrared lighting, wireless data transmission and lightwave, and yet, it’s all totally approachable. “The booklet looks unassuming and unintimidating intentionally, but in fact it’s pretty hardcore science that’s in there,” she says. “It’s just presented to you in a way that draws you in instead of scares you off.”

Bdeir points to the Mars Rover as perfect example. Robots like Curiosity are full of intense technology that the average layman wouldn’t understand. “The question is, how do you capture all of that?” she says.

Bdeir grabs a little brick from the table. It’s teeny light sensor that connects to a wire and number module to create an input for the miniature machine. “This is a circuit that you normally you’d have to wire up, calibrate the sensor readings, you have to know what you’re doing,” she says. It’s littleBits job then to remove those highly-technical barriers so you can focus on how those components work together to create a functioning info-gathering machine.

But more important than the end product is the idea, now that you know how these components work together, what else can you create with them? It’s learning by tinkering, playing and building on what you already know to tackle bigger, more complex ideas. “It’s about starting small and building complexity as people want it,” says Bdeir. “That’s a very effective way to learn something.”