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Set 42179 Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit
Technic

LEGO® Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit

LEGO® Technic set 42179 turns Earth and Moon into a hand-cranked desk model. Across 526 pieces, the build shows how the Moon orbits the Earth while the Earth itself spins on its axis. No batteries or motor are involved, just gears and a crank handle.

Set number
42179
Year
2024
Pieces
526
Minifigures
0
Theme
Technic
Different parts
117
What can I build with it?

View the official building instructions at LEGO® ↗

Parts list 117

As BrickLink list (XML)

Import on BrickLink: Wanted → Upload, upload the file (or paste its content), pick a Wanted List and add the parts.

Spare parts (9)

These extra parts come with the set in case one gets lost.

Description

How the mechanism works

Turn the crank on the side of the base and two things happen at once: the Moon travels around its orbit while the Earth sphere rotates in place, giving a simple but effective picture of how the real system behaves. The gearing sits inside a low, dark grey and black Technic frame that keeps the model steady on a shelf or desk. It's a build for anyone curious about how rotational motion is transferred through gears rather than a vehicle or a large display piece, and the mechanism is easy to see once the model is finished. That hands-on control makes orbital motion easy to demonstrate to newcomers.

Build and colour mix

The two spheres are built from curved wedge and panel pieces in blue, light bluish grey and dark bluish grey, arranged to suggest continents, oceans and the Moon's cratered surface. Out of 526 pieces, 117 are unique shapes, ranging from small gears to large curved shell elements, and black forms the base structure around them. The parts list on this page breaks every colour and shape down individually, which is useful if you're checking the set before buying or replacing a lost piece later. The unique-part ratio is also fairly high for a Technic set this size, since so many pieces are shaped specifically for the two spheres.

Who this set suits

With no minifigures, 42179 is built purely around its mechanism, which makes it a good fit for Technic fans, space enthusiasts and anyone who prefers seeing physics in action over reading about it. At just over 500 pieces the build is a manageable size, realistic for builders who already have a Technic set or two behind them. Once finished, the model takes up little desk space but can be set in motion again at any time, making it as much a talking point as a display piece. It also travels well, since the whole mechanism packs down into one compact unit rather than several loose display sections.

FAQ

Does 42179 need batteries?
No. Earth and Moon are moved entirely by hand, using the crank built into the base — there's no motor or battery pack.
How many pieces and colours does the set use?
The model has 526 pieces in 117 different shapes, mainly in black, light bluish grey, blue and dark bluish grey. The full parts list is above on this page.
Are there any minifigures in this set?
No, this is a mechanism-only build with no minifigures, so the whole set is dedicated to the Earth-and-Moon motion.

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