instructables

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad

by Airbus Foundation

How do you get to the Moon? By rocket, of course.
But how do you construct it so it can break through
the Earth’s atmosphere? How can you wrangle it into
a trajectory to your destination? Build each of your
rocket’s components and customize your work. Then
think about how far you need to go – and how you’ll
land when you get there! We'll be focusing on the last
part in this project: how do you land when you get
there.
Setting Foot on the Moon
The future of space travel lies in the hands of
designers and engineers, just like you. In this
Instructable we'll explore designing a Moon Lander
using Tinkercad, a fun and approachable way to
design by combining shapes to great your model. It's
super easy, and free!
Below is the Moon Lander design we will be making
together. Take a moment to interact with the model
below and see it from all angles before we get
started.

A manned spacecraft needs a soft landing, but it’s all

https://tinkercad.com/embed/7GvbyyXUvvj?editbtn=1
in the timing. Fire up your thrusters and hope you’ve
picked the right spot to touch down.
Let's design the next chapter in space travel!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/njyugx3iOoU?
modestbranding=1&color=white&controls=0&disablekb=1

Step 1: Lander Capsule

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 1

Start by going to Tinkercad.com and making a free
account.
Tinkercad is a browser based program, so there is
nothing to download or install. Tinkercad works by
combining primitive shapes together to create new
shapes. Shapes can be combined, subtracted, and
moved around to create your design. It's easy,
intuitive, and fun!
We will start making our Moon Lander capsule by
scrolling down the library on the right side of the
screen until we find the isohedron shape. Drag that
shape onto the workplane.
With the shape selected you will see white handles
around the shape, these will allow us to resize or
stretch this shape however we like. Grab the white
handle on the top to change the height of the shape.
We want to squish this isohedron down. This will be
the base of our lander that the capsule will sit on.
Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 2
Now, drag another isohedron onto the workplane,
and then drag a box hole onto the workplane, too.
We'll use the same white handle technique to squish
the rectangle down. The aim here is to use the box
hole to chop off the bottom of the two isohedron
shapes and give us a flat bottom to our Moon Lander.
Use the image above as a reference for how to tall to
make your box hole.
Select all 3 shapes and then use the align command
in the top toolbar to align all 3 shapes on top of each
other. With the align tool activated, you should see
black dots around your shapes that will have a ghost
image around them when you mouse over the
alignment dots.
When the shapes are aligned and sized in the
proportions you like we can select all the shapes and
group them using the group command on the top
toolbar or the crtl + G shortcut.
The grouping has combined the two isohedron
shapes with the box hole and made the basic shape
of the Moon Lander capsule. I think the transition
between the two isohedron shapes doesn't look great,
so I added in a cylinder shape from the library on the
right. I used the align tool again to keep everything
lined up correctly.
With the cylinder selected you can move the slider for
the sides to get a stepped cylinder, or add more
sides for a smoother shape. Do not group these
shapes together yet.
Step 2: Lander Leg

Next, we will need legs for our Lander to safely touch
down on the moon surface.
duplicated cylinder will appear directly on top of the
existing cylinder, so may be hidden. Click on the
cylinder to select one instance, then use the curved
arrow above the shape to rotate the shape. We want
around 15 degrees.

Start by selecting a cylinder from the shape library

and drag it onto the workplane. Using the white
handles on the corner of the cylinder we can resize
the cylinder. Hold shift while you resize with the Now select both lander legs and use the rotate
corner white handle to constrain the proportions. I arrows to rotate both legs another 15 degrees.
made this cylinder small using the corner handles,
then (without holding shift) used the top white handle
to stretch the cylinder upwards making it tall and
skinny.

This will the basic leg strut we will use to make the
rest of the Lander leg.

Now we will use the shape library on the right side to

drag a pyramid onto the workplace. Use the white
handles and hold shift to constrain the proportions as
you scale the size down. Move the pyramid to the
base of the rotated legs to make the landing leg foot.

Select all 3 shapes and group (ctrl + G) them

Duplicate the leg using the duplicate command on together as a single shape.
the top toolbar, or use the shortcut key ctrl + D. The

Step 3: Multiply Lander Legs

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 3

We can now select the capsule shapes and use the
small black arrow at the top of the selected shapes
to raise the shapes off the workplane. We want the
capsule high enough off the workplane to allow the
legs to fit underneath.
With the capsule raised the legs can be positioned
underneath. Select all the shapes and use the align
command from the top toolbar to align the legs in one
axes with the capsule.
Then, only select the landed legs and hold the shift
key as you move them under the capsule. The shift
key makes the lander legs move in only one axis as

they are moved. Since we already aligned the legs and drag the leg to the other side of the Lander
and capsule in one direction, the shift key will allow capsule. The shift key will constrain the movement to
up to move them in the other direction to exactly only one axis.
where we want them to be placed.

When the second leg is in position, select both legs

With one leg in place we can create a duplicate (ctrl and then duplicate (ctrl + D) to make another copy of
+ D) of the lander, then use the mirror command the two legs. Use the rotation arrow to rotate the leg
from the toolbar to flip the duplicate using the arrow at copies 90 degrees to complete the 4 legs for our
the bottom of the lander leg (as shown in the image Lander.
above).
Lastly, select all 4 legs and group (ctrl + G) to group
the legs as a single shape.

With the flipped duplicate selected, hold the shift key

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 4

Step 4: Thrusters
With most of the Lander complete we can turn our
attention to the thrusters on the underside of the
Lander.
In the shape library there is a shape called
paraboloid that will work perfect for us. Drag this
shape onto the workplane.
Move the paraboloid under the Lander, and use the
Step 5: Capsule Entry
Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 5
shift key as you resize it to constraint the
dimensions. Use the black arrow on the shape to lift
it off the workplane and under the Lander capsule.
Use the duplicate (ctrl + D) command to make
duplicates of the paraboloid shape, then position the
duplicates around the underside of the Lander to
complete the thrusters. You may select all the
thrusters and group them together to keep things
organized.
If you've been following along with these directions
you can select all the shapes on your workplane now
and use the align tool to line up all the shapes,
correcting any misalignment that may have happened
up to this point.
Now that we have a Moon Lander that's almost shape onto the workplane.
complete, we can explore a way for our space
explorers to get in and out of the Lander.

With the softbox selected use the rotation arrows to

Above the shape library on the right side of the
screen is a dropdown that allows you to switch shape
libraries. Click the dropdown and select shape
generators > featured (not ALL, as shown above).
turn the shape 90 degrees so the hole is facing
sideways, then lift the shape off the workplane using
the black arrow. Position the shape on the Lander
capsule as shown in the image above. This will be
the entryway for the Lander.

Select all the shapes and use the align tool to center
the softbox shape on the Lander.

We are looking for a shape called Softbox, which is a

rounded cube with a hole going through it. Drag this

Now we can work on cutting away some of the

capsule to make way for the entrance.

Start by making a duplicate (crtl + D) of the softbox.

Move the duplicate away from the Lander while
holding the shift key. This will move the shape away
from the lander along one axis, making returning it
back easier.

Now select the softbox shape that was left behind

and using the popup menu for that shape change it
from solid to hole, then change the wall slider all the
way to 100 to close the hole in the middle of the
shape.

Select the capsule and the softbox hole shape and

group (ctrl + G).

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 6

Here is what the capsule looks like with the hole
made by the softbox shape.

We can now move the duplicated softbox that was

moved away back to the capsule. Select the softbox
shape and drag back to the capsule while holding the
shift key to keep it in the same axis we used while
moving it out of the way.

When the softbox is back in place we can make

another duplicate (ctrl +D) of that shape. Using the
popup menu change the wall for the duplicate to 100
to close the hole in the middle, then move the shape
back slightly to represent the door of the entryway.

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 7

Step 6: Embellishments

The Moon Lander is now finished! With the skills
you've learned from making the Lander you can add
in some embellishments to help visually convey your
design ideas. I added in an antenna, some kind of
radiator and a transmission cone to the top of my
Lander. Add in your own embellishments and get
creative!
What does your Moon Lander look like? Share a
picture in the comments below to show others your
design, and then get inspired by other designs and
make your next Moon Lander even better.
Happy making :)

Step 7: Take Your Design to New Heights!

This tutorial was created as part of the Moon Camp Challenge, a yearly 3D design competition by the European
Space Agency and the Airbus Foundation, in partnership with Autodesk.
If you're up for the challenge, head out to the competition platform here, find many other moon related 3D design
tutorials and submit them to potentially win amazing prizes!

Design a Moon Lander in Tinkercad: Page 8