See this article about Ava Reed, a rising junior majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Iowa, who constructed from scratch a model-sized version of the spacecraft in TRACERS. The Lego model includes replicas of each of the six instruments constituting the scientific payload on the spacecraft, scheduled to launch this summer.  

Reed’s model of the TRACERS spacecraft includes a step-by-step instruction manual she created to guide others in how to build the satellite, two of which will orbit the Earth — one closely following another — to determine how, when, and where the powerful jet of energy from the sun penetrates into Earth’s upper atmosphere, creating the mesmerizing northern and southern lights but also threatening communications and electrical grids on our planet.

It also includes details about the mission and the scientific purpose for each instrument, each of which was either designed, built, or fully tested at Iowa.

The complete article is here. 

Build your own TRACERS model

If you want to order the parts to build your own TRACERS toy bricks model spacecraft, this website provides the ordering instructions, assembly manual, and pictures and descriptions of each instrument.