Excellent subject matter. I'm going to guess that you're an individual of a certain age.

LOL, wonder what gave that away.

I thought I got my first Lego space set when I was 6 but it might have been 8. I thought I remembered it having blue and white figures but it may have been some other color.

The yellow guys were a few years later. I remember my sets having a gray base but no moon rocks or craters- my friend that lived across the street got that set some time after.

I can't seem to find what my set was, but I recognize at least a half dozen of the other ones, from catalogs of the time. The Sears and JC Penney catalogs used to fuel most of my Lego fantasies and I dreamed of getting the entire space playset (Which was only 5 or 6 sets at the time).

Funny enough the Astronaut colors in order was White & Red, Then Yellow, Then Blue. My first set was in 1983. if you you are looking for set, Bricklink is a great place to not only find them but they also have instruction sets but also a good place to buy parts and build them back out.

I think I am doing the link right, here is the "Classic Space Sets" released by year.

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?pg=1&catString=34.314&catType=S&v=1

if that does not work just go to www.bricklink.com and then to all sets, classic space and then order by year released.

Genius- you nailed it: [Set 493-1] Space Command Center (Flatplate version). That's it. Red and white it is! They re released it with the textured landscape plates a few years on. And 79 aligns with the Christmas I would have received it on.

Glad I could help! us Legomaniacs gotta stick together!

Sadly, my collection eventually folded because I always had difficulty with keeping my space clean (admittedly, it was bad). I got to play with my kids' Lego sets when we bought a table for them, and I always have fun snapping a brick or two together.

My step daughter and son in law share a love for it. They have their place decorated in Lego Art and Star Wars Lego models. His dad fills his garage with a huge Lego Christmas Village during the holidays.