This is another addition to the BobG & Sonya wing of the Lego Museum here at the house. This piece from 2003 is not as old as others that have been contributed but is definitely an awesome addition to the collection. The Mars Exploration Rover is from 2003 and the box and set were in near mint condition when Bob found that at a thrift store. An awesome find and a great birthday present. Don’t confuse this set with the more recent Mars Rover Curiosity. This set is from 2003 and is one of the twin rovers Spirit or Opportunity. Seemed appropriate to work on this today since the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft would be entering the martian atmosphere tonight at 9:30PM ET.
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the sending of the two rovers—MER-A Spirit and MER-B Opportunity—to explore the Martian surface and geology. [SOURCE]
Now the fun part – the build. This was a very technical build. The rover can open its solar panels, move its satellite dish and extend its robotic arm. Most of the parts in the ‘interior’ of the model move and different systems move across and beside each other. It was a fun build and more time-consuming than the 858 parts might lead you to believe it would be.
