The subsequent space-themed Lego set to be launched is definitely two history-making spacecraft in a single, Technic-ally talking.

As formally revealed on Tuesday (Might 23), the brand new Lego Technic NASA Mars Rover Perseverance mannequin won’t solely recreate in miniature the latest U.S. robotic explorer to drive throughout the Martian floor, but additionally its flying companion, the Ingenuity Mars helicopter. The 1,132 piece set, which as a part of the Technic line consists of extra advanced mechanisms, will go on sale Aug. 1 for $99.99 (£84.99 or €89.99) at Lego shops and on the corporate’s web site.

“Engaged on this mannequin has been each difficult and thrilling” Luke Cragin, a designer on the Lego Group in Denmark, mentioned in a press release. “I’ve all the time felt keen about area, and the design course of let me discover my curiosity as I recreated the unimaginable engineering developed by the pioneering staff at NASA.”

Based mostly on the Mars 2020 Mission rover, which landed inside Jezero crater on Feb. 18, 2021, the Lego Technic Perseverance was designed to provide builders, ages 10 and older, a greater understanding of the engineering that made, and continues to make, the six-wheeled robotic explorer so adept at finding out the purple planet. The actual rover was launched to Mars to hunt out indicators of historic life and to gather soil samples for return to Earth by a later mission.

Associated: Perseverance rover: NASA’s Mars automotive to hunt indicators of historic life

The Lego Technic mannequin options 360-degree steering and a movable robotic arm, plus a completely articulated suspension that lets Perseverance journey throughout uneven surfaces on all six wheels. And identical to its real-life counterpart, the Lego Technic model is joined by a reproduction mission companion Ingenuity helicopter, the primary automobile to attain powered flight on a celestial physique apart from Earth.

Ingenuity has now accomplished greater than 50 flights because it has helped plan the course for Perseverance by scouting the terrain forward.

“We hope the mannequin’s options and capabilities will assist introduce younger area lovers to the world of engineering and encourage them to achieve for the celebrities sooner or later,” mentioned Cragin.

The Lego Technic variations of Perseverance and Ingenuity don’t transfer on their very own; they’re neither powered nor, within the case of the rotorcraft, able to chickening out. That doesn’t imply, nonetheless, that the Lego fashions provide solely a static expertise. Utilizing an app known as “Technic AR,” builders can work together with the rover and helicopter by each digital and bodily augmented actuality.

House owners of the mannequin who use the app can discover instructional content material to study extra concerning the real-life automobile and its mission on Mars. By way of the AR expertise, it is also doable to tug up an on-demand overview of the Martian climate and reveal extra concerning the surroundings as the actual Perseverance continues on its mission.

The NASA Mars Rover Perseverance is simply the second space-themed Lego Technic set, following the area shuttle launched in 1996. Perseverance will not be the one Mars rover to get the Lego therapy, although. Earlier releases embody the Mars Exploration Rover and Mission to Mars units offered in partnership with the Discovery Channel in 2003 and the Lego Concepts NASA Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover launched in 2014.