Give young space adventurers a treat with this NASA-inspired LEGO Mars Research Shuttle.
Apollo 11 Moon Landing Celebration
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing LEGO has released a range of shuttles to commemorate this legendary event in our history.
What Age is the LEGO Mars Research Shuttle For?
This LEGO Mars Research Shuttle playset for ages 5+ includes an opening cockpit, opening doors and storage space inside. The shuttle comes complete with a rover, drone and two astronaut minifigures.
The Build
Consisting of three bags. This three-step process is a nice and easy build if only the instructions were as easy to follow.
Instead of the usual arrows guiding you on where to place the pieces the fittings are automatically added to the diagram.
As the model gets more and more complicated it becomes more difficult to see just exactly where your pieces go.
This coupled with a missing piece in the box wasn’t a great start. There was a small red rod that was missing from the box entirely but one email to LEGO should solve that issue out no problem but a little quality check was sadly overlooked.
I’m sure this is just a one-off as every single LEGO set I’ve ever had has been spot on with the parts and even has replacement parts in abundance.
Rover (Bag 1)
A nice, simple build but it’s just a shame there’s meant to be a red rod poking out of the black side attachment on the left-hand side there. The stickers were easy to apply but with these sets being for ages 5+ I think replacement stickers would be a nice addition.
Shuttle Base (Bag 2)
Our second bag consisted of parts to make the base of the shuttle. This included the cockpit, underside of the shuttle and the thrusters at the back. Along with an astronaut mini-figure. This was completed in no time. Time isn’t an issue with this build. It’s lovely and quick!
Shuttle sides and top (Bag 3)
A mere 10 minutes later and all the pieces are attached and we’re ready to rock n roll! The side panels are on pivot joints so you can pull them down and check out the interior. The front bay window is also detachable allowing you to see the controls and seating area of the cockpit. A nice touch indeed!
Overall
Taking roughly 25 minutes to build this LEGO Mars Research Shuttle is certainly one of the easier LEGO models to complete.
Whilst the instructions are quite frankly awful an adult would be needed regardless.
A wonderful little celebration model to mark the Apollo 11 50th anniversary landing.
