Today, Branko returns to look at the largest of the LEGO Technic 2024 Space sets. It keeps the white, light grey and reddish orange of City Space sets, but does it fit in? Read on to find out!

This year LEGO is really pushing the space concept across a lot of different themes which reminds us that LEGO plays across borders and you can mix an match to your heart’s content. For Technic it is quite new to offer such a clear connection for play to the minifig scaled worlds of LEGO City and Heartlake City. As we explored recently with 42178 Surface Space Loader, the space themed Technic sets promise to provide a playing platform for minifigs, although no minifigs are included in the sets.

How does this behemoth fit in this idea? Does it integrate nicely with other themes or is the scale not right? Join us on a journey to explore how minifigures and minidolls experience the largest of the Space Technic play-sets released so far, and how this set fares by itself, without minifigs.

The 42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover contains 1599 pieces (a lot of pins) and retails for AU$ 199.99/£129.99/US$149.99/€149.99, which puts it among the range of largest Technic sets. It is not exactly cheap, even by Technic standards, but there is a lot happening in this set which we will explore further below.

There is much to love here

This set is *HUGE*. The box does really not do it justice; it is densely packed and once the set is build is takes up a lot of space. It’s not the largest set released in recent years (see photos) but it is an impressive beast. The size could have been a problem, in that it might not have fit within the scale of other space sets, but we will show below that it actually works quite well. This is certainly a flagship vehicle in a LEGO Space setting but there is a credible spot for it. There are a lot of play features to keep you entertained for along time. Even this set is just put on display it looks like it means business.

This rover is so sturdy that I suspect younger children will be able to get a lot of fun from playing with it, even if the build experience may be a bit daunting. Do not get put off by the age rating when considering this for slightly younger humans; if you can get this built (with some help) it will entertain you!

What’s in the Box

The squarish box shows all the moving parts on the on the back in very small panels. This is an indication of how much is happening in this set (relax, we’ll go over all of it soon). Inside the box are only plastic bags with parts. This is a little surprising since we’ve been seeing so many paper bags recently. A significant sticker sheet comes with the thick instruction manual, illustrated by our visiting guest Spaceman Kenny.

We will explore the parts bag my bag as we go through the build and highlight the play features as the build progresses. A QR code on the box used to link to this page: https://kids.lego.com/en-us/campaigns/space-airlock suggesting we should connect different themes together, so during our journey there will be some help from Kenny, Olivia (42605: Mars Space Base and Rocket) and astronaut Penny (60431: Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life). None of them are included in this set.

Build Experience

The first bag on the build jumps into the suspension of the vehicle. We see 4 large wheel assemblies and your typical beams and pins. Once a first sizeable wheel ‘axle’ has been built a gentle 2x appears on the page to remind us that we didn’t pay attention several pages back; this vehicle needs TWO of these axles! Once the initial wheel assembly is complete, Kenny and Olivia come to inspect and show their excitement, where Olivia gets a bit too keen and pops of her helmet.

The resulting rear-wheel suspension links the wheels together in a square, where lifting one wheel lowers the opposite wheel *and* the wheel behind it. It is a satisfying linkage which we’ll explore further on the finished vehicle.

Next we have a small bag that contains a little worm gear. Worm gears do not only have the ability to slow down and increase force, but they are also designed to only be moved from one side. This means that you can rotate the worm gear and something will move, but you cannot move the other end to make the worm gear spin. (warning: this is quite true for LEGO, but not completely accurate for ‘real’ worm gears.).

So how is this worm gear used here? Thank you for asking; please walk with me. When turning the gear in this mechanism a lift platform goes up or down. When you let go of the gear it will remain fixed in the position you left it!

Now then, we move on to build a bit of the rear platform of the vehicle. The next bag shows several large panels and long beams. The body consists of two sections; the rear section (black) and the front section (connected via white ‘wings’). The first of the wings is added to the build and includes a panel with connections for Water, Oxygen and power (indicated with a battery), all quite critical when exploring a hostile planet such as Mars.

The next bag provides pieces for the left wing and the front platform (in dark bluish grey). Kenny and Olivia investigate the build process and appear notably impressed with the enormous skeleton of the vehicle; they have some trouble imagining that this thing will eventually move!

When the rear lift is lifted during the inspection, the entire construction collapses forward; luckily the engineering department was prepared for this with the next bag, containing two more wheel mounts! To work then, building the beginning of the driver’s cabin and the front wheels. The steering mechanism uses a relatively rare gear in blue (Technic, Gear 12 Tooth), always nice to get some more exotic pieces in a set. Interestingly, the front of the vehicle has a bull-bar, which is typically fitted to protect vehicles when hitting cattle (or kangaroos in Australia); I’m not entirely sure what kind of creatures it would protect against on Mars…

With the hoisted onto the new front wheel supports a few creatures come to inspect the construction.

At this stage it is possible to extend and shrink the base of the vehicle to create a more compact rover of more carrying capacity in the back!

With all the wheels connected it is time to get to work on the driver’s cabin; first a hand-of-god is created, followed by an impressive looking control panel, and a the frame of the front wind-screen.

With the next bag things change pace: a seat (with seat belts) and printed transparent control screens appear (identical to the one found in 60431: Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life). Olivia and Kenny are quite excited about this comfortable looking chair and even Penny takes a break from exploring to have a seat. Alas, as soon as the steering wheel is fitted, Olivia is not able to fit her legs in anymore and is relegated to the passenger seat. Kenny doesn’t seem to mind at all.

At this point I mix up the angle connectors and have to rebuild one side of the cabin. Do better than me and pay attention to the instructions; the number of the correct connectors is listed; as well as a 1:1 image so you can verify you have the correct ones.

The side panels behind the panel contain a sticker with the new space logo but the pattern around it seems a bit ‘off’; it appears jagged and coarse as if it has been enlarged and deformed from a much smaller image; which is a pity because it contrasts starkly with the space logo in the middle. What do you think?

The space figures from various themes are having a great time in the cabin and seem to be happy to take the rover out for a test drive. But there are a few more things to finish first.

The next bag of parts shows some reddish orange parts indicating something new is happening; the cabin behind the driver’s cabin is being built. See in the pictures one of the reasons we like this colour: it has a vibrancy that the printed material cannot match; it just ‘pops’!

This is also the part where some interior gets built. Olivia and Penny sit down for a snack from the astronaut food on one side of the cabin, after which they use the treadmill and toilet on the other side of the cabin. The designers tried to hide the toilet by giving it a black seat, but we’re not that easily fooled; we know a toilet when we see one. The roof of this section is a bit low (as illustrated by Penny) so it requires a little imagination to see the figures living it up in this area.

Next a rear door is fitted to the cabin and some large tanks are fitted to the roof. I assume these tanks for storing water and oxygen for the occupants. The section if finished when mounting 3 lanterns to the back of the cabin; they are connected in such a way that the cabin can still move forward and back, with the lanterns connected in storage behind the cabin.

Onto the next, colourful, order of business; several tanks, red white and blue (I suspect for Water, Oxygen, and Hydrogen), are created and two containers for recycling and something that requires caution (pellets to make LEGO perhaps?) The parts are starting to fill up the cargo space on the back of the rover.

The work is nearly coming to an end with a small bag to build a small crane to mount on the back of the rover. Note that this crane uses a linear actuator which works essentially the same as a worm-gear; you can turn it to lengthen or shorten it but then it stays in place.

Now then, the final set; the wheels arrive! The light bluish grey tires are the bit stand-out here; they are new this year as part of this space series! First the wheels are put onto the vehicle which immediately draws a crowd!

After the initial excitement we get to finish what appears to be a hydrogen fuel cell. This seems like an unusual choice for a Mars mission since these require Hydrogen and Oxygen (or water to create those two) which are (as yet) very rare substances on Mars, so you want to make sure to not lose anything! It also appears as if this fuel cell only has a Hydrogen (H2) connection, which is not enough on Mars. I do appreciate that this technology gets some love from LEGO.

To finish this entire set of we get to build, arguably, the most adorable part of the set; a mini rover with a mini suspension that is almost identical to its larger buddy! I was so excited by this adorable little unit that I had to take some photos before even fully finishing it! It also comes with a cage with some tools on it to store on the back of the rover. I particularly appreciate the hammer in the tool-kit because we all know the saying: “If you can’t fix it with a hammer, it’s not worth fixing!”

The completed rover can shorten itself when most of the cargo is removed from the back, creating a more compact vehicle; but unfortunately the front suspension gets blocked a bit by the frame in this mode. The wheels can move up and down more in the extended cargo mode. (apologies for the crate that’s tipped over)

All the mechanisms are quite easily visible so it feels like you built them for a reason; it isn’t hidden; you can see what they do and how they do it. It’s a great way to learn about mechanisms while also just very satisfying to play with. Especially the suspension is very satisfying to play with. The best hidden feature is the crew cabin, which really hammers home that this set is intended to be played with.

Is ‘BIG’ too big?

We’ve seen visitors from several other sets get excited as this Mars Crew Exploration Rover was being built so it begs the question; does it fit in their universe? This thing is BIG, but is it too big? Not exactly; when I compare the minifigs to the wheels I can see a similar scale as me standing next to a mid-sized mining truck. Those are big vehicles, to be sure, but they exist and they move and I can imagine there is value in having such a large sturdy vehicle when exploring mars

Some parts of the vehicle are a bit small for minifigs (the cabin is a bit low, and the foot-space is a bit tight for the driver) but overall the vehicle can pass as a credible extension of your space exploration. I am very pleased with this attempt to include Technic in the minifig scaled world.

Connecting with the wider space theme

Kenny has been retired for a while but he was the commander of one of my favourite large wheeled rovers of old (6950 Mobile-Rocket-Transport) so he was particularly interested in this large wheeled monstrosity. You can see that this rover dwarfs the old Mobile Rocket Transport, which was a sizeable set in its days. I’m sure Kenny wouldn’t mind upgrading when given the choice… we can discuss this Kenny, we can discuss this 😉

The 60431: Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life looks like a lean fast exploration rover, versus this much larger exploration rover. I can see these operate next to each other quite naturally. Note there is only a small difference in wheel size between these rovers.

The current explorers out there can make use of the orange airlock included in many recent space set (reddish orange in this year’s wave). For example, Olivia was able to connect her rocket to the airlock to create a bit more living space(after removing most of the cargo from the rover), and she was also able to attach the rocket engine to give the rover an extra speed boost!

Conclusion

I will repeat: ‘There is much to love here’. The set is big and imposing, it has several play features that I can see myself using in my LEGO space exploration, the minifigs and minidolls fit well enough to embrace this vehicle into their fleet.

• satisfying suspension system
• crane to hoist cargo (cargo included)
• fits minifigs and minidolls
• adorable mini rover
• connects with other space sets
• BIG
• adjustable size

The niggles with this rover are minor

• Olivia is unable to fit in driver’s seat
• Crew cabin is a bit cramped
• minifigs/minidolls not included!
• odd sticker prints

If you like space and are looking for a slightly different build and play experience I strongly recommend this set. It is a rewarding build that will greatly enhance your LEGO play-time. If you want an imposing display model that is a bit of a conversation starter; again this is a good start. If you are relatively new to Technic and want to experience what you can do with it and learn how to do; again a great start to be found here. Do not ignore this set unless if you are neither interested in space exploration nor in Technic vehicles.

With all this I can give this set 4 out of 5 arbitrary praise units.

with 1599 pieces (including a lot of pins),The 42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover is one of the largest technic sets seen this year, so far. It is on sale now and retails for AU$ 199.99/£129.99/US$149.99/€149.99. If it tickles your fancy, consider using our affiliate links to help cover the costs of running the blog (it costs you nothing)

If you have enjoyed this post, please feel free to share it with your friends, families and communities. You can also keep up to date with us by following The Rambling Brick on our socials: Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Tumblr (or just sign up for our mailing list) and find some extra content on Instagram and TikTok.

We really value your feedback: please let us know what you think about the sets we review, and the articles we post. And if you wish to support the Rambling Brick, consider clicking on our affiliate links before going shopping at LEGO.com. The Rambling Brick receives a small commission, and it costs you nothing extra.

Until Next Time,

Play Well!

This set was gifted by LEGO, but the opinions expressed are my own.