Custom Lego Build: The Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter

Ingenuity 

This drone was launched with the Perseverance rover on February 18, 2020. 

It's had three flights on April 19th, April 22th, and April 25th, 2021, with another planned today (April 29th.) It carries no scientific instruments because it is just a demonstration. 

Perseverance 

The Perseverance rover launched on July 30, 2020 and landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It carries multiple experiments, including MOXIE, sample handling system, and two microphones among others. All of them are powered by a Radioscopic Thermoelectric Generator (RTG). It will drop off sample tubes of pure Martian soil at depots. A separate rover being made by the European Space Agency (ESA) will collect them and send them to Earth. ESA will send the rover sometime around 2026. 

The models

The highly accurate model of the Perseverance rover is based off of the curiosity rover (set number 21104) with changes to the head, wheels, arm, and body. Ingenuity is made with four antennas for the legs and 2 rounded technic plates for the blades.

Perseverance Rover    Photo credit: scitechdaily.com

Ingenuity Helicopter      Photo credit: imagesvc.meredithcorp.io

Update: Ingenuity didn’t get off the ground today. 

Custom Lego Build: NASA Skylab

About the subject:

Skylab was NASA's first and only space station.

It was launched on May 14, 1973 aboard a Saturn V rocket with the upper stage modified for crew and science experiments.

Unfortunately the launch knocked the meteoroid shield off, which also tore off a solar panel and jammed the other one. 

NASA sent three crews to the station before it burned up in the atmosphere on July 11, 1979.

Fun Fact: the pieces fell into southern Australia and the local people fined NASA 400 dollars for littering (NASA never paid).

NASA Skylab        Photo credit: /cdn.britannica.com

About the model:

I believe this model is very accurate. It has the command module from the Saturn V rocket (set number 92176) because Skylab used the same capsule as the Apollo missions.

This model is to scale with Lego's astronaut nanofigures and could potentially be modified to attach to the Saturn V rocket.