Toy robot: the Sojourner rover model (slightly smaller than actual size).

With Christmas still months away, and the latest Mars landing already fading in the memory, it is a good time to draw your attention to this scientific stocking-filler. In collaboration with the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mattel has brought out the “Mattel Hot Wheels JPL Sojourner Mars Rover Action Pack Set”.

This is a set of three small plastic models: the Pathfinder spacecraft in transit, with removable heat shield and tiny lander; a larger-scale version of the lander, with foldable panels and removable rover; and a larger-scale-still Sojourner rover. The rover is undoubtedly the star, with sprung ‘rocker-bogey’ suspension that allows it to take up all sorts of cute rock-sniffing postures.

The Nature review copy of the Mattel Hot Wheels JPL Sojourner Mars Rover Action Pack Set has now completed its primary mission objectives, successfully demonstrating the technology involved in operating for several weeks on top of a computer screen in a harsh environment of editorial curiosity, without suffering any appreciable reduction in its operational parameters. And at $5 initial outlay (only available in the United States, at present) it is certainly in keeping with NASA's new economical philosophy.

But for those who hark back longingly to the old days of expensive, ‘gold-plated’ missions, an expensive, literally gold-plated model of Sojourner is available (for $49.99). It “is mounted on a silver base plate molded to resemble the martian surface and has a handsome brass identification plate”. Surely a must for every mantelpiece.