Mars Curiosity Rover soon to be available as a Hot Wheels toy (+video)

Finally in 1999, JPL was ready to return to Mars — and so was Mattel. The company released a Hot Wheels Action Pack that included scale models of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter, Deep Space 2 Microprobe and Mars Polar Lander.

But all three spacecraft failed— the orbiter was destroyed due to miscalculations and the lander, with its companion probes, ceased to respond after beginning their decent to the surface. The toy set sold, but its sales were partially driven by rumors of a recall and limited distribution.

Point of no return

Curiosity is the first NASA mission since 1999 to get the Hot Wheels treatment, even though the JPL sent two very successful twin rovers to Mars in 2004.

The Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers were released as toys and collectible models, but by LEGO and other toy companies.

According to Mattel, its scheduled September release of the Hot Wheels Curiosity will go ahead regardless of the outcome of the real rover's landing.

The Hot Wheels 2-inch long by 1.5-inch high by 1.25-inch wide (5 by 3.8 by 3.2 centimeters) rover is so far the only toy or model version of Curiosity to be announced.

NASA has however, partnered with Microsoft to release an Xbox 360 video game that puts the player in control of the rover's landing and has introduced an app for Apple's iPad that through augmented reality gives the user access to a virtual, 3-D Curiosity model.

collectSPACE.com and SPACE.com will providing live coverage of the Curiosity rover landing, Aug. 5-6, 2012, from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. Look for  Mattel's Hot Wheels Mars Rover Curiosity for sale at stores nationwide beginning this September.

Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter @collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2012 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

• Mars Rover Curiosity: Mars Science Lab Coverage
• Mars Rover Landing: NASA's 1st Xbox Game Unveiled (Images)
• Captain Kirk and Curiosity's Red Planet Landing | Video

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Editor's note: The summary in an earlier version gave the wrong day for the rover's scheduled landing. It is scheduled to land at 10:30 p.m., Pacific Time, on Sunday, August 5.] 

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