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The ETX Alien Infiltrator under attack
Mars Mission is a subtheme of the LEGO Space theme. It debuted in August of 2007, and was officially discontinued by 2009. The theme focuses on the adventures of a team of Astronauts as they land on Mars and are forced to contend with a dangerous alien race.
Factions
The Astronauts
The astronauts are a group of humans that have journeyed to Mars in search of powerful yellow-green energy crystals found on the Martian surface. In the storyline, the humans are using the crystals to power their futuristic vehicles and technology. Unfortunately for the Astronauts, the Aliens are also seeking the crystals for themselves. The astronauts' main colors are orange and white. All the astronauts have white legs with gray belts and a white torso piece with a printed space suit and oxygen tank. They have white arms and hands. Additionally, each Astronaut wears a white space helmet with a gold visor.
A Mars Mission scene on the cover of an issue of LEGO Club magazine
The Aliens
The Aliens originated from an unknown place in the cosmos, and are also searching for the energy crystals on Mars. In actuality, they are not Martians [1], and are immediately identified as a dangerous and invasive force by the Astronauts. The Aliens themselves are transparent green, and glow in the dark. They are mode up of two pieces, a body/head piece and the legs, that clip together. Alien Commanders are the leaders of the Alien army. They are larger than notmal aliens, and ate made up of five pieces: a body/head, two arms, and two legs. The aliens attack any human encampments, ships, and Astronauts that they encounter. The Aliens reside in underground hives. In 2008, it appeared that the Aliens had been routed, and the hives were destroyed. According to LEGO Battles, there is an Alien Queen. The Alien Queen has the appearance of an Alien Commander, but her lower body resembles that of Spy Clops from the Agents theme.
Features
Pump System
LEGO revived an older, somewhat forgotten feature in this new theme. This was the pump system, which was pioneered in one of the previous Space ranges, namely Life on Mars. In Mars Mission, the system is coloured in white and orange instead of the purple, tan, and other rare colours defining the Life on Mars theme. It was seen in the sets of 7690 MB-01 Eagle Command Base and 7691 ETX Alien Mothership Assault.
Crystals
An energy crystal
The Crystals are one of the main reasons that the Humans came to Mars. Both races wish to use these crystals as power sources, which can be used to supply energy to all of their respective vehicles and systems. These green energy crystals are similar in function to the Biodium ore in the Life on Mars theme. They can be found in almost every Mars Mission set. They are found in subterranean caves or embedded in the Martian soil. They are scanned with sensors, named Crysta-sensors, to see if they are pure. The Crystals are then promptly shipped to the nearest human base. In LEGO Battles, the astronauts and aliens also compete to locate a purple variant of the energy crystals, which are apparently far more powerful than their green counterparts.
Online Attractions
Like most LEGO themes at the time, Mars Mission had a website with two games, a product information page, download page, and an "Astronaut Log" on the Mars Mission homepage showing letters from the Astronauts. One of the games, CrystAlien Conflict, is immensely popular with LEGO.com users. The game puts the user in the role of commander for either the Mars Mission Human faction or the Alien faction. At the main menu of the game, there is an 'access code' box that the user can type secret codes into. As a frill, the letters appear in Alien font when typed. Here are some of the secret codes:
Gameplay of CrystAlien Conflict
- UFO=Astro lvl 8
- MoneyPenny=unlock all helping cheats(not levels)
- Santa=level Santa
- fatwallet=50,000 credits
- 299792458/quickbuild=build faster
- n00b/newbie=triple armor
- theylive/t2000=alien special ops
- 1337=reset all cheat codes
- earth=Alien level 1
- zapper=Alien level 2
- extra=Alien level 3
- retreat=Alien level 4
- doctor=Alien level 5
- scramble=Alien level 6
- flow=Alien level 7
- redalert=Alien level 8
- 5050=Alien level 9
- nightfall=Alien level 10
- clearskies=clears all shrouds
- mars=Astronaut level 1
- powerup=Astronaut level 2
- niceman=Astronaut level 3
- buggy=Astronaut level 4
- flyboy=Astronaut level 5
- range=Astronaut level 6
- stomp=Astronaut level 7
- elton=Astronaut level 9
- eclipse=Astronaut level 10
- temple=Alien bonus level
- checkmate=alien bonus level
- manic=Astronaut bonus level
- pizza=Astronaut bonus level
- match=Astronaut bonus level
An Astronaut with drill.
Sets in theme
Released in 2007:
- 7690 MB-01 Eagle Command Base - Minifigures: 4 Astronauts, 4 Aliens
- 7691 ETX Alien Mothership Assault - Minifigures: 2 Astronauts, 5 Aliens
- 7692 MX-71 Recon Dropship - Minifigures: 2 Astronauts, 4 Aliens
- 7693 ETX Alien Strike - Minifigures: Astronaut, 2 Aliens
- 7694 MT-31 Trike - Minifigures: Astronaut, Alien
- 7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter - Minifigures: Astronaut, Alien
- 7697 MT-51 Claw-Tank Ambush - Minifigures: Astronaut, 2 Aliens
- 7699 MT-101 Armoured Drilling Unit - Minifigures: 3 Astronauts, 2 Aliens
Released in 2008:
- 5616 Mini Robot - Minifigures: Astronaut
- 5617 Alien Jet - Minifigures: Alien
- 5619 Crystal Hawk - Minifigures: Astronaut
- 7644 MX-81 Hypersonic Operations Aircraft - Minifigures: 3 Astronauts, Alien, Alien Commander
- 7645 MT-61 Crystal Reaper - Minifigures: 3 Astronauts, 2 Aliens, Alien Commander
- 7646 ETX Alien Infiltrator - Minifigures: 2 Astronauts, Alien, Alien Commander
- 7647 MX-41 Switch Fighter - Minifigures: Astronaut, Alien
- 7648 MT-21 Mobile Mining Unit - Minifigures: Astronaut, Alien
- 7649 MT-201 Ultra-Drill Walker - Minifigures: 2 Astronauts, Alien Commander
- P7231c Mars Mission Fountain Pen
- P7222c QLever Mars Mission Rollerball Pen
- Space Adventures - Mars Alien Attack
Minifigures
Notes
- The humans chose the colour scheme of orange and white for their equipment and vehicles because the two colours reflect harmful rays from Mars, which has no ozone to achieve ray deflection.
- In The Adventures of Clutch Powers, Clutch Powers and his team use Astronaut suits on a prison world.
