spaceman

Hello everybody, and since I've just gotten my head around my approved scaling procedure again, I want to continue straight away and have done the same on the opposite side with the narrower rod, which is also covered with foil. It is always important to define a reference dimension for scaling all other dimensions, in this case the height of my model probe body. In addition to the dimensions of the rod systems, I also have the dimensions of the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) System and the two probe engines (Hall-effect Thrusters) d

Hello friends, the longer I look at the greatly simplified Solar probe body from the Paper Kit and compare it with NASA photos and videos, the more things I notice that I don't like yet, which is why I decided to scratch several details that were only printed and thereby refine the probe's outfit a little. The X-Band High Gain Antenna shown in the kit as a flat cone actually has, like all space probe antennas, an inwardly curved, concave shape and is covered by a foil, whereby it because of the three struts underneath just appears as a flat cone, which I have already

Hello everybody, today I dared to the cross struts (brass wire Ø 0,5 mm), but gluing them in turned out to be extremely difficult, which required a lot of sensitivity. The top priority when gluing was a secure bearing and locking of the probe and panels so that nothing could slip. Since the gluing had to be done with UHU CA, the strut could initially only be glued on the rear side. So that after the strut moistened with CA had been positioned accurately, it could be carefully placed on the front side after a short time to set, I glued a tape

Hello everybody, today was the day, and when I've turned the probe around full of curiosity I was pleasantly surprised that both Solar panels remained almost horizontal, especially since both were only glued on one brass strut, wherewith my idea actually proved to be a viable solution. In Step 6 the side wall could now be glued, and then also the top finish (Step 7). However, I don't like the blue X-Band High Gain Antenna yet, and since it is covered with foil in the original probe anyway, I tr

Hello everybody, let's continue with the Solar panel on the other side, whereby I changed the assembly sequence a little bit. First I glued the longer leg of the brass strut up to the bend onto the underside of the panel. And then it went to the Styrofoam platform, in order to thread the strut, hoping that everything would work. To ensure the panel had a sure laying, I had to put another block of Styrofoam underneath. I then carefully threaded the front end of the brass strut with tweezers a few millimeter

Hello everybody, and now to the assembly order, which I thought carefully about. Since my two Z-shaped brass struts are supposed to go through the probe cube, it quickly became clear that I wasn't allowed to glue the cube together on all sides yet otherwise it would not be possible to thread the struts through. That's why in the following picture I tried to mark the individual steps in order with arrows, which may not be understandable straight away, which is why I would like to briefly explain the steps. In order to still ha

Hello everybody, today is again a day of joyful remembrance of Challenger's maiden flight STS-6 41 years ago, Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6) L-R: Donald Peterson †, Paul Weitz †, Story Musgrave, Karol Bobko † Source: wikipedia.org to which I have dedicated my long-term project, with which I'm going already into the 13th year, hard to believe, but true. BTW 13 is my lucky number, also because my son Andreas was born on a Friday, April 13, 1979. With this in mind, I hope to make a lot of progress with my

Hello everybody, first of all, I still wish everyone a Happy Easter. During my trip to Florida, I witnessed the launch of a Falcon 9 Heavy for NASA's Psyche mission from Launch Pad 39A live from the Viewing point of the Apollo Saturn V Center on October 13, 2023, which was an unforgettable experience that I reported on in my German Travel report. This Official NASA Trailer gives a very good overview of the Psyche spacecraft and its mission. http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up045518.gif Source: NASA, JPL-Caltech, ASU

You seem to be deaf in this ear. Have you ever heard something of Copyright?

It's nice that you're using photos from my STS-6 construction report, but then you should cite the source too, that's just part of the game.

Great to see you back on track, Mike. Hang in there!

Hello friends, and sorry guys, I'm still too busy with my travel report at the moment, which is quite time-consuming. To bridge the gap, I can offer the Raumcon link for anyone interested, but unfortunately only in German. But maybe you can have it translated or just look at the images and videos, that will be enough entertainment, I think, until I'll continue with the Payload Canister. http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up050224.gif Trip to Florida and visit to the KSC 2023 Enjoy all and have a little bit fun.

Thanks Mike, I hope you'll stay tuned.

Hello my friends, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are doing well. I have just started my German travel report, so my construction report with the Payload Canister will continue soon too. Best wishes and a Happy New Year.

Thanks Mike, indeed, it was a fantastic vacation and the discovering of the KSC Visitor Complex step by step during my Mission STS-2023 was a complete success, more than I ever expected or dreamed of. The support from my friends Mike Robel and his family, Pad 39B old hand James MacLaren and Richard Chamberlain was great, I couldn't have asked for better tour guides. Mike Robel and his wife, visiting the Canaveral National Seashore with me. James MacLaren and Mike Robel, on the way back after the awesome

Hello everybody, for the sake of completeness, I would like to briefly state my two questions and Wendy's answers. 1st Question: "What were your feelings when you had been selected as a crew member for the Return to Flight Mission STS-114, given the tragic Columbia disaster two years earlier? She analogously replied that on the one hand she was fully aware of the importance of this test mission after the Columbia disaster, but on the other hand she felt very honored to have been selected for this very important mission. My second que

Thanks Al, the trip was a great experience with many interesting new impressions that I first have to process in order to be able to document them in a suitable form.

Thanks Mike, I fulfilled a long-held dream and lived it to the fullest. There is a lot to report, but I have to sort it all out first. BTW, every day in the KSC Visitor Complex, astronauts report on their shuttle missions in the Astronaut Encounter and answer questions from visitors. So also did Wendy Lawrence Monday last week, who flew four missions from 1995 to 2005, STS-67, STS-87, STS-91 and STS-114, the so-called Return To Flight Mission, the first mission two years after the Columbia disaster STS-107 (2003). Source: K

Hello my friends, first just a short message. After three and a half weeks I'm back from an extraordinary and highly impressive vacation in Florida and several visits to the Kennedy Space Center, which I even flew over in a Helicopter Ride (doors off!) together with Mike Robels daughter, whereby the gigantic ET/Booster Stack in front of the Atlantis hall looked so small like my model Shuttle stack (1:144). BTW, the launch of NASA's Psyche Mission has been postponed once more, to Friday October 13th, which is my lucky day. And therefor it wa

Thanks Al, hold on tight to your dreams like me! Breaking News: The launch of the NASA Psyche mission has been postponed until October 12th. Source: NASA Hopefully all will work then better. It's time to say Good bye for three weeks. See you later.

Hello friends, in the meantime I have dismantled the fragile Dio assemblies and stowed them in a cupboard, better safe than sorry. I showed this image years ago when I presented Thomas' model building estate. He had made a small scaffolding platform especially for his Hammerhead Crane, on which the crane equipped with LED lamps with the red warning beacon on the top of the lightning protection mast could stand reasonably safely. Such a beacon never existed there at any time during the Shuttle program, which he initially had vehemently denied and then fi

Thanks Mike for your best wishes and your compliment for the planned Pad 39A Diorama. I hope I still can do it in this life.

Hello everybody, my Florida trip is getting closer and closer and time is running out, so I have to rush with an update. In 14 days (October 2nd) at this time I will be on board a Boeing 767-300 towards Atlanta, from where it will continue at 6.35 p.m. in a Boeing 757 to Orlando. http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up035091.gif From there I drive the next day with the rental car to Cocoa Beach, where I'll stay at the Best Western Cocoa Beach Hotel for a week and will visit the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The highligh

Thanks Pascal for your nice compliment, I'm happy if you like my project and can learn from it, because learning by doing is the best way to further develop your skills. So it was at least for me. And still another principle, don't let failure discourage you and never give up!

Great work Rostko, congrats!