Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)

[Spaceman]

Hello everybody,

the 3D model of my friend Joe’s AFTC ring was almost on the way to the Shapeways printers, but what’s the name of it? Things never turn out the way you expect.

And that had once again to do with the selection of reference photos, where one should not be intoxicated only by the details of great Hi-Res photos, because also the respective time window of such photos may not be disregarded, if one wants to build a specific mission.

That’s what happened to me with the last photos of the AFTCs, such like this one, which comes from the STS-121 (2006) and thus from a rather late mission,

Source: NASA

what inevitably raises the question of whether the Aft Skirts of the boosters at the time of STS-6 have looked similar, or possibly different?

Since I was not able to find any photos that belong to the STS-6 yet, I again searched the Hi-Res archives of NSF Forums (L2) and were very surprised when I have come across this great shot in the thread STS-1: Hi Res Images.

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (heng44)

The conspicuous thing about it are the silver stripes between the ASTC segments, which immediately have reminded me of the SRB Mock-ups on the KSC grounds,

Source: NASA

but they only have 16 segments, as one can see here.

Source: NASA (KSC/Mapio.net)

However, as you can see on the STS-1 photo, there were four segments between the two SRB supports, giving a total of 24 segments, whereas the older Mock-ups had only two, what could be a simplified design with only 16 segments.

Therefore, I assume that the ASTCs in the STS-6 also consisted of 24 segments each, as in the STS-1 two years ago.

At this later photo (2013) of the Mok-ups in front of the entrance to the Atlantis Exhibition Hall on the KSC Visitor Complex there should also be 26 segments, which are covered with stripes at the seams.

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Lee Jay)

But ultimately, what matters is the ASTC configuration that was present at the launch of the Shuttle stack at the mission, therefore for me the image of the STS-1 is crucial for further 3D modeling.

By now I have already instructed my friend Joe, so now he only needs the modified Stripe width, which can be determined from the Segment width, resulting from the circumference of the AFTC ring (Ø 30 mm) with

C = 30 mm x 3,14 = 94 mm / 24 = 3,9 mm

With this Segment width as the reference value, the STS-1 image results in a width of the stripes of 1 mm above the seams between the segments in the 3D model.

And so I’ve changed my previous sketch, which now looks like this.

That agrees well with the resin parts in the Newware Space Shuttle Enhancement Kit 1/144 (NW131), as one can see from the drawing in the construction manual, wherefore this kit seems to me to be really worthwhile.

So my friend Joe can now customize his 3D model and upload it soon to Shapeways.

[Johnnych01]

wow ….. another great instalment !!

Your levels of detailing are simply mind blowing. Even this far into the mammoth build, you still throw in these amazing walkthroughs of how to achieve what seems the impossible at this scale. That wiring of the lamps, the fuel tank build and detailing, just superb … and ats off to your cohort of friends and their amazing skills with printing and helping the build along.

[Spaceman]

Thanks John for your kind compliments.

Yep, especially when 3D modeling complex parts or with high piece volumes for 3D printing, my contacts with helpful friends really pay off. Therefore it’s good to have a broad network.

[Spaceman]

Hello everybody,

by a contribution in the ARC Forum meanwhile a few new insights to the AFTCs resulted, over which I would like to report briefly.

First of all, there is this photo from an interesting perspective looking at the lower edge of the SRB-Aft Skirt, where the individual ASTC segments are also glued over with silver cover strips, as in the STS-1 photo.

Source: georgesrockets.com

And from the same source also comes this great photo of the Columbia, but unfortunately without specifying the mission.

Source: georgesrockets.com

This for me so far unknown source is the website George’s Rocket Pages of George Gassaway, which according to my previous overview I deem for the ultimate treasure trove for all shuttle scratch modelers, if only because of the valuable collection of detailed drawings there, which are coming just in time for the modeling of the ASTCs and especially of the ET Intertank, which is why I have now modified my sketch for the third time, but of course all good things come in threes.

And therefore once more back to this awesome Hi-Res SRB photo from the STS-121 (2006), where one can even see the cords with which the AFTCs were sewn together. But so far I did not know if these seams still were covered with stripes before the launch as one could see on the already shown STS-1 photo.

Source: NASA

But on this photo from Endeavour’s last mission STS-134 (2011) one can see the same kind of ASTC segments with cords but without stripes.

Source: NASA

And in this sence now to an awesome NASA video, “Best of the Best” of Shuttle Launches, that many of you will surely know already.

This video from the Glenn Research Center highlights in stunning imagery in slow motion the launches of three Space shuttle missions: STS-114, STS-117, and STS-124 and it’s a must-have for all Space Shuttle enthusiasts.

And there one can see from 6:28 the Aft Skirts with the ASTCs, the segments of which have no cover stripes like in this shot at 7:37.

This video is so overwhelming and unique that one can watch it again and again in full length.

[Spaceman]

Hello everybody,
Happy Birthday Buzz Aldrin!

This calls for a celebration!

And best wishes for continued good health.

And fittingly, here’s this unforgettable intarsia artwork by Judy Gale Roberts featuring Buzz Aldrin’s salute in front of the US flag, which he may or may not know.

[Spaceman]

Hello together,

and from the last photos like this one, my ARC friend Joe (crackerjazz) was really excited,

Source: georgesrockets.com

and has then immediately modified his 3D model and meant that these strips could be applied best by sticking of thin bare metal foil, instead of painting them silver,

Source: arcforums.com (crackerjazz)

which I can well imagine, e.g. by gluing strips from simple aluminum household foil, or even better with self-adhesive aluminum foil, which one can already buy somewhere, right?

In the meantime, I have been able to narrow down the time window of this photo (without a mission number), since four of the lower SRB rings already have the Instafoam isolation, wherefore it could be earliest at the STS -61-C (1986), where this was the case for the first time.

And with this result, it is now certain that the ASTCs at the STS-6 (1983) also had these silver foil insulation strips already.

[Stryker45]

Simply amazing! I’m out of words to say wow. Trying to understand everything is giving me headache so I have gave that up about 10 pages into your build many months ago .

Now, I just enjoy seeing your brilliant approach to problems where most modelers would chuck it across the bench into a wall…and the simple answer to the famous question…

“Not to be”

[Spaceman]

Thanks Mike for your nice compliments,

then just keep enjoying it, the show must go on.

[Spaceman]

Hello everybody,

meanwhile I have tested some materials for the AFTC strips.

Ideal would be adhesive metal foil strips with the thickness like TAMIYA Masking Tape, at which I measured 0,03 mm, which would be comparable to aluminum household foil (0,03 mm), which unfortunately does not stick.

And then I also tested a silver party streamer (0,06 mm), which were table decoration during our last dinner in a restaurant.

But just cutting 1 mm wide strips of this thin stuff is already getting used to,

not to mention the subsequent gluing on the plastic half pipe, for which I first used thin CA.

The left strip is from the party streamer, the two right strips are from the household foil and have about the later required distance of about 4 mm.

And then I was very daring and glued a 4th strip with MEK, which surprisingly seems to work too.

This was not totally surprising for me, because I have already made the experience that the SSWS Pipe Supports let glue itself with MEK on the paper layer of the MLP deck, whereby the installation of the pipe framework is easier of course, since I only need brushing around the support’s floor plates without having to lift them.

[Spaceman]

Dear friends,

following this joyous event, today marks a sad anniversary in NASA’s spaceflight history.

Forty years ago today, the Challenger mission STS-51-L became the first launch from the newly built Launch Pad 39B,

Source: wikimedia.org

one that ended in disaster 73 seconds after liftoff, resulting in the deaths of the seven-member Challenger crew.

Front: Michael Smith, Francis Scobee, Ronald McNair; Back row: Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik (from left to right)
Source: wikimedia.org

Last year, during my vacation, I paid my respects at their grave in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. R.I.P.

Let us remain in silence and forever keeping their legacy in our remembrance.

[amoz02t]

Thank you for posting. They do need to be remembered as well as the lesson to pay attention to what the little anomalies are telling us. The “Go fever” results from both individual and collective aspects of human behavior. It is due to the tendency as individuals to be overly committed to a previously chosen course of action based on time and resources already expended despite reduced or insufficient future benefits, or even considerable risks.

[Spaceman]

Enjoy and stay tuned my friend.

[Spaceman]

Hello everybody,

and so once more back to the photo of the Columbia with the AFTC silver strips in the collection of George Gassaway (without mission number), which after intensive research I can assign meanwhile, which is always important to me, and here with the right source.

Source: spacefacts.de

At Spacefacts, I finally have found out that it deals with the STS-50 (1992).

And through this search, I now know that these silver foil insulation strips on the AFTCs were used at least until STS-85 (1997) and disappeared only later.

Source: spacefacts.de

Now that’s enough of the long AFTC searches, i.e. one photo I still want to show finally, namely this one here,

Source: Library of Congress (HAER No. TX-116-K-21)

with an interesting view at the inside of this ring-shaped hollow flexible flame curtain, and here once more a larger view.

That’s it for today.

[Spaceman]

Hello friends,

yesterday was another day of sad remembrance, because the terrible Columbia disaster occurred in 2003.

Source: wikimedia.org

As the routine evaluation of the film footage of the launch revealed a day later, approximately 81 seconds after the launch of the 28th Columbia mission (STS-107), a piece of the foam insulation broke off from the External tank (ET-93) and hit the left wing at its leading edge.

NASA, however, assumed only minor damage to the heat shield, as similar incidents had never resulted in serious damage before, especially since high-speed images showed that the fragment left a cloud of particles after impact, which was interpreted as evidence of its destruction. Therefore, NASA decided to continue the mission as normal, a decision that subsequently proved to be a serious miscalculation.

Source: wikimedia.org

After its two-week flight, the Columbia broke apart on February 1, 2003 during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. †

Front: Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool; Back row: David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon (from left to right)
Source: wikimedia.org

Last year, during my vacation trip, I paid my last respects to them at their memorial, the official Columbia Space Shuttle Memorial, in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. R.I.P.

The memorial (in the background of the image) is located just a few meters from the Challenger Space Shuttle Memorial (in the foreground).

Therefore, let us remain in silence today again and forever honor their legacy in our memory.

[Spaceman]

Hello friends,

from Shapeways came the news that the wall of the doughnut shape is a bit too thin, so my friend Joe has changed it to 0,5 mm.

And these are now the final dimensions with which he wants to upload his 3D model tonight.

Source: arcforums.com (crackerjazz)

Meanwhile my friend Joe has uploaded his 3D model to Shapeways, and of course I could not resist and have immediately ordered a pair of them.

Source: shapeways.com (Crackerjazz)

Now I can’t wait to hold it in my hands and to have a close look at them.

Hopefully, Shapeways will soon greenlight it.

[Spaceman]

Hello all,

a friend of our Raumcon-Forum has sent me a small roll of silver adhesive foil for testing.

The foil is so thin that one can hardly measure its thickness (about 0,03 mm), and was of course tried the same time, for which I have cut small 1 mm wide strips with a brand-new cutter knife.

which I then glued tentatively onto an Airfix Aft Skirt-Ring, which seems to be a practicable solution.

Then I also glued three of these foil strips on the half pipe (right).

And finally respectively 24 strips must be glued onto the 3D printed and painted ASTC Rings, which might be a bit of fiddling, but should be feasible.

[Johnnych01]

All so time consuming, but well worth the effort for the realism.

[Spaceman]

Hello together,

well, I was rather amazed when I suddenly saw at noon today that the adhesive film strips had detached again from the rounding of the half pipe.

Apparently, the adhesive film has certain residual stresses inside, which exceed the adhesive force of the strip after a certain time and lead to detachment.

This can be seen on this piece of adhesive foil, which bulges itself to the silver side after cutting from the roll.

A similar effect I noticed every now and then on some of the glued strip ends, which did not glue firmly enough and stood out a bit (≤ 1 mm), which I then again had to glue with MEK, and a very unruly end with CA.

The household foil does not have these internal stresses, which is why their strips are still firmly fixed, furthermore they were glued with MEK respectively CA.

However, I have to say in hindsight that I had not degreased the half pipe before gluing the adhesive foil strips, which could be the reason, what I will check again tomorrow.

Then I had also ordered a Rai-Ro Chrome marker (1 mm), which arrived today, which of course I tried out right away.

Around these markers of Molotow a real hype has arisen, whose highly pigmented special ink creates a real mirror effect on smooth, non-absorbent surfaces.

At first, however, I could not cope with the marker because I did not know that it was a Pumpmarker, which had to be shaken and briefly pumped before use.

While straight lines drawn with ruler are not a problem, using the marker on the half tube was a bit more difficult and definitely needs getting used to, which certainly requires some practice.

Therefore, the first six strips on the right end are certainly not optimal, but at least a ray of hope.

So much for the insights from my experiments today.

[Spaceman]

Hello all,

I have also still tried something else.

At first, I degreased the half-tube with Isopropyl and then glued three new adhesive foil strips.

In order to check a possible diameter influence, I also put a strip on my thick Rainbird knitting needle (Ø 8 mm), and lo and behold, there it still glues always firmly, without any signs of detachment, which seems to confirm my guess.

On the other hand, on the thinner half-tube (Ø 4,7 mm) after a short while the ends began detaching again, what can be prevented however by fixing the ends with CA.

Then I’ve made another attempt with the Chrome marker, for which I taped a 1 mm wide strip on the half-tube on both sides with tape (2 mm) and then painted this area by using the Chrome marker simply by hand. But after removing the tape strips one can see that the chrome line is still not even, because the liquid partially creeps ugly under the tape.

Besides, this procedure would be pure stress at 24 strips per Aft Skirt ring, except from the fact that the marked strips probably would not have the same width at the end anyway.

Incidentally, a warming of the adhesive foil strips brought no positive effect too.

But now we will wait for the delivery of the 3D-ASTC prints, which I have now also ordered in Frosted Extreme Detail (FED).

[Spaceman]

Hello everybody,

today I’ve received the Bare-Metal Foil, and so I can test it.

But at first glance, the foil does not look as mirror-like as aluminum household foil.

Here you can see my comparison test,

from left to right:

Aluminum household foil - Bare-metal foil (New Improved Chrome) - Silver party streamer.

BTW, I had smoothed the Bare-metal foil strip several times with a Q-tip in the hope that it would shine more, but unfortunately without a significant effect.

And here in comparison with the party streamer and the silver foil of my Raumcon friend on top of the Bare-Metal foil, which looks relatively matt gloss,

which is not mirror-like for my taste, although the lighting always plays an important role.

What do you think?

And Shapeways has announced that they’ve shipped the ASTC rings. Wow!