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Old 05-23-2019, 12:43 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Default I dare Estes... :-)

Hello All,

Now that Estes is offering the new 1:200 scale Apollo-Saturn V (and the 1:100 scale Eagle Lunar Module model that is included with the 50th Anniversary 1:100 scale Saturn V kit), I dare them—a friendly dare, of course—to release another scale model launch vehicle with “matching scale” spacecraft:

An appropriately-scaled model of the Mariner 5 Venus flyby spacecraft, like *this* www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfGEP06kAg “gravity-powered” model (it can be seen here www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPM9q4tvI6g in color, although not moving), would go perfectly with a scale kit of its Atlas-Agena D launch vehicle (see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOK1vFUELI ), whose Atlas D first stage could use the same parts that were used in the Estes Mercury-Atlas scale model. Also:

Mariner 5’s Atlas-Agena D was very similar to the one that launched Mariner 4 past Mars; Mariner 5 was actually a leftover Mariner 3/4 backup spacecraft, which was modified to travel sunward, past Venus. The most obvious change was to its four solar panels, which were turned around to face backwards and were “half-panels,” since at Venus’ distance from the Sun less solar cell area was needed, while the solar panel tip-mounted cold gas attitude thrusters were retained.
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