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USSC Discovery One
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Sci-Fi Spaceship Miniatures

SPACE IN MINIATURE

Plastic Things

[Millenia Models International]

Small Art Works





Scale: 1/211

Specifications

  • Official Name: USSC Discovery One
  • USSA "Registration Number": XD-1 (X-Ray Delta One)
  • Overall Length: 140.1 m
    • The Discovery One Jovian Mission is still underway to Jupiter. Mission status is unchanged. Expected ETA in Jovian space: 7/20/2002, the 33rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. Neither the crew or the HAL 9000 report any problems with the mission.

    The Model

    I purchased and built the Lunar Models Discovery One kit, in 1/211 scale (there is a frighteningly accurate review of this kit on this site).

    I avoided the spine 'droop' issue by completely replacing the kit spine with 1/4" diameter steel rod - this model will not sag! Naturally, this meant scratchbuilding all 10 of the connectors between the fuel modules; I salvaged the ribs for those from the kit spine. Many thanks go to Mr. Yungblut for swapping Command Module sections with me; his was from an early run of this kit, and was thereby more 'spherical' than the semi-squashed one I had.

    The sobering thing about the Discovery is that we have all of the necessary technology to actually build this ship - the reactor, the fuel system, the centrifuge system, and much safer computers, too! The Discovery, built now, would not necessarily be as pretty as the one Mr. Kubrick put on the movie screen, but it could work!

    Image: Large inmage of the angled view

    Image: Command module

    Image: Top view

    Image: Drive section


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    This page was last updated 23 July 2001