The Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
Space Craft SCIENCE Kit
Order code: HSK
This is a photo of an assembled HST Space Craft SCIENCE KIT. Here are six more photos of the assembled kit. The silver color of much of the model has been lithographed onto the parts, to represent HST's thermal control blanketing. In addition to lithography, there's a large amount of silver foil which has been bonded in the right patterns, making the model appear strikingly realistic. In the photo above, you can see the yellow handrails which surround the HST in front, middle, and back. Those are for the convenience of astronauts who work on the HST during scheduled service missions. One of the magnetic torquer bars is visible just below the telescope tube. There are four of these computer-controlled electromagnets on the HST. They work as part of the spacecraft's attitude (pointing) control system by reacting with the Earth's magnetic field. The photo is too dark to see inside the telescope tube, but all the proper details are reproduced inside, as well as outside. Within the tube, you'll find printed trusswork, and a 3-dimensional "spider" which supports the assembly's secondary mirror and baffle. The model actually features a reflective secondary mirror, even though once you've assembled the model, it can never be seen again. The primary mirror, of course, can be seen inside, (but not in this photo) complete with its center hole, typical of the Ritchey-Chretein optical system which HST employs. The model's primary mirror is made of reflective foil bonded to the model's card-stock part. High-gain antenna dishes protrude above and below the telescope. One is mostly visible at the top of the photo. You can see a blue color to the twin solar panels alongside the HST model. However, the photo doesn't succeed in showing the thin lines of gold foil, on both sides of each panel, which represent the panels' electrical conductor patterns. The smaller image above shows a section of the model's aft bulkhead. We scanned it against a blue background to show the laser-cut detail. Our scanner, however, can't pick up the metalic silver which covers most of this part. It just shows up as a dark area with a greenish tint (from the specular reflection it produces in the scanner). Visible on this image of the bulkhead are cabling details, and two of the three clamp attachment points which secure the HST in the Space Shuttle bay during service missions. The yellow handrails protrude from the cylindrical aft section, and these are also visible in the large photo at the top of the page.
The HST kit has 32 laser-cut parts, and two rectangular printed parts which become cylindrical. Assembled model is about 10 inches (26 cm) overall. Scale is approximately 1/65.
In the photo above, you can see the yellow handrails which surround the HST in front, middle, and back. Those are for the convenience of astronauts who work on the HST during scheduled service missions. One of the magnetic torquer bars is visible just below the telescope tube. There are four of these computer-controlled electromagnets on the HST. They work as part of the spacecraft's attitude (pointing) control system by reacting with the Earth's magnetic field. The photo is too dark to see inside the telescope tube, but all the proper details are reproduced inside, as well as outside. Within the tube, you'll find printed trusswork, and a 3-dimensional "spider" which supports the assembly's secondary mirror and baffle. The model actually features a reflective secondary mirror, even though once you've assembled the model, it can never be seen again. The primary mirror, of course, can be seen inside, (but not in this photo) complete with its center hole, typical of the Ritchey-Chretein optical system which HST employs. The model's primary mirror is made of reflective foil bonded to the model's card-stock part. High-gain antenna dishes protrude above and below the telescope. One is mostly visible at the top of the photo. You can see a blue color to the twin solar panels alongside the HST model. However, the photo doesn't succeed in showing the thin lines of gold foil, on both sides of each panel, which represent the panels' electrical conductor patterns. The smaller image above shows a section of the model's aft bulkhead. We scanned it against a blue background to show the laser-cut detail. Our scanner, however, can't pick up the metalic silver which covers most of this part. It just shows up as a dark area with a greenish tint (from the specular reflection it produces in the scanner). Visible on this image of the bulkhead are cabling details, and two of the three clamp attachment points which secure the HST in the Space Shuttle bay during service missions. The yellow handrails protrude from the cylindrical aft section, and these are also visible in the large photo at the top of the page.