Part 3 - Orbiter's Aft Main Engines/OMS/RCS pods and Fisher Models & Pattern's Upgrade Set

The Orbital Maneuvering System, which is made up of two Orbital Maneuvering System engines and all of their related hardware. One Orbital Maneuvering System engine is housed in each of two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS)/Reaction Control System (RCS) pods attached to the top aft end of the Orbiter.

The system consist of hypergolic liquid-propellant rocket engines used on the Space Shuttle. Designed and manufactured in the United States by Aerojet, the system was used during launch to produce supplementary thrust and on-orbit to provide orbital injection, orbital correction and the spacecraft's deorbit burn.[2] The OMS pods contains a single AJ10-190 engine, based on the Apollo Service Module's Service Propulsion System engine,[citation needed] which produces 26.7 kilonewtons (6,000 lbf) of thrust with a specific impulse (Isp) of 316 seconds.[3] Each engine could be reused for 100 missions and was capable of a total of 1,000 starts and 15 hours of burn time.

These pods also contained the Orbiter's aft set of reaction control system (RCS) engines, and so were referred to as OMS/RCS pods. The OM engine and RCS systems both burned monomethylhydrazine (MMH) as fuel, which was oxidized with dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), with the propellants being stored in tanks within the OMS/RCS pod, alongside other fuel and engine management systems. When full, the pods together carried around 8,174 kilograms (18,021 lb) of MMH and 13,486 kilograms (29,732 lb) of N2O4, allowing the OMS to produce a total of around 1,000 feet per second (300 m/s) of delta-v with a 65,000-pound (29,500 kg) payload.

The Reaction Control System, which is made up of thrusters fired to help the Orbiter achieve a precise orbital path or perform changes in its position, and all of their related hardware. Thrusters are located at the forward end of the Orbiter and in each of the two aft Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS)/Reaction Control System (RCS) pods.

The RCS contains a total of 38 primary thrusters and 6 vernier thrusters. The forward RCS array contains 14 primary thrusters and two vernier thrusters. A total of 12 primary thrusters and two vernier thrusters are housed in each of the two OMS/RCS pods. Below are a few reference images of the main engine with her OMS/RCS pods.

Each RCS thruster burns a combination of monomethyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide liquid fuel. Each primary thruster can produce a thrust of 870 pounds, while each vernier thruster can produce a thrust of 24 pounds. The RCS thrusters can be fired in a plethora of combinations depending on the specific mission requirements.

More after the jump.

3D Supergirl Returns

Here is something I saw and had to highlight it here, a magnificent 3D rendition of Supergirl. Normally I'd keep stuff like this at my Facebook page but the rendition shows a sub-assembly of a figure kit. Though I'm not sure if this one will end up as a kit, if it did, I'd get one if she was in 1/4 scale. It's done by jwillust at zbrushcentral.com

No harm keeping your fingers crossed on this one. Here's more images:

More images after the jump.

1/12th scale space shuttle cockpit cutaway

Found this from Facebook - a magnificent replica of the Space Shuttle build by John Geigle, a one off model specifically done up for the Mubarek Museum of Science in Egypt. This is not a kit but we sure wish it was. Enjoy the following images from his album.

More after the jump.

My Facebook Account has been Reactivated

The next post was suppose to highlight other after market parts for the 1/72 space shuttle but this morning I was pleasantly surprised that my FB account had been re-activated. There was no email notification. It just so happen that I was staring at my company's email inbox and stole a glance to my bookmark for FB, and thought why not. It has been 19 days since my account was disabled and there had been no update to my appeal. I had tried to check last night but it still had the same disabled message so I thought no harm in trying again. I moved my cursor over and clicked.

I will admit that I am happy to get back my account. Afterall, I didn't do anything wrong to lose it. So what happened? Check out FB's message below - it was in my notification.

Now, remember I did highlight before that a friend of mine found 5 FB accounts with exactly the same name as me. I remembered reading somewhere that when that happens, the FB algorithm would detect suspicious activity and will proceed to disable the accounts. It so happens that mine was included as well. Now I am not sure who was trying to create fake accounts of me, or what they're intention was, but do take note that I only have one account . And FB has even gone to the extent of putting my entire name out in full now. I just checked again and now there is only one left of the 5 suspicious accounts.

At least now I know my account was not disabled due to a report or complaint.

Of course a lesson was also learnt here and I will still be active with this blog, as well as at my FB page. Hopefully there would be no more glitches to slow me down again.

Part 2 - 1/72 Space Shuttle Tile Decals from Space Models Photography

One of the many challenges that can also be intimidating is when it comes to detailing the shuttle's lower thermal protection tiles. I have seen some rather innovative method involving painting over a mesh to attempt to get the tile look, and some even went to the extent of using small strips of masking tapes (a lot of work there). The problem here is that all those tiles are not a blanket flat black or dark grey, but rather a combination of very small brick patches with varying dark to light tones.

The Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles serves as a barrier that protects the Orbiter during atmospheric re-entry when temperatures can reach a searing 1,650 °C (3,000 °F). They also protect the shuttle from the heat and cold of space while in orbit.  Each type of TPS had specific heat protection, impact resistance, and weight characteristics, which determined the locations where it was used and the amount used.

Infra-red scans of a shuttle's atmospheric re-entry shows an uneven distribution of heat throughout it's lower hull during re-entry. This in turn will produce more wear and tear at certain areas. Hence depending on the tile conditions, some will be eventually replaced. This explains why certain areas of the lower hull are seen with patches of fresh black areas (replacement new black tiles) while others looked really worn out but still there.  Here is an example of tile damage on a shuttle.

More after the jump.