[X] My Assistant

[vikingmars]

Well.. Following PhilCo126's statement in
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...indpost&p=24859

Here are some pics of the VL1 model I built spare time in 1982 when I was working in Conway's Snyder Viking team as a student in JPL.
It was built from scratch using balsa wood, electrical wires, plaster, cork... I bought then at Pasadena. Its aim was for the simulation of its shadows to assess the possibility or not to see VL1 from orbit using MGCO's 1.5m resolution camera (MGCO was later renamed Mars Observer). The results were that it could be seen only a few hours per day (before 8:30 am and after 3:30 pm) when its shadow was at its maximum extension, BUT not at sunrise or sunset when contrast is too low...
We had no real lander to work with : the Viking Test Lander (somewhat scrapped internally) was in the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC and some spare parts were remaining at Martin Marietta Aerospace plant (now Lockheed Martin).

Those spare parts needed to be assembled together (save for the RTG covers). In fact, Jim Tillman did a great job collecting them and building this lander back for exhibit at Washington University in Seattle (link http://www-k12.atmos.washington.edu/k12/re..._overview.html)

Despite that (i) its color should be Navy grey, (ii) it lacks the thermal protection under the propellant reservoirs and (iii) some details are missing on the footpads,
the rest of this model show a Viking Lander very close to reality in term of protruding parts (made for the shadows experiment) and nearby rocks : we had great fun working with it !

Enjoy !

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