Over the course of what I presume to be several months I shall be assembling the International Space Station, as well as all the launch vehicles that contributed to its construction, out of paper at 1:100 scale. The goal is to recreate a highly accurate physical interpretation of the process of space station construction. Paper is a cheap material that is flexible and easy to work with. It is also a medium capable of great detail and precision. Many of the kits used were downloaded for free offline and much thanks goes out to AXM Paper Space Scale Modeling http://www.axmpaperspacescalemodels.com/ for making these models available to the public. For these reasons I have chosen to forgo conventional plastic and resin models.
If you wish to follow along and construct your own paper ISS, feel free. Supplies cost about $20 and included a hobby knife, extra blades, tacky glue, super glue, scissors, a straight edge and a board to cut on. I will apologize now for the poor photo quality as I lack a decent camera.
The model kits are entirely printable, I print on 110 lbs card stock, and with a little patience can be assembled with ease by even the most amateur modeler. The print outs for the Proton Rocket as well as Zarya can once again be found at http://www.axmpaperspacescalemodels.com/ and cost another $20 to print up at FedEx.
It takes time and a steady hand but using the hobby knife to cut out the pieces was relatively simple and I managed to not cut myself, which is a success in my book. I favored the cut pieces out one by one and assemble them piece by piece method as opposed to the cutting all the pieces out and then assembling it at once method. The latter has a risk of losing pieces and the former, while being slower and perhaps less efficient, is more rewarding as the rocket takes shape before your eyes and there is some payoff after tediously cutting out each piece. After hours of work I finally was able to finish the rocket. The model came out better than I expected, taking into account that it was the first real paper model I had ever constructed. Here it is arranged from left to right: First Stage, Second Stage, Third Stage, and Fairing presumably containing Zarya.
Now before people shout me down I will address a few slight inaccuracies. First of all, astute observers will note that the model is in fact a Proton-M rocket. The differences between the Proton-K which carried Zarya and the Proton-M, which is a later model, are few. The main visible difference between this model and the real rocket that carried Zarya to orbit is the fairing. My model has a grey standard fairing whereas in the image below you can see that Zarya employed a black fairing with different markings. Other than that the model is quite similar to the real thing.
(Proton-K carrying Zarya)
There are a few notable details about the Proton Rocket that are quite interesting. First is that, like many early Soviet era rockets, the second stage ignites before stage 1 separation. This is the reason for the lattice interstage which allows gasses to escape after stage 2 ignition. The second stage ignites while still attached in order to avoid the need for ullage motors which add complexity to the design of the rocket. If the second stage tried igniting after separation, fuel from in the second stage would move away from the engine with neither gravity or inertia to push it to the rear of the tank. This would cause the second stage engine to not ignite and the mission to fail. Another interesting design feature is that unlike many rockets which feature strap on rocket boosters, usually solid fueled but not always, that are jettisoned when expended, the tanks on the side of the Proton are not jettisonable. They are in fact fuel tanks for the 6 RD-275 main engines and are there for good. The central tank is only oxidizer which needs to be run to the engines on each of the radial fuel tanks.
Here are some pictures of the completed model.
With the Proton Rocket out of the way it was finally time to build its payload. Zarya is the Functional Cargo Block of the International Space Station and the first module, providing electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance. It was intended to be used on the Mir station however it ended up becoming the foundation of the ISS. While it is Russian designed and built it was actually funded and owned by the United States, an interesting step forward in international cooperation in space exploration.
Zarya, as seen above in a picture taken by the crew of STS-88 is 12.56 meters long, 4.11 meters in diameter and clocks in at 19.32 metric tons. Below is the interior of Zarya, which unfortunately is not capable of being modeled with paper.
Zarya means "Sunrise" in Russian.
Zarya has three docking ports. One on the front, one on the bottom front of the module, and one on the back.
In conclusion, after much patience and hard work my Proton made it to orbit carrying Zarya, the first module of the ISS. Both are now hanging from my ceiling. The next mission is STS-88 in which the Space Shuttle Endeavor brings Node 1 also known as Unity to mate with Zarya. It will also feature three spacewalks to get the station operational. Until next time, I shall provide you with a picture of what you can expect to see in the next post:
