I've long been fascinated by what is in the literature described as an Impact Absorber shown alongside NASA's proposed Moon Prospector in early illustrations from 1960 onwards.
Star-shaped, the Impact Absorber was docked to the base of the Prospector or other units in order to create a 'soft landing' on the lunar surface.
You can see the absorber behind the vehicle on the 1961 Newsweek cover below [bottom] and even clearer on the black and white illustration from the Swift Space Flight book of the same year [top].
Star-shaped, the Impact Absorber was docked to the base of the Prospector or other units in order to create a 'soft landing' on the lunar surface.
You can see the absorber behind the vehicle on the 1961 Newsweek cover below [bottom] and even clearer on the black and white illustration from the Swift Space Flight book of the same year [top].
The Impact Absorber seems like one of those accessories, which should have simply been available with the toy Moon Prospector!
So, not wanting to pass up another opportunity to 'mess around' with Century 21 box art I set about planning a SWORD IMPACT PLATE, which I envisaged being available separately in it's own box.
The basic star-shape reminded me of retro sunburst clocks and I was pleasantly surprised to find that cheap versions are available online.
Rather than spending any money I decided to simply use the image of such a clock at this stage.
Creating the box art was harder as I am somewhat unrefined in my methods and hampered by my basic 'paint' programme.
Nevertheless, you can see my efforts below. To actually go ahead and make a 'toy' would require said clock and it's box if anyone wants to have a go!
The balloon wheels of the toy Prospector would be a problem. How these would slot into the base plate I've no idea!
Anyone got any clue how a toy accessory like this might work?
the impact plate would fit directly under the prospector base, the star shaped arms would have folded upwards, with a protective covering around the main probe. After landing, the two booms would extend and the balloon tyres would inflate, allowing the vehicle to roll off the plate onto the moon. A similar technique was used with the mars pathfinder mission, with three fold out petals to protect the probe. I think the thread on the model is an additional extendable grip in case, as suspected, the wheels became mired in moondust. Nasa experiemented with screw shaped wheels in the early sixties.
ReplyDeleteNice technical summary that Billster! You should be a NASA historian. Seeing as the toy tyres don't inflate but are rigid, how could we create a baseplate that the toy could drive off?
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