Came across this rather interesting photo of a proposed, and ultimately unused miniature of the 2001 spacecraft, Discovery. The chap in the the photo is special effect supervisor Wally Veevers.
A photo from another angle, with additional Pod and astronaut miniatures.
thats a space oddity!
ReplyDeleteI think I prefer the final design.:)
DeleteCan't see solar panels being much use where it was going. Voyager didn't use them.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking they're some sort of exotic propulsion system like 'sails' to catch cosmic waves or something, rather than solar panels, Kev.
DeleteYeah, they could be but they'd be a bit small. You're right that it doesn't look anywhere near as good as the version they went with.
DeleteI'd say they're heat radiators, given that Discovery uses nuclear thermal propulsion (that's why she has such a long spine between the pressure hull and the propulsion bus) and thus generates a lot of waste heat. While I like the final design better for the more rigid looking truss, I would've really enjoyed some sort of radiators.
DeleteMakes sense and an interesting point, Ferrow.
DeleteThey're radiators. The original design of the Discovery featured radiators as part of the design approach of making the spacecraft in the movie as realistic as possible.
DeleteGood to see Wally, is he still around?
ReplyDeleteSadly died in 1983, Ken. :(
DeleteIthought je had gone but not so long ago , thanks Scoop!
ReplyDelete