Home • Terrain Models • Globes • Spacecraft Kits • Decals • Custom Work
Links • Clients • Space Art • About SMS • Order • Contact
Entire Contents ©2008 Space Model Systems Inc.
Last Update:
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Please be patient and wait for the images to load. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Griffith Observatory Models - Beginning in the spring of 2006, Space Model Systems was contracted by the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles to create a series of planetary models for the "Gunther Depths of Space" exhibit. The models are displayed in illuminated cabinets, each focussing on a planet in the solar system. The models provided by SMS are featured in the displays for Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Mercury - Left: A 9" hemisphere model of Mercury depicting the sunlit and dark portions of the planet and comparing their temperatures. Right: A comparison of the cratering on Mercury and on the moon. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Venus - Upper Left: Three different terrain areas on Venus; volcanic cone, low volcanic domes, and flattish "arachnoid" terrain. Models are 6" x 6" in size. Upper right: The Russian Venera 13 lander, an armored spacecraft built to withstand the crushing pressures and extreme temperatures on the venusian surface. The model is about 7" in diameter. Lower left/lower right: Two additional views of the Venera 13 model showing various instruments and other systems. The model has not yet been added to the display case but should be shortly. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| Mars - Upper Left/Lower Left/Upper Right: The giant equatorial "crack" in the planet, Valles Marineris, and a few nearby volcanoes were modeled in 3-D through the use of rapid protyping fabrication. Laser altimeter data from the MOLA instrument on Mars Global Surveyor was assembled into a three dimensional map and built up as hardened resin in thousands of thin layers. The model is approximately 22" wide (E-W) and 10" tall (N-S), made into a resin casting, and painted in natural Mars colors. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Jupiter System - Below: The four Galilean satellites were modeled as plastic spheres with photographic map surfaces applied in a proprietary process. The models measured between ~1.5 inches and ~2.75" inches in diameter. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Saturn System - Left: Saturn's puzzling moon Iapetus, sporting a raised "belly band" of equatorial mountains, has been extensively photographed by the Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. The light and dark patterns on the surface are thought to be combinations of ice on dark dust and vice versa. This model is 7" in diameter and is a hollow resin casting from an original sculpted master. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
Home • Terrain Models • Globes • Spacecraft Kits • Decals • Custom Work Entire Contents ©2008 Space Model Systems Inc. Last Update: |
||||||||||||||||||