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NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown
NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown

NASA Satellite Spacecraft Door RARE Working Engineering Model not flown

$ 1056

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Space Program: NASA Program
  • Type: NASA Satellite Spacecraft
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Condition: NASA engineering prototype door with cut wires and thermal heaters added
  • Theme: Astronauts & Space Travel
  • All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted

    Description

    Up for sale is an engineering prototype of NASA's SPARTAN 201 spacecraft's "Double Arc Door" (DAD).  The SPARTAN 201 spacecraft was launched into space by the Space Shuttle where it would orbit the earth while imaging the Sun.  The Space Shuttle would retrieve it from orbit at the end of its scientific mission and would bring the spacecraft back to earth.  This appears to be a working engineering prototype that was never flown into space.  The custom machining of the materials is amazing!  It must have cost NASA at least 0k to build it!
    This door is one of a kind and actually works when connected to the included 24v power supply even though one of the two electric motors is missing.  It was designed with redundancy so that if one motor failed, it would still operate at half speed.  It takes about 6.5 minutes to open/close using the one motor.  The motor for the lock/unlock mechanism is missing and was replaced with weights to simulate the motor's presence when balancing the spacecraft.
    There are multiple heater strips which I believe were not part of the SPARTAN program but were instead probably used to evaluate the performance of the heater strips using a thermal camera.  Also included with the DAD are some SPARTAN stickers, a poster, a SPARTAN pamphlet from NASA, and a furniture dolly.  I displayed it by setting it on a strong shelf of a warehouse shelving unit I bought from Sam's Club (not included).
    The approximate dimensions are 26.5"W, 23"T, 15.5"T.  I don't have a scale to weigh it but my guess is that it weighs around 75 pounds so it is for local pick-up only from Mesquite Texas 75150.  If it doesn't sell in a week and I have to haul it back to Naples Florida along with all my other stuff, the asking price will definitely go up and I'll be able to take my time selling it so buy now before the price goes up!
    Here are some documents about the SPARTAN 201 spacecraft:
    https://atomicledlighting.com/B21/SPARTAN%20201.pdf