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Author
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Topic: Martin Marietta MFA space shuttle display
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47326
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-05-2021 12:48 PM
   
Here is a curious one...This 6-inch-long (15-cm) by 3-inch-tall (7.6-cm, tail to base), one pound (0.4 kg) metal orbiter is either an odd looking desktop display or possibly a piece adapted from hardware used on the space shuttle. Another cS member has one (as pictured) that is marked as being presented by Martin Marietta and Manned Flight Awareness. The version I own lacks the markings but is otherwise identical. The original owner of the MFA-marked version identified it as being made from a flown shuttle fuel valve segment. Has anyone seen one of these before and do you know its history? If this was not adapted from a piece of existing hardware, why the odd shape?  
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SpaceAholic
Member Posts: 4947
From: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-05-2021 03:09 PM
Difficult to visualize how this may have been derived from a valve as all the shuttle propellant valves I am familiar with are cylindrical shaped (so to the extent that any original attributes remain undisturbed from subsequent machining would expect to see some curvature as an artifact of the original source). |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 844
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-06-2021 07:29 AM
The cut out on the vertical stabilizer looks like it was used to hold something that would have been slid into it from the side. The wear marks on the inside surface would support that theory. Maybe the missing piece is related to the "valve". |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47326
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-06-2021 08:04 AM
The original recipient of the MFA piece — the same person who said it was made from a fuel valve — said that the cutout held a clock, which had gone missing. I agree that it doesn't look like any piece of shuttle hardware I have seen. |
MadSci
Member Posts: 242
From: Maryland, USA
Registered: Oct 2008
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posted 03-12-2021 05:27 PM
To me the cut on the vertical stabilizer looks remarkable reminiscent of a bottle opener. Wide than usual, but will it open a bottle of suds? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 47326
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 06-26-2021 04:48 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
...the cutout held a clock, which had gone missing.
Another example has turned up on eBay (124785846315) with the clock intact: |
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