A Salyut 7 escalou uma em quarenta

Originally published here on Thingiverse.

This model was made at the request of the astronomical observatory of Oro Verde, belonging to the AEA (Asociación Entrerriana de Astronomía). The Soviet spacecraft was scheduled to be deorbited in the Pacific Ocean, but after an unexpected increased atmospheric drag, it fell down on Argentine territory, spreading its rubble in the provinces of Córdoba, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos. Some of this debris is displayed in the mentioned observatory. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the painting of the printed model was delayed, and it is not displayed yet. You can check this video of the exhibited parts:

In this post are modelled the main Salyut 7 space station and the transport modules Soyuz T and Progress. They were designed using SolidWorks using side view diagrams of the spacecraft, and taking details directly from the 2017 movie (Salyut 7) and photos of the model displayed in the Exhibition of Soviet National Economic Achievement, in Moscow. Because of that, some details may be wrong, and some parts may be "low detailed". The model can be printed in several ways and it is available in various scales; that's why the file list is that long. I recommend to look for the model and method you want to print and download directly those models. Some parts (salyut7_complete and salyut7 pieces) are not suited for being printed directly, they could required a lot of support or they could not fit within an common 20 x 20 cm hotbed. Instead, you must choose one of the splited version. Each part, except for the two mentioned, is oriented in the best direction for printing, trying to reduce the support.

Scales

The original requested scale was 1:40, so the total assembly model is about 60 cm long, and requires more than 30 hours of printing. Later I decided to scale it into smaller scales. Here is the list of the scales available:
- 1:40, my original design, not a frequently used scale for modelling.
- 1:48, usually known as O-scale.
- 1:80, a half of the original scale, some parts, as well as the width of the panels, are engrossed.
- 1:160, sometimes called N-scale, these models are designed as souvenirs.

Configurations

This project was developed to be printed and assembled by different possible ways. You must be careful with the models you choose for printing. Each .rar file has the complete model, divided like one of the following configurations in the available scales for it :

Big parts

This config has only the salyut7 part divided in front and back. Every part is printable in this config. This set is not available for the 1:160 model. A 1:40 model in this config must take 40 to 50 hours to print the hole model. The pack of files for this configuration is available in the scales: one in forty, one in forty eight and one in eighty.

Parts:
- salyut7_front x 1

- salyut7_back x 1
- soyuz x 1
- progress x 1
- panel1 x 3
- panel2 x 4
- antenna1 x 1
- antenna2 x 1
- antenna3 x 2

Big parts configuration.

Upper and lower

In this case the modules salyut7, progress and soyuz are divided in upper and lower parts. The pack of files for this configuration is available in the scale one in eighty.

*Parts:
- salyut7_upper x 1

- salyut7_lower x 1
- soyuz_upper x 1
- soyuz_lower x 1
- progress_upper x 1
- progress_lower x 1
- panel1 x 3
- panel2 x 4
- antenna1 x 1
- antenna2 x 1
- antenna3 x 2

Upper and lower configuration.

Small parts

The salyut7 module is divided into 4 blocks: salyut7_front_upper, salyut7_front_lower, salyut7_back_upper and salyut7_back_lower. This is the most divided configuration, useful for small printers. It is not available for the 1:160 scale. The pack of files for this configuration is available in the scales: one in forty
, one in forty eight
and one in eighty.

Parts:
- salyut7_front_upper x 1

- salyut7_front_lower x 1
- salyut7_back_upper x 1

- salyut7_back_lower x 1
- soyuz_upper x 1
- soyuz_lower x 1
- progress_upper x 1
- progress_lower x 1
- panel1 x 3
- panel2 x 4
- antenna1 x 1
- antenna2 x 1
- antenna3 x 2

Small parts configuration.

Souvenir model

This is the complete model split in two, with the lateral panels separated. The upper panel is fixed in one direction, while the others are still configurable. The pack of files for this configuration is available in the scale one in 160.

>Parts:
- salyut7_complete_upper x 1
- salyut7_complete_lower x 1
- panel1 x 2

Souvenir model configuration.

Complete model

This is not a printable model, or at least not designed for that. It is included only demonstratively.

Parts:
- salyut7_complete x 1

The salyut7_complete model. This one is not intended to be printed in any scale.

Salyut 7

The Salyut were the transition from the monolithic spacecraft to the Mir, which was the first fully modular space station. It suffered many leaks and failures, like a total lost of energy in 1985. The spacecraft was uninhabited by the time, and spinning fast, so it needed to be boarded by a hard maneuver to be repaired. The sequence is represented in the 2017 film Salyut 7. It served as a scientific and military space station during the cold war. I was docked by many modular spacecraft, the last one was Kosmos 1686 and was the first completely remote orbital dock between two uncrewed spacecrafts. It raised the space station orbit to 475km, in order to program its reentry on 1994. However an unexpected increasing of the atmosphere density, dragged the spacecraft down faster, making it to fall uncontrolled three years earlier, on Argentine territory.

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