Second Proach Model to Fly in space!

A tiny scale model of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled to travel where very few models have been before. The model, made by Nick Proach, owner of Proach Models in Sechelt, B.C., Canada, will be flown to the International Space Station aboard an actual Soyuz craft in October by video game entrepreneur and explorer Richard Garriott.

The model, along with other specially made art pieces, are scheduled to be part of the first in-space art exhibition. Richard will conduct aboard the orbiting space station. Richard, the son of Skylab and shuttle astronaut Owen Garriot, e-mailed Nick last December to tell him he was chosen to fly as the next private citizen in space as a client of Space Adventures.

Richard, a loyal customer, contacted us this past June to order a number of new models for his collection. It was at that time Nick asked Richard if it would be possible to fly a model in space. Richard was very accommodating and said it would be no problem except that it had to be very small, roughly the size of a thumbnail. It took Nick a couple of weeks to design and build the model.

The model measures over an inch long and is approximately 1¼ inches across the solar panels. It will be the second time this decade a model, built by Proach Models, will fly in space.

The first was a foot-long model of a truss segment which was attached to the station during the STS-112 flight in October of 2002. The model was built to help train astronauts at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Proach Models have now flown in space!

Pictured here, floating with the astronauts, is a 1/50 scale model of the S1 truss segment.

Click here for a 3 minute highlight video

Shuttle Mission Flying Model made by Proach Models

A model produced in British Columbia as a training aid for space-walking astronauts is on the current Space Shuttle flight to the International Space Station, (ISS). It is the first time a Sunshine Coast company has flown an item into space.

The model, built by Proach Models in Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast, is a high-fidelity replica of what is called the “S1 Truss”. The actual truss, which is about 40 feet long, is being flown to the station and installed by astronauts on the STS-112 mission, which lifted-off on October 7, 2002.

Altogether 11 sections of truss will be added to the ISS over a 4 year period and will span the length of a football field. The truss will house huge solar panels, heat-dispensing radiators, and a Canadian-made robot arm and mobile transporter.

The S1 model is almost a foot long, and is designed to help astronauts plot and plan their extra-vehicular activities (EVA’s), or spacewalks when hooking up the S1 truss to another truss section which was installed on the ISS earlier this year. The model is scheduled to be used during an in-flight press conference as they explain mission details to the media. It may also be used by the crew as a briefing aid prior to the spacewalk to install the actual truss to the ISS.

The S1 model is equipped with EVA aides such as handholds, Work Interface Connections (WIF’s), antennae and connection gear, just like the actual unit. This enables astronauts to know where vital hardware is located and what to look out for when installing the actual truss section in space. During training, astronaut crews slated to perform work on the ISS would first familiarize themselves with the various locations of these aides on the models and plot their spacewalks, then train underwater at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, Texas, using full size mock-ups of the station components. Proach Models is on contract to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas to provide complete scale model sections of the entire ISS as training aides to the astronaut crews who will assemble the ISS.

Company owner Nick Proach says building the models of the ISS is quite a challenge. “They have to be very detailed, accurate, yet durable enough to fly in space and be handled numerous times.” Proach says, “We’re pleased to be working with NASA on this very worthwhile project. They’re a good organization to work with.”

Jeff Ashby, STS-112 mission commander says, “I’ll make sure we return the model with a few million miles on it.”

Space shuttle Atlantis Model in WFTV

Photo of WFTV’s Space Reporter Phil Robertson reporting with the space shuttle Atlantis, (by Proach Models) from the Kennedy Space Center.

From the Earth to the Moon – an HBO special

Proach Models was commissioned by HBO to produce a number of prop models for the Tom Hanks 12 part drama-documentary
“From the Earth to the Moon.”

The series, narrated by Hanks, was viewed on the HBO network and it’s Canadian Affiliate, The Movie Network, and documented the US Space Programs, specifically the Apollo Program.

Proach Models was commissioned by HBO’s New York headquarters to produce a 4 foot tall Apollo Astronaut figure and a 1/12 scale Lunar Module for it’s promo window display in Manhattan.

As there are no kits at all available for the LM in this scale, this model was fabricated almost entirely out of plywood and wood doorskin.

By the time we were finished with it, you would never know it, even by taking a close-up look!

The legs were framed out of various diameters of wood dowel, shaped and put together with wire so they would hold the weight of the LM itself.

This information used were various Apollo manuals from NASA, press kits, sketches and photos of LMs in orbit and on the moon. It stood just over 20 inches tall when completed. The astronaut was built from a plywood sheet beefed up with shaped foam, then covered with paper mache, then finally with fiberglass cloth for the outer garment.

The backpack was built from thin plywood sheeting. Hoses were composed of wrapped foam tubing with all the ends and hose connections made from plastic tube and plumbing fittings. The finished visor was blown from clear plastic and painted gold on the inside.

The 1/20 Scale Command Module used in the crew photo of episode 2, “Apollo 1,” was built by Proach Models.