Dragon Models 1/400 Space Shuttle "Challenger" with SRB STS-41B
The reusable Space Shuttles designed for NASA and built by Rockwell International were revolutionary in nature and left a lasting legacy in space exploration. The second Space Shuttle to enter service was Challenger (designated OV-099), and it undertook its maiden flight on 4 April 1983. Challenger was the workhorse of the Shuttle fleet, and indeed in 1983-84 it performed 85% of all missions. Its impressive résumé included three Skylab missions, the first Shuttle night launch and landing, and putting the first female American and African-American into space. It successfully completed nine missions before its tenth mission ended in sudden disaster on 28 January 1986. Dragon’s second 1/400 scale model of a Space Shuttle depicts Challenger prior to one of its many significant missions. Named STS-41-B, this flight launched from Kennedy Space Center on 3 February 1984, and it was Challenger’s fourth flight. On the fourth day of the mission, mission specialists Bruce McCandless II and Robert Stewart performed the first untethered spacewalk, operating the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) during the process. McCandless ventured 98m from Challenger. The model includes the Challenger Orbiter, External Tank (ET) and two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB). The STS-41-B model can be vertically mounted on a convenient display stand so that launch configuration can be replicated. This is a finely crafted model from Dragon of a very famous spacecraft.