Von Braun Round-The-Moon Ship (1953) 1/144 Scale Model Kit

Von Braun Round-The-Moon Ship (1953) 1/144 Scale Model Kit:

In 1953, Collier's magazine published a series of series of articles suggesting how America would venture into space and ultimately to the moon and Mars in the coming decades. Lavishly illustrated by artist Chesley Bonestell, the concepts proposed were principally those of rocket pioneer Dr. Werner Von Braun, the aerospace genius behind Nazi Germany's V-2 rocket program.

Prior to an eventual manned moon landing, Von Braun foresaw a series of lunar survey missions to identify possible landing sites. The three-man "Round-the-Moon" ship would launch from a large wheel-shaped space station and then whip around the moon using the moon's own gravity to fling it back towards Earth. (This same "free return" trajectory was how the ill-fated Apollo 13 crew managed to return to Earth after their service module suffered a critical malfunction.)

If the Round-the-Moon Ship's non-aerodynamic, open architecture looks familiar, it's because the design was liberally re-interpreted (without credit or permission) by Lindberg Line Models for their U.S. Moon Ship kit, released in 1958.

Scale: 1:144
Number of Pieces: 62
Pattern: John Fleming
Casting: Central Replication and Production​