Aft bulkhead, epoxied parachute tube in descent stage, and ascent module
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Mars Lander legs being
        test fitted in the descent stage
Mars Lander body being primed
Mars Lander body being primed

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Mars Lander legs being test fitted in the descent stage
Legs fitted
        with springs instead of rubber bands
September 2011 Construction Report
Mars Lander Construction

The pottery that fell from the shelves during the earthquake was repaired or thrown away. The trees and debris from Hurricane Irene was finally cleared from the property. The floods had since receded. Now with some time, I grabbed the Mars Lander from the shelf once again before another distraction comes along. I had a lot of epoxying ahead of me. A hole was cut for the launch lug in the FAM, RAM, RAM1, and RAM2 bulkheads. Each was then test fitted over the parachute tube before being epoxied into the ascent module. The instructions called for a 6” coupler in step 27 however this must be a “left over” from the 1.5 kit as I only had a 7.5 coupler left. It was epoxied into the large end of the ascent module.

Step 29 called for a CM bulkhead which I had none. The box of parts was scoured but no CM was to be found. I came to the conclusion that this was a misprint as well and the instructions really referred to RCM for Rear Command Module. The RCM bulkhead was epoxied into the rear of the command module, the DM bulkhead epoxied into the rear of the descent module, the FEN bulkhead into the forward end of the engine shroud and finally the REN bulkhead into the rear of the engine shroud. The various shrouds were now complete.

The large 4-inch centering ring was test fitted over the engine tube. The blind nuts were installed and the launch lugs areas marked and cut. The instructions were followed but the location of the centering ring is really a “look and feel” location so I hoped that it was correct and epoxied the large centering ring in place. The remaining 7.5-inch bulkhead’s position was marked in the descent stage and epoxied as well.

Another test fit of the legs was performed. The supplied rubber bands used for the spring action legs kept breaking. I recognized that this was going to be a problem and substituted springs. I used McMaster-Carr’s item 96605K31 and reshaped the hook end to make a tighter fit. The springs seem to tension the legs just as well as the rubber bands.

The parachute tube was epoxied into the descent stage. The engine shroud was fitted with slight adjustments made that allowed 3-inch screws to pass through the shroud for bolting the aft bulkhead together. These same screws will also act as a motor retention system. The engine shroud and descent shroud were then epoxied to the aft bulkhead. The aft bulkhead was sanded, primed, and painted.

The descent shroud was epoxied onto the parachute tube followed by the command module. A hack saw was used to trim the remaining parachute tube flush with the command module. The launch lug was also trimmed. The remaining wrap-ons were cut and glued to the descent stage. The antennas and antenna guards were glued to the ascent shroud. The entire Mars Lander body was primed which revealed many imperfections.

The basic Mars Lander construction is almost completed. The imperfections will take a while to touch up. Construction steps 27 – 43 have been checked off the list with the exception of step 41 which was skipped until final flight simulations confirm the required nose weight. Four steps and an initial flight remain. It is now Oktoberfest time so once again the Mars Lander project goes back on the shelf. I am hopeful that I can pick back up and complete final construction in October.




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By Peter E. Abresch Jr.
Blastoff
Aft bulkhead, descent
        stage, descent module, ascent module, engine shroud, and command
        module (upside down)
Aft bulkhead, descent stage, descent module, ascent module, engine shroud, and command module (upside down)
Legs fitted with springs instead of rubber bands
Family room work area that must be cleaned up for Oktoberfest
Aft bulkhead,
        epoxied parachute tube in descent stage and ascent module
Family room work
        area that must be cleaned up for Oktoberfest