Pathfinder

Prior to the Orbiter Enterprise, in 1977 an "orbiter weight simulator" was constructed as a stand-in for Enterprise. It was named Pathfinder. The Pathfinder mock-up did not resemble the shape of the Shuttle and was more or less dimensionally correct. (see left photo below)

Now you can build the Pathfinder papermodel in 1:144 scale shown here and it's a great addition to any Shuttle model collection. This papermodel was designed by Joseph Parenti, who kindly allowed me to present it here. This model is not for commercial purposes and it's free to download.

	Pathfinder OV-098 Files   Pathfinder Orbiter (506 kb)   Instruct. Manual (1.18 mb)

Years later, a group of Japanese businessmen decided to take it to Japan for a display in Tokyo. For this purpose, the Pathfinder was modified to resemble the Space Shuttle. After the display in Tokyo, it returned to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama for a permanent display. It is mounted on a special platform and mated to the External Tank (MPTA-ET) and to inert Solid Rocket Boosters. This tank was used during the main propulsion tests at the beginning of the Shuttle program.

The Pathfinder papermodel is available for free to download and resembles the real Pathfinder displayed in Huntsville, Alabama.

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