Orbital Transport Rocket (1958)

Scale: 1/200
Initial Release: 1958
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity (Original Release): 5
Lindberg Re-Releases: 3

About the Design

Heavily influenced by the designs of Dr. Wernher von Braun, this classic 50's-era multi-stage rocket featured a winged main stage with cluster-style engines and a delta-winged, reusable reentry vehicle. However, the manned module's lack of a tail leads one to seriously question its viability as a practical airframe.

About the Kit

Following its late 1950's debut, Lindberg re-released its Transport Rocket in the late 1960's as the "Mars Probe Space Transport," and then again in the 1970's as the "Star Probe U.S.S. Explorer." (It seems that, every decade, the rocket's range increased by a factor of 1,000.) Finally, the rocket was re-released by Lindberg, now owned by Round 2, in a two-pack along with the U.S. Space Station in 2014.

Rarest of all, Lindberg released the transport rocket  as part of a five-piece "Spaceships of the Future" collector's set in the late 1950s.

This particular model is a refurbished 1960's "Mars Probe" edition.