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NASA Contour Paper Model

Free spacecraft kits you can download and print on your printer.
This is the Contour Spacecraft Model
Inst. Contour pdf file

Parts Contour pdf file
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This Contour model is owned by the public, is presented by Fiddler's Green and is available here as an exclusive offer on a rotating basis with the blessings of Uncle Sam.

The Comet Nucleus Tour, or CONTOUR, Mission was to take a spacecraft closer to the heart of a comet, its nucleus, than ever before. The CONTOUR spacecraft was to fly by at least two comets during its travels, dramatically improving knowledge of key characteristics of comet nuclei and assessing their diversity.


CONTOUR stands for the Comet Nucleus Tour which was launched in 2002. It was supposed to do a flyby of the two comets, Encke and Schwassmann-Wachmann-3, and then possibly cruise past another comet called d'Arrest.

There was a solid rocket moter onboard that was intended to bump it up into solar orbit, but NASA lost communication with the spacecraft just after it was ignited.

After that it gets real spooky. Telescopes on the ground recorded three unknown objects flying right along the same course as the Contour satellite, and speculations have been made about what happened to the craft.


A little over 4 months later, NASA stopped even trying to contact the spacecraft. No one really knows what happened to it.

Paper model kit building is a hobby that is really catching on. All over the world, as printers become more available, paper modelers are growing in number and enthusiasm. Unfortunately, many of the sites they use for downloading the patterns and kits are going offline as the bigger companies push them off the playing field. Of course, this doesn't stop them from enjoying their hobby. Once you have the file on your computer you can print out as many kits as you like and share them with your friends, or you can modify the file and make your own customized kits.

Modeling enthusiasts are some of the paper craft industy's biggest customers. Maybe it's the dream of flying that stays with us even after we grow up. Maybe it's the ability to make something with your own two hands that you can show to your friends. Maybe it's the fact that paper modeling doesn't cost much to do, or maybe it's just that building models is a lot of fun! It's probably all of these things, but for me it simply because papermodelers always seem to be great friends. Think about it... if someone is building a model at home they are less likely to be out causing trouble. Wouldn't you like to know a paper modeler?

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