How to Make a Shuttle Model

Shuttle

• 1

  Download and print the shuttle glider template located under Resources. If you have a shuttle model template you would prefer to use, feel free to download and print that instead. To conserve paper, you could print only the pages you need to cut out: the last two on this template.

• 2

  Cut out the pieces of the glider model.

• 3

  Fold the model. Fold the tail section in half, and fold the bottom tabs outward. Fold the fuselage (body of the shuttle) piece in half, and fold all of the tabs inward.

• 4

  Glue the tail section together, so that all but the two tabs on the bottom are glued together. Glue the four nose weight pieces together. Stick the deck and wing assembly to the underside section. Finally, glue the two tabs on the nose of the fuselage to the inside of the nose on the other side, so they form the curved nose typical of space shuttles. Leave the pieces to dry for a few minutes.

• 5

  Glue the tabs along the bottom of the shuttle body, and press them down onto the deck, where outlined on the piece. Push the handle of a long paintbrush into the nose section, from the rear of the spacecraft, to flatten the tabs down and glue them into place.

• 6

  Glue the nose weight to the underside of the space shuttle. Glue the tail section to the rear of the shuttle's body. Leave the model to dry overnight.

• 7

  Gently toss the shuttle glider to send it gliding down to ground.

Booster Rockets

• 8

  Measure the circumference (the outside width) of the paper towel and oatmeal tubes.

• 9

  Draw a circle on gray construction paper with a diameter (width across) the same as the circumference of the paper towel rolls. Draw a second circle with a diameter corresponding to the circumference of the oatmeal tube, on orange paper.

• 10

  Cut out these two circles, then cut them in half. Form these half-circles into three cones, two gray and one orange.

• 11

  Cover the three tubes in gray and orange construction paper. Cover the oatmeal tube in orange, and the towel rolls in gray. For a more finished look, you can use gray and orange paint instead.

• 12

  Glue the cones to the corresponding tubes to form the tops of the booster rockets and fuel tank.

• 13

  Cut the Dixie cups in half. Cover or paint the bottom sections of these cups in black paper or paint.

• 14

  Glue the cups to the bottoms of the paper towel rolls to form the rocket nozzles for the booster rockets.

• 15

  Glue the two booster rockets to the sides of the fuel tank, the orange tube. Place the boosters so the rocket nozzles are about 1-1/2 inches above the base of the fuel tank. In flight, the booster rockets help the shuttle escape the Earth's gravity, and the fuel tank provides much-needed fuel to both. Before leaving the atmosphere, all three fall away from the shuttle, and parachute back to Earth.

• 16

  Tape the glider model to the middle of the fuel tank, between the two booster rockets.