Stuff We Want: Metal Earth Voyager Spacecraft Model Kit, the Probe That Always Picks Up

Google Trends has voyager 1 rising, with voyager 1 signal outage nasa riding along. NASA says the Deep Space Network couldn't hear the probe during two scheduled check-ins on October 18 and 19. The signal came back on its own on October 20, and the team has kept contact since.

What they've found so far: one group of thrusters went offline and the backups switched on automatically, which is the spacecraft's fault protection doing its job. Engineers are still digging into the cause. Voyager 1 is about 16 billion miles from Earth, so "please call back" takes a while.

Respect to a nearly 50-year-old machine that went quiet for two days and then just answered like nothing happened. We all have that friend.

Here's a Voyager that's never out of range. The Metal Earth Voyager Spacecraft 3D Metal Model Kit comes flat in an envelope: 1.5 steel sheets and illustrated instructions. You clip the parts off the sheets, then bend the tabs through the holes to build it in 3D. No glue, no solder.

Metal Earth rates it moderate difficulty and recommends tweezers for the tab work. It's listed for ages 14 and up. Translation: this is a quiet-evening project, not a toy for the toddler.

Built, it's about 6.7 inches long and under 2 inches wide, so it lives on a desk, a shelf or next to the monitor where you keep refreshing the mission blog.

It's also a sneaky-good stocking stuffer for the space nerd who already owns the poster.

Who it's for

• Space fans following the Voyager news.
• Desk-toy builders who like detail work.
• Gift shoppers for ages 14 and up.

Who should skip it

• You don't own tweezers or patience.
• You want a big display model. It's under 7 inches.

Pros and cons

Pros

• 1.5 steel sheets, illustrated instructions.
• No glue or solder.
• Desk size, about 6.7 inches long.

Cons

• Small tabs can be fiddly.
• Tweezers are recommended but not listed as included.

Pros and cons are our read of the features on the listing, not a hands-on test.

How it compares

Vs. the Metal Earth Falcon 9: the rocket half of your shelf.

Vs. the Metal Earth Artemis Moon Rocket: NASA's SLS stack for the same steel-sheet hobby.

Next build: the Metal Earth Mars Rover Perseverance kit.

More gifts: our Christmas gift picks, plus Black Friday on Nov 27 and Cyber Monday on Nov 30.

FAQ

The verdict

The verdict: hand-picked for the Voyager spike. The real one takes hours to answer. Yours just needs an evening.

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#ad. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Hand-picked by The Deez List.