In 2025, Colorado Plastics had the privilege of rebuilding and modernizing the acrylic display case for a historic Comet Halley model brought to us by camera designer and Halley Multicolour Camera (HMC) co‑investigator Alan Delamere. The model—first created in 1986 by HMC co‑investigators Fred Whipple, astronomer Harold Reitsema, and Delamere, together with Steve Stone—was based on data from ESA’s Giotto mission and its multinational HMC instrument, led by principal investigator Dr. Uwe Keller of the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomie in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, and built with key contributions from Italy, France, and the United States. The base of the model and its articulated internal components were on display at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC from about 1987 to 1992, highlighting both the scientific importance of Halley’s 1986 return and the “dirty snowball” picture that emerged from the mission. Preserved with an eye toward Halley’s next appearance in 2061, the model reflects the strength of the Giotto/HMC data as well as Fred Whipple’s informed interpretation of more uncertain images from the Soviet Vega mission. By recreating the enclosure in crystal‑clear acrylic while maintaining the original structure, Colorado Plastics has helped ensure that this unique artifact continues to showcase the legacy of space exploration and the precision fabrication capabilities available to today’s scientific and engineering communities.
