Portraits of NASA mathematicians Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Katherine Johnson in bas relief on the Friendship 7 capsule. The story of these African-American women’s pivotal role in the first orbit of the Earth by an American is told in the book and movie Hidden Figures.

The model is easily recognizable as a space capsule but only when it is lit from inside do these ‘hidden figures’ fully reveal themselves. This model symbolizes the invisible but vital contribution African-American women made to the early space program.

There are three version of this model.
v1 One piece model of Friendship 7 with portraits in bas relief on exterior.
v2 Two piece model of Friendship 7 with portraits in bas relief on exterior.
v3 Two piece model of Friendship 7 with portraits engraved from interior.

The appearance of the portraits with backlight (lithophane) depends on a variety of factors including scale factor, slicing settings, and filament opacity. Experimentation and test prints are required. These models are suitable for remixing for a variety of projects. Example photos are from model scaled at 60% for use as a nightlight.

Invaluable technical assistance was provided by @HoneyPoint3D https://www.honeypoint3d.com/ and @CentralScience http://www.thingiverse.com/contentbydesign/about

This model would not have been possible without the conversion of the NASA Friendship 7 3D model to STL by my good friend @Zheng3_Jim http://zheng3.com/