michal.don

Exactly. To be honest, I don't think lots of maneuverability is needed in a shuttle - quite the contrary. The only thing that is handy to have is pitch authority - and a lot of people use canards clipped into the cockpit for that (or lots of elevons on the rear end). Too much roll authority can prove to be... difficult... during reentry, in my experience.

You can go straight to STS-2a, the "b" missions are optional, bonus missions and are not required to complete before progressing further. Nice demonstration mission of your first shuttle - good job! The reentry was quite precise, with a bit of training you'll be landing at the KSC in no time So, here's the first badge for you: Congratulations! Michal.don

These two are not mutualy exclusive, in my humble opinion

Finally got to checking the videos - sorry for the delay (again). There is nothing fishy going on indeed, great series of missions, nice pinpoint landings, so no complaints on my part - here is your badge: Congrats! No, there is not any size limit, but I encourage people to go crazy - it's real fun trying to land stuff like this one: Screenshot reports are fine, too Nice mission, though I have to wonder - why did you aim for the "pilot" level only? Nothing wrong with that, I'm just used to people going for the "commander" level most of the time. About the fuel pod recovery - it seems that your script really manaes different masses quite well - better than I expected! Now I'm wondering how it will deal with high orbit reentries or inclined orbits So, two new badges for you: Congratulations! While your script is proving to be quite impressive and versatile, I don't think you are on the "Skunkworks" level yet That is really a rare award, as only two people have got the badge in the history of the challenge, and their missions were really something outstanding, even in this very creative community. But your script definitely caught my attention, so let's see everything it's capable of, and I might reconsider later Welcome to the challenge! I'm glad you like the premises of the challenge, and I hope you have fun designing and flying you shuttle! I'm looking forward to your first entry and awarding you your first badge, and hopefully many more later Michal.don

I don't expect anything fishy, I'd just like to have a look.... Thanks! I'll have a look at it when it's done then.

Alright, I've got a bit of time to finally look at all the stuff you guys did, let's get to it: And you are very right to be proud - this is some proper engineering! Very smooth entry, descent and landing, this is how it should be done. I'm curious though - how adaptible is the script for cases when you are bringing some payload down (STS-2b for example), doesn't the mass change mess it up too much? In any case, a very, very well deserved badge for you: Congratulations! That's a pretty neat shuttle design you have here - I really like it! Great to hear that the first (official) flight was a success, and I hope you'll stick around for more and show us what you shuttle is capable of! I have nothing to poke at, your mission is a great example of an STS-1a done the right way, so, here's your first badge: Congratulations! The station is looking great, but the videos are not working for me. Does anybody have the same problem with them, or is just my computer/browser messed up? Thanks for any information on that! Michal.don

I just want to let you know that I haven't forgotten about y'all, but the last week or two have just been crazy and I did not have time to check your missions. The busy time should be over soon though, so, please, just give me a little more time to catch up. Sorry for the delays on my part and thank you for your patience, Michal.don

Someone apparently took your Kraken trilogy as a manual instead of a novel...

Very nice station design, and a pretty advanced orbital assembly - great mission! The orbiter must be quite toasted though from the "separotrons".... A new badge for you: good luck with your school stuff and looking forward to hear from you here when you are finished And one of the "monstrosity kind" here, too Great looking station, especially the rings. I guess their inflatability comes in handy, even if you have this large cargo bay. Very good mission, so a badge for you as well: Congratulations! Michal.don

Wow, looking great! Which mod does that, and what is all added to KSC grounds?

So, my first entry: I used the following mods: And I think my score should be as follows: Launch vehicles +10 Ares I +5 Ares V +5 Stage recovery I and II +7 Orion +6 Crew safety and mobility +5 Larger than life +5+3.2 CommNet +10 =56 Objective +20 KOR +8 Accurate Altair +7 Fuel cells +2 Descent module +4 KDS +3 AOI +3 Mun rover +3 =50 It was fun flying, I should go asteroid hunting soon Michal.don

Last mission so far I know I don't produce the new missions as fast as some of you would like, but some new missions are definitely coming...

Yes, the mission is difficult. And it's supposed to be But despite the video issues, you tackled it succesfully - good job! So another badge for you, congratulations: Yes, real life has a tendency of interfering with KSP, that's the way it unfortunately is... Welcome back! Nice rescue mission! Your reentries are indeed getting very precise, I think that once you manage to hit the KSC from inclined obit, you pretty much don't need the jets anymore, because you can land the thing from wherever it might be, so very good job on your part! About the resource transfer in this mission - to be honest, I did not specify that in the rules, because I did not think anybody would need it - once you have docked the shuttles, you only need a bit of fuel for a short deorbit burn, but I'll mention it in the OP, thanks for your observation. Anyway, very well flown mission on your part, so another badge for you: And I'm already curious about the space station Michal.don

Wow. That sucks, big time... So you lost all the recordings and screenshot material from the whole mission?

Oh, now that you asked, I realised that there are no specific rules about CommNet So you might do just fine without local control after all