michal.don

Well, not going to spoil anything (just yet), but some of the guesses are... Interesting I like that idea, maybe for:

And, also, a new "Test pilot" mission is in progress, and something quite different from what we've done so far - a small teaser for you all - who can guess what the objective will be?

Thanks for the screens - nice to see the probe in more detail And about the "last" mission - how about the Skylab? Michal.don

Glad to see you amongst us Your shuttle looks great, and the recoverable ET is a nice extra touch. But I'm wandering how the shift in CoM with payload will influence the flight characteristics - I guess we'll see soon enough The landing was almost perfect, and since this is your first mission with the new shuttle, I'm willing to aknowledge it as a KSC landing, which results in a commander badge for you, congratulations! Now we're talking This time, I have nothing to object to, everything seems to be correct. Maybe, during STS-2a, the orbits are not as equidistant as they might have been, but since you had to fly the previous mission three times, I'm not going to make you correct that Congrats, two new badges for you: Sure, no problem with that Despite the probe being smaller, I like this design even more A pretty unconventional shape, and extreme packing skills to put it all in the cargo bay - I'm impressed again Could you please post screenshots of the probe and the lander in the VAB, just so I can check the mass? I did not notice it anywhere in the report. But from the looks, I don't think there's going to be a problem, so, finally, a very well deserved badge for you:  Michal.don

Sure, no stress, this challenge is not (hopefully) going away anytime soon Hopefully noone is going to be confused by the rules since I stressed the "1" part even more Looking forward to seeing your new attempt! Michal.don

That's why I say it's important to read the rules thoroughly Glad to hear you are not discouraged and another attempt is already underway Sure thing, you're on of the few that have every right to wear this badge proudly - I'm glad you like them, and the way this challenge is going! It's a good feeling to have the challenge approved by the great one that started this whole shuttle obsession we have going on around here Also, I think it's worth noting that we have surpassed 1,000 posts and 40,000 views, which places this challenge amongst the longest-standing and most visited challenges around the forums, in the elite company with KEA, Kommunity Space Station, The K-Prize or The Jool 5 - all thanks to you, my fellow shuttleholics! So, to another thousand, and hopefully even further! Michal.don

I hate to bring bad news, but there are two major issues with your mission... First - the orbiter must land (at least mostly) intact. And losing your wing is too much damage to be considered success. And second - your orbit is not within the tolerances - at this height, the Ap and Pe must differ by less than 100 m. So, I'm sorry, but I can't award you the badge (which I'm not happy about, I really like your shuttle). Looks like you got the hang of it, this is how you do it Nicely flown, orbit within tolerances, and KSC landing - that's two badges for you. Congratulations! While I love your approach to this mission - the in-orbit assembled transfer stage, and the overall payload design - I can't award you the badge for reasons stated by @4x4cheesecake above: you have too many fuel tanks on your probe. you can only use 1 on the probe and 1 on the lander. I'll edit the rules in the OP so it's more obvious, it might not stand out as much as I thought it did. So, I'm sorry, but no badge this time. Michal.don

Sorry for the slight delay, did not see your post until now. I'll allow the use of those two engine types - they are certainly more capable than stock ones, but it's not too excessive. But, please, don't push the envelope looking for even better engines This is probably as good as I'd allow. Michal.don

Silly me, it never occured to me to use a Kerbin-Eve-Eve aerobraking-enhanced gravity assist, a pretty good idea there! It sure helps with the heating problem. Nice two-stage probe design, too. And the pool cooling in the end is really nice touch, I love it So an Eve badge for you, congrats! A routine mission for a pilot as experienced as you, I'm sure Anyway, good flying, and a confirmation that your shuttle, in fact, flies  This one sure is a bit trickier, but a nice case of "moar boosters" seemed to help here.... The trajectory was a bit steep, but in your LV configuration, I think it's a must.... So, a third badge for you today:  Well, the Buran had the engines on the rocked tilted, too, and the boosters compensated for the early CoM in the early stages of flight.... A similar solution, just from the other side.... About the engines from NF - please, could you share their properies with me? I'd like to check if they are not too OP. Thanks! Michal.don

Oh, I did not even realize this was the first one, most folks dive straight in the STS-1a mission That being the case, serious congratulations to you, and I hope it's the first of many to come

Well, an enormously large shuttle requires an enormously large aircraft Looks like you managed to design the contraption well, and fly the approach without a problem. So, a badge for you: Well, I'll admit, I do not always have the time to watch the full videos. But if you are asking about a method to make the videoreports as short and clear as possible, I'd say it should consist of multiple short clips, each of them capturing an important part of the mission (launch, booster sep, circularization, rendezvous, shot of each payload, dockings, reentry, approach, landing...). But generally, videos are always more pleasant to review that pure screenshot reports Another newcomer, welcome And another to fly a real-alike shuttle, I always like that one Congratulations on reaching your first orbit, thus completing your first mission! That's an important milestone. There are a few things I'd like to point out though: -as you stated, the screenshots are not in order. The first mission is easy to review, so it's not that much of a problem, but, please, try to get it right for the next missions. It can get really confusing. -For the next missions, please, do not turn the HUD off in every screenshot. It makes judging the entries impossible. None of the screenshots shows your altitude and speed, and not one screenshots of map view is present, so I can't really see if you are in orbit. -In this case, I can overlook the missing nose cone, but try to land intact the next time -and the ominous "H"... I don't like to see Hyperedit in the missions, at all. And, speaking of that, are you using any mods? Again, impossible for me to see because of the missing HUD. But, this being your first mission, I'm willing to overlook these minor issues, and award the badge. Please let me know about the mods you are using, so I can place you in the corret category Michal.don

Yup, I'm an idiot Everything is correct, so, here's the badge: It seems I should design a new "test pilot" mission, pronto Michal.don

What a station The docking port extension is quite wobbly, but the boost maneuver worked, so, why not. Beautifully complex mission, and an over-engineered design, what's not to like here Only one question - I can't find the part of the video where you dock the old hab part into the shuttle and take it back to Kerbin, could you please point that out for me? Thanks! Welcome to the challenge! Nice to see an old concept brought to life! And in your version, it looks like a pretty capable machine, the launch stack took it almost all the way to orbit! You also seem to manage precision landing pretty well, too, which is almost the hardest part of most of the shuttle missions here. I'm looking forward to seeing more! Here's the first badge, congratulations: And another one completes the Laythe mission (one of us! one of us! one of us!)! With a twist of going a bunch of other places Great mission, creative transfer method (two shuttles docked? You don't see that every day), lots and lots of flybys and gravity assists and a Tylo landing, that's a serious achievement. There's downside, I have pretty much nothing left to plan for the Jool system.... Seriously though - very good job, and a very well earned badge: Welcome to the challenge! I'm looking forward to seeing your take on Buran, we haven't had that one here for a while. Mods are no problem, just do not use any too overpowered engines. Anything else is fair game A solution to every problem - just add a few SRBs Good to see your shuttle has substantial payload capacity, and can fly pretty well even with cargo. But before awarding the badge, I'll have to ask for a few more screenshots. Could you please provide screens showing: - the final orbital parametres of the fuelpod orbit? (Ap and Pe to check the tolerances) - the resource tab of the pod (just to make sure you did not use any fuel from the pod) Thanks! Yes, the missions have to be completed in the correct order. This is an essential rule in this challenge. Don't worry, you'll get to stationbuilding soon Michal.don

Sorry for a slight delay in reviewing guys, I should be able to get to your entries tomorrow. I just had a quick look, and it looks there are a few very interesting missions... Thanks for your patience, Michal.don

Ah, I completely missed the small windows on the left, I'm so used to collecting science with action groups I dod not pay any attention to those..... In that case, you're the first one to get this new badge, congratulations to you! Michal.don