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Andras

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Posts posted by Andras

  1. I gave the PAM a spin today (literally). In order to stabilize the PAM and payload, I had to spin the vehicle at full rotation, other wise the PAM just flipped the payload end over end.

    The second and primary issue is when I fired the PAM from a non-thrusting vehicle, the PAM fell behind even though the PAM rocket was going. It went forward due to the decouplers impulse, but then the PAM fell behind the vehicle.

  2. Just tried to launch the mega Saturn with an extra 2nd stage tank on top of the first stage tanks to represent the extra long fuel tank on the 4X(u)'s Saturn MS-IC-25(S) first stage .

    It /just/ got off the pad. I was leaning hard on the controls to keep it straight, but it flew. At first I thought the extra weight would actually be worse then w/o the extra fuel but it turned out to be slightly better.

    I'll have some screen shots up soon.

    First run MECO about 40km. The second run, with a little more throttle down at times, went higher but slower.

    I did the math, gross t/o weight is 772.7, with a twr of 24.8n/k, or 2.53g

  3. Can someone please make a tutorial on how to use the fairings?

    method 1

    Attach a pair of the Explosive Bolts to a base on sym=2

    Attach the side walls to the bolts

    Attach the nose cone halves to the side walls

    use a strut on the nose halves to hold them together

    method 2

    use a decoupler at the top of your payload

    attach the solid nose cone

    attach the walls to the side attach points on the nose cone

    CaptainSlug, you said that if the PLF halves 'wiggle' during flight to stiffen them with a strut. Well, my latest design peels open like a banana during flight, lol.

    I can't get the struts to attach to the PLF halves. How do you go about attaching them? They just float through the panels and won't attach to anything. ???

    use the strut on the nose cone halves

    look at the Titan IIIE I posted on the 1st page, you can see the strut on the nose halves.

  4. Used Sunday's 3m decoupler as the payload base. The explosive bolts are a little powerful, the push the bottom out so fast the top pivots down and wipes out the payload. I turned the ejection force down to 2 and it's better.

    I tried to do this with the double length solids and LFT like the Titan IV, but it kept breaking the stack in the middle.

  5. Success!

    After several stage 1-stage 2 transition failures, orbit was achieved.

    After 3/4 orbit however, Jebs patience ran out and he burned off towards the sun, perhaps hoping for a slingshot maneuver.

    Notes- I used my modified cfgs, and I upped the 1.75m radial clamp breaking force.

    Had to replace the single j-2 on the boosters since a thrust of 300 wouldn't cut it.

  6. Well, actually I've launched it with 12 ullage motors and 4 strakes just fine. Still has a 3.6:1 twr.

    How heavy is your upper stage? Mine runs 3.75

    I'm going to try knocking the F1 thrust down a little though

    4800thr/240brn; 2.75 twr; 75 seconds duration

    ETA-

    Whoa, that actually worked better. 1st stage burnout was at 31km. The lower thrust requires more throttle so it crowds the redline at first. back it off as soon as it's about to overheat and keep throttling down as the acceleration climbs.

    2nd stage pushed me into a 60km orbit with a few seconds of fuel to spare. 2nd stage is still a bear to alter heading so I usually blow it off and fine tune with 3rd.

  7. Interesting, it wobble like all heck when it hits the launch pad for me, but it\'ll take off at 1/2 throttle.

    I\'ll get the cfgs up shortly

    ETA- looks like the stage 1 engine was set with BF= 200000 instead of 100000 like I thought, that might be why it was breaking. (ETA2- nope, I set it to 100000 and it lifted off fine, are you sure it isn\'t set to 10,000 instead?)

    According to my spreadsheet, the unit at liftoff weighs 163.75, and with a F1 cluster thrust of 6,000 has a twr of 3.66, granting 1.83g at 1/2 throttle.

    ETA- cfgs removed

  8. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/24/nasa-russian-report-problems-with-space-freighter/

    Russia's mission control has reported an abnormal situation with a space freighter that launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome bound for the International Space Station, NASA said Wednesday.

    The rocket is carrying 2.9 ton of food, fuel and supplies, NASA said, but has no passengers on board.

    The Progress 44 cargo craft, which launched at 7 p.m. Kazakhstan time, is due to dock with the ISS on Friday.

    Mission Control Houston said it had received a report of an 'off-nominal situation' during the rocket's third and final stage, at five minutes and 50 seconds after launch.

    NASA spokesman Rob Navias, at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, told CNN that contact with the space craft had been lost about three minutes before it was to reach orbit.

    Note the typo in the photo caption.

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