GoldForest

SISS 19: S2 and S3 - February 22nd, 1991 Flown by Ares V + Aardvark-2 Ares V makes her operational debut after a one month delay due to engine issues. SISS 19 was originally slated for January, but due to an issue with two of the new RS-68 engines on Ares V's core stage the launch was delayed. It took a while for Rocketdyne to track down the problem and to make sure the other engines didn't have the fault as well. Once the problem was dealt with, Ares V was rescheduled. Ares V is NASA's newest Mun rocket, at least, it's one of the runner ups. NASA has been thinking about cancelling the Ares Program and going with another program. The DIRECTv3 program is very promising, the Jupiter 130 already having proven itself with 4 launches, 2 of them delivering SISS modules. DIRECTv3 has two heavier launch vehicles in proposal. A tame 246 and a monstrous 3552 configuration. NASA was interested in both, though the latter with some heavy criticism. The 3552 would use a new central stack with STS stacks bolted on to the side of it. For now though, NASA was focused on one vehicle, Ares V. Ares V roared to life, the 6 RS-68 engines and 2 5.5 SRBs lifting the monster of a launch vehicle off the pad and into the air. Ares V was a little slow, but not too slow. It didn't "Jump" off the pad like the Shuttle or Titan, but NASA didn't need it to jump. They just needed it to reach orbit. Everyone watched as the giant orange rocket got smaller and soon disappeared into the great blue yonder. Aardvark 2 also makes her debut with this launch, finally retiring the Apollo style SM. Instead, Aardvark 2 now uses an Orion derived SM. Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Heh, I figured it out. It was my own fault. It was a outdated config file conflicting with a newer one. But the Ares V launch will have to be delayed. I spent all my available time tracking down this issue.

Ugh... The next mission is going to be delayed... KSP is throwing a fit. I updated a handful of mods and I don't know which one is causing a fatal error with B9... Edit: Can anyone help me out? B9 is throwing a fatal error on itself, and I don't know why. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9uaq7hwcpii9672/KSP.log?dl=0 Edit 2: I think I figured it out. RMM was the cause, I think. I forgot to get rid of the extra config files that were no longer supported. The loading has made it past the point the fatal error triggers at least, which was loading RMM parts.

It is Ares V, but its payload is rather tame. Just the S2 and S3 truss together. I thought about launching the entire remaining starboard truss, but thought it outside the realm of plausible.

SISS 18: P6 Truss - December 7th, 1990 Flown by: Shuttle-C Shuttle-C delivers Aardvark with P6 Truss into orbit where Aardvark continues to SISS and docks P6. Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet Teaser image. Care to guess what it is?

Shuttle II was an IRL concept shuttle, so it's not really about money, more safety and upgrades and stuff. Also, Shuttle II is part of Cormorant. It's stock-a-like, so doesn't match with SOCK, but it's still a good mod:

SISS 17: Node 1 (3) Tranquility - October 23, 1990 Flown by Shuttle II "Solaris" Shuttle II is finally ready for her big debut. The first Shuttle II, Solaris, is ready for her third launch, this one being a non-test launch. Shuttle II brings safety to the space shuttle with a detachable cockpit section. The cockpit section itself is also a smaller glider, allowing the crew to escape a dangerous situation then come back home safely. In an ideal situation, the cockpit would glide back to the launch complex, using the shuttle runway for landing, but if need be, the cockpit can land anywhere, land or sea. It also features a parachute landing system (Forgot to add it, but it will be there next launch ). Shuttle II also uses, subjectively, safer LRBs instead of SRBs. Each booster features 4 SSBEs. With LRBs, this allows Shuttle II to cut its engines in the event of an emergency and allow for instance "punch out" capability. There are two Shuttle II designs. Shuttle Stack and Over the Wing tanks. The one featured today is the former design. Shuttle II roars to life with its 11 engines, and push Shuttle II with her payload up to orbit. Unfortunately, Shuttle II will not be docking to SISS. SISS' docking ports are all taken up, and the "Shuttle Docking" extension modules have yet to be delivered to SISS. The Shuttle Docking modules are a set of modules designed to allow up to 3 Shuttles to be docked to the international segment of SISS. After docking of Tranquility to SISS thanks to Aardvark, Shuttle II does some orbits around SISS before heading home. Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet Bonus images: I actually got to use the abort system. I accidentally placed a booster nose cone the wrong way, so it went inward instead of outward. I also failed the landing and featured that picture. Note: The abort situation and the failed landing are NON CANON! I'm just featuring them for fun.

What about the superior Shuttle-Z?

Tranquility actually.

Mostly to keep the athestics of the parts matching. Tantares has a style that doesn't really blend well with Habtech's new Hybrid docking port. I've been thinking about using the ports, but they look kind of out of place. IDK, I'll continue to think on it. And I'm using the big tantares ports, not the small ones, so they are 0.9375, same as Habtech's ports.

SISS 16: Universal Docking Module (UDM) - September 5th, 1990 Flown by Buran-Energia Buran delivers UDM to SISS. Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet Teaser:

I'm guessing you use Gravity Turn instead?

Ah, just using the regular engine plate? What are you settings in MJ?

Where did you get the engine cluster part from? Also, I found that the shuttle has very poor pitch control with LRBs causing it to pitch downward faster than it should. If you had this problem, I found a solution, put all the elevons to max authority.

SISS 15: Quest Airlock + PMA-3 + Expedition 3U - July 31st, 1990 Flown by Jupiter 130 in crew and payload configuration, and Orion. Jupiter 130 once again proves itself a work horse. Jupiter 130 not only delivers Orion into orbit, but Quest Airlock and PMA-3 as well. Orion finishes the delivery of the two new modules to the international segment of SISS, acting like a tug for Quest before docking PMA-3 to the nadir fore port of Supermodule. (Btw, no longer going to do crew rotations, at least not continuously. I might do one every now and then, but don't expect any more expeditions.) Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet (And I had to redo this launch 2 to 3 times, so you might see some discrepancies in the pictures. Like a change in the docking ports or color.)