TimothyC

Go Kāne!

Cool. Just for the record, I had a typo in my post, and the more-or-less final SRB-X design used three segment SRBs, But I'll happily take whatever you see fit to share!

@benjee10, is there any chance of getting a short 2 segment SRB so we can use the parts to simulate SRB-X?

What you need to do is fly a trajectory that is dramatically flatter than most people do in KSP. You want to have Main Engine Cut Off (MECO) with your PE already above the ground. This will reduce the deltaV needed for the circularization burn. Remember, the OMS on the real shuttle only had a deltaV of about 300m/s - and that was also needed for reentry.

For the record, the F-104, piloted by Joe Walker (NASA Test Pilot, and 7th American Astronaut - by virtue of his X-15 flights above the Karmen line), was not the aircraft taking pictures. The photoshoot was of five different aircraft powered by GE engines. As a side note, both Joe Walker and the Pilot of the XB-70 (Alvin White), had been a part of the Man In Space Soonest program along with Armstrong and six others.

Have you considered any SpaceHAB style parts?

Living in Dayton means that it was a "Request day off of work, and go with my buddy" style of trip :P.

Yes, they are from the new Hanger. It opened to the public for the first time yesterday.

@CobaltWolf, @OTmikhail, @VenomousRequiem, & @Foxxonius Augustus: As I promised, here are the Titan IVB images:

I got some pictures of the Titan IV (the hanger opened today), and will get them uploaded soon.

I place a probe core at a 15 degree incline on the tail when I fly the orbiter. This lines up with the OMS engines, and I use "Control from here". This also place the control axis near the thruster axis, which improves control. For terminal docking, I control from the docking port, and make slow, methodical adjustments. MechJeb likes to eat the RCS on docking if you let it. The key here is to make sure that you are aligned while some distance away, and that your docking port is close to your CoM, which is determined by how much stuff you have in the cargo bay, and strapped to the back of the orbiter.

Very close. It's actually Centaur-T, which was Centaur G' (G-Prime) [The larger of the two Shuttle based Centaurs] configured for a Titan IV launch configuration vs a shuttle configuration.

Kāne is go! From the stream last night, Apollo = Kāne ; Aardvark = Kanaloa

Dude, I only ever asked for the Hydrolox/RL-10 one, and I linked to that PDF back in January.

That is the centaur derived high energy kick stage for NASA payloads post 1970. There were several options evaluated, but this one used a single RL-10 engine fed by a hydrogen tank made out of a standard centaur LOX tank. The tanks around the bottom of the structure are the LOX and GHe pressurant tanks for the stage. stacking it atop an Atlas-Centaur resulted in an increase of about half a ton of delivered payload on a lunar mission. Here is the NTRS link describing the stage, and the storable-fuel competitor that was also evaluated. Further development would have been switching to LF2 instead of LOX while retaining the RL-10, and replacing the RL-10 with a new design LH2-LF2 engine. The kick stage would also be able to be used atop an Atlas without a centaur for ligher payloads.

One part for the tank I presume?

Kāne, who is the Hawai'ian creator god associated with the sun and the sky. Also, any complimenatary vehicle could be the Kanaloa, who was the companion (similar to Odin-Tyr).

Thoughts: S-IV has a lot of deltaV with light payloads. I could have likely done that mission without a transtage (the forward tank on the S-IV was completely full when I had SECO2, and I had enough left outside of that tank to do a de-orbit burn from the 250km*250km orbit (not the aggressive one shown, but one that would have placed the stage in a decaying orbit). I used the Atlas Booster engines on that demo, and will soon be trying it with the S3Ds from a Juno. As well, given the low TWR on the S-IV, I found myself flying a highly lofted first stage trajectory to buy plenty of time for the second stage burn. S-IB + S-IV + S-V tests will be done soon. Also, @CobaltWolf the control fins on the S-IB stage can not be re-selected in the editor to remove them from a rocket, or from the ghosted/unattached status.

@CobaltWolf Thanks. @VenomousRequiem, because I don't have an imgur account, but I do have my own server

Saturn I - Gemini on the pad: We have lift-off: S-IV ignition: Fairing sep above the sensible atmosphere: Pushing to orbit: S-IV de-orbit burn: De-orbit burn is successful (taking advantage of the RL-10s restart capabilities): Transtage burn for the Mun: Getting close now: Sliding into darkness: And out again: Kerbinrise: Orbital adjustment burn: Downhill run: Entry Interface: The 'chute is good!

Does this mean that Tantares is no longer a dependency for Contares IVAs?

@Foxxonius Augustus & @CobaltWolf I got actually reading the summary I linked to earlier and on page 19 of the PDF, there is this line about the uncrewed Gemini supply vehicles "Solid Cargo is manually transfered through the pressurized nose section." Not sure if that is the direction you want to go in, but they do show a version with the nose RCS removed and a forward docking hatch.

There is also this PDF outlining things: https://www.aiaa.org/uploadedFiles/About-AIAA/History_and_Heritage/Final_Space_Shuttle_Launches/ShuttleVariationsFinalAIAA.pdf

@Foxxonius Augustus While I wasn't able to find volume 1 for you, I did find the 30 page executive summary of the "Gemini Spacecraft Study for MORL Ferry Missions" report: http://cizadlo.us/Misc/19750069218_0.pdf (Rehosted from a chinese-language site).

Yes. My recommendation is to not only have the ET fuel drain from back to front (via an external fuel line isolated with clipped panels, but do use KS-25 powered LRBs that are similarly fed. I also like to isolate the aft-most part of my ET and have it feed the LRBs before the LRBs use their own fuel. The other trick I find is that you want to fly very shallow trajectories so that your limited monoprop supplies can be used judiciously.