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The Charon Model 1, Mass Production is a lightweight shuttle useful for ferrying kerbals from planet to planet. It is highly recommended to rendezvous with a fueling station, and then ferry kerbals to their destination. Included in the Curse download page is the necessary mods and some cool pictures. Stock version coming soon (for the purists) https://kerbal.curseforge.com/projects/charon-1

SHUTTLE CHALLENGE v5 - THE 1.2.X - 1.9.X STS THREAD Incredible artwork by @Pine from the Screenshots Re-imagined thread This heritage challenge is a revised and updated version of the @Speeding Mullet's STS Challenge, @FCISuperGuy's STS challenge, which was in turn derived from @inigma's original STS challenge The series of challenges below represent a sliding scale of difficulty ranging from relatively simple to highly complex. UPDATES ****Slight clarifications of minor rules, general clean-up**** ****Rule change to allow for shuttles with no cargo competing for STS-1A**** ****Rule change to allow attitude control autopilots during reentry**** ****Rule change to limit overpowered modded engine use**** ****Amazing new badges created by @FCISuperGuy**** ****New mission - STS Minmus 1**** ****Rule change for STS-2a**** ****New mission tier - "Test pilot missions"**** READING/WATCHING MATERIALS Proposed rescue mission - recreated in STS-4 When we left Earth - Shuttle designing, Challenger disaster, first Hubble mission When we left Earth - Hubble repair, space station building, Columbia disaster https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/169590-sts-shuttle-discussion-thread/ - A topic in the science & spaceflight forum section by @GoSlash27. Lots of great information about the shuttle, and a heated, but very interesting discussion. RULES - PLEASE READ THESE BEFORE ATTEMPTING THE CHALLENGES Official definition of a shuttle for this challenge: A "reusable" winged Orbiter which carries Kerbals (and cargo for any mission beyond STS-1a) to orbit and back and is capable of a horizontal landing. It's advisable to have OMS engine(s) for trajectory changes as well as an RCS system for maneuvering. The Orbiter must be lifted into space by a Launch System that decouples or un-docks once expended, allowing the Orbiter to land entirely under it's own power. 1. You must declare any and all mods used so I can place you into the relevant category / award the relevant badge. 2. Modded engines used must be approximately in balance with the stock ones. For example - while large SRBs from "SpaceY" are ok, engines with insane both TWR and ISP are not. 3. All atmospheric flight should be handled manually, with the exception of self scripted autopilot programs and "attitude hold" instruments during reentry. Mechjeb etc is fine for on orbit procedures. 4. All atmosphere-altering mods (except FAR) are disallowed 5. You may not cheat in any way, whether it be by using plugins like HyperEdit or by using the Debug Menu for infinite fuel/RCS (you may, however, use the Debug Menu for part clipping). 6. You are required to use your own shuttle when completing any of the missions below. 7. All missions require either an album showing each stage of the flight, or a video showing all stages of the flight. 8. Once you have completed a mission, please post your proof in this thread for my review. 9. SSTO's are not eligable for entry to the challenge. 10. Missions must be completed in the logical order unless you are certified from either STS v1, v2, v3 or v4 challenges to the relevant level, except for the "Test pilot" missions. MISSIONS STS-1a: Getting the Basics Right This is the simplest mission - all you need to do is build a space shuttle, fly it, and land it. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 1 Build a shuttle complying to the above space shuttle definition and fly it to orbit, then de-orbit and land wherever you like! STS Commander - Rank 1 Build a shuttle complying to the above space shuttle definition and fly it to orbit, then de-orbit and land. Land either at the KSC runway, the island airfield just off of the KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-1b: Bonus Fuel Pod Mission (Do you even lift?) Mullet Dyne has contracted you to take their brand new 40t fuel pod up to the highest possible Kerbin orbit. Since it requires special on-orbit activation procedures, unmanned expendable launch vehicles are out of the question; it's up to you to take this behemoth to orbit and then return to land. Not only that, but they require a very precise orbit: You must adhere to the tolerances (Maximum difference between periapsis and apoapsis below). Do not use any of the pod's resources - it must be completely full when delivered to proper orbit! Can you do it? Tolerances: 70-1999km - 100m 2000-4999km - 500m 4000-5999km - 1km 6000-8000km - 10km 8000km+ - 50km Mullet Dyne Fuel Pod Available Here If you have successfully taken the Fuel Pod to orbit (70+km), you get the special Flight Director badge, the ultimate display of piloting and engineering prowess and skill. STS-2a: Can You Hear Me? This mission is slightly harder - your goal is to design and deploy two or more comsats to geostationary orbits from your Shuttle and to return to Kerbin. Additional goals are required for higher-ranking badges. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 2 Reach an orbit of 200+km and deploy two comsats to geostationary orbits. De-orbit and land anywhere you want. STS Commander - Rank 2 Reach an orbit of 350+km and deploy three or more comsats to equidistant geostationary orbits. De-orbit and land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-2b: Bonus Ore Pod Mission (Do You Even Land?) Mullet Dyne has contracted you to recover their 40t fuel pod from where you left it, after contaminates were discovered in the fuel. Can you land the thing!? Do not use any of the pod's resources - it must be completely full when landed! If you have successfully landed the 40t fuel pod (from where you left it), you get the special Flight Director - Rank 2 badge, the ultimate display of piloting and engineering prowess and skill. STS-3: Can You See Me? Your mission here involves some design and orbital construction - you are to launch a Space Telescope into orbit and deploy it. This will require assembly with the 2 MMUs (Manned Maneuvering Units, like this one) you will design, as the solar panels need to be attached on-orbit with Kerbals. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 3 Launch the space telescope to an orbit of your choice and deploy and assemble it; afterwards, deorbit and land. Land anywhere you want. STS Commander - Rank 3 Launch the space telescope to a 550+km circular orbit inclined at 25-30 degrees and assemble it. After deployment, land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-4/4R: Can You Rescue Me? This'll be the most daring mission so far - first, you must launch a single shuttle to orbit, then send another shuttle to rescue it. See this article for technical details of the IRL proposed STS-107 rescue. Resource transfer between the two shuttles is not allowed. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 4 Launch your first space shuttle into a 200+km orbit with a minimum of 4 crew, then send up your second shuttle to rendezvous with it and rescue its crew before coming in to land anywhere you wish. STS Commander - Rank 4 Launch your first space shuttle into an 350+km orbit with 6 crew at an inclination of 25-30 degrees, then send your second shuttle to rendezvous with it and rescue its crew. Land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-5-8: Can You Build Me? Your mission here is to build a 4 module space station with your space shuttle. Your space station must have: A service module with RCS, engines, and reaction wheels A habitation module 2 scientific modules Badges Avaliable STS Pilot - Rank 5 Assemble your space station above 150km. After each mission, you may land anywhere you want. STS Commander - Rank 5 Assemble your space station above 300km. After each mission, land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-9: Can You Land Me??? This mission is significantly more difficult than those before it. You must develop your own unique sub-assembly and fly a daring mission in order to capture a space potato and return it to Kerbin for study. This will test the balance and re-entry capability of your shuttle to the limits and is not for the feint of heart! Also It's not mandatory for a kerbal to ride the asteroid in on top of the shuttle, but serious respect if you manage it. Example mission here if you need inspiration. Badges Avaliable STS Pilot - Rank 6 Launch your shuttle and capture an asteroid, then de-orbit and land wherever you like! STS Commander - Rank 6 Launch your shuttle and capture an asteroid, then de-orbit and land. Land either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of the KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS 1-8 IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE MUN CHALLENGES MUN STS-1: Do I have Mun-quakes? Landing on an airless body was never going to be easy in a shuttle, but your task is to not only successfully land on the Mun, but to deploy a small research facility of your choice to study the Mun. Oh yes you need to get back too! Badges Avaliable Mun STS Pilot - Rank 1 Land your shuttle anywhere on the Mun and deploy a small un-manned research facility (which you will design) on the surface and then return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Mun STS Commander - Rank 1 Land your shuttle on the Mun and deploy a manned research facility (which you will design) on the surface and then return home, perform an aero-capture and land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. MUN STS-2-4: Can You Explore me? @qzgy and his rather large munar base This mission will really test your piloting skills, as well as the capability to design various payloads that you can transport in your shuttle. Landing on an airless body was never going to be easy in a shuttle. But since you managed to do that, how about precision landings? You have to perform three shuttle missions to construct a scientific outpost containing: A habitation module for at least 5 kerbals with an antenna and a docking port (STS Mun-2) A pressurized rover for at least 5 kerbals, that is capable to dock to the habitation module (STS Mun-3) An Emergency Escape Vehicle (EEV) for the whole crew (STS Mun-4) The shuttles don't have to stay on the Mun, you can fly them home after deploying their payload. Badges Avaliable Mun STS Pilot - Rank 2 Construct your base anywhere on the Mun. Dock the rover to the base, take your crew for a short ride and dock the rover back. After exploring the area, use the EEV to transport the crew to a stable Munar orbit, and rescue them however you like. Land all three shuttles anywhere on Kerbin. Mun STS Commander - Rank 2 Construct your base at greater latitude than 60° north or south. Dock the rover to the base, take your crew for a short ride and dock the rover back. After exploring the area, use the EEV to transport the crew back to Kerbin - the EEV must be capable of reentry and safe landing. Land all three shuttles either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. MUN STS-5-7: Can you LOP-G? Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway This mission uses the shuttle program to expand the infrastructure around the Mun - you will build a spacestation in a munar orbit to support Mun exploration and serve as an outpost for long duration stay in space. The station consists of 3 modules: The PPE (Power & Propulsion Element) that generates electrical power and has ion engines for orbital maneuvering A science module/docking adapter A habitation module Badges Avaliable Mun STS Pilot - Rank 3 Assemble your LOP-G for at least 6 kerbals in any munar orbit with periapsis above 600 km. Land all three shuttles anywhere on Kerbin. Mun STS Commander - Rank 3 Assemble your LOP-G for at least 12 kerbals in a polar munar orbit (inclination of at least 85°) with periapsis and apoapsis between 600 and 700 km. After the departure of the last shuttle, demonstrate the orbital maneuvering capacity of the station by raising the orbit periapsis and apoapsis above 2000 km. Land all three shuttles either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS 1-8 IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE DUNA CHALLENGES DUNA STS-1: Can You Visit Me? This mission is significantly more challenging than those before it and may require extensive shuttle modifications, or even a new shuttle design for some. You must develop your own unique sub-assembly and fly an epic interplanetary mission to Duna in order to deploy a small orbital outpost. This will test the range, aero-capture, and re-entry capability of your shuttle to the limits and is not for the feint of heart! The orbital outpost must have: Room for 4 or more kerbals, Electricity generation and storage Antenna for communication Probe core with SAS NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission. Badges Avaliable Duna STS Pilot - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Duna, capture how ever you like, deploy an orbital outpost at your chosen altitude, and return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Duna STS Commander - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Duna, aero-brake/capture at Duna, deploy an orbital outpost below 70km, and return home, aero-brake/capture at Kerbin, land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. DUNA STS-2: Can You Land on me? This mission requires not only a Shuttle capable of getting to Duna, but also one capable of landing on the red planet and successfully returning to Kerbin. You may require extensive shuttle modifications, or even a new shuttle design for this mission. NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission, and feel free to use the mission to add another module to your outpost (this is not a requirement for the challenge) Badges Avaliable Duna STS Pilot - Rank 2 Launch your shuttle to Duna, capture how ever you like and visit your orbital outpost from Duna STS-1 before or after your Duna landing. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Duna STS Commander - Rank 2 Launch your shuttle to Duna. Aero-brake/capture at Duna and visit your orbital outpost from Duna STS-1 in Low Duna Orbit before or after your Duna landing. Return home, aero-brake/capture at Kerbin, land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. DUNA STS-3: Can You Von Braun me? This mission continues to build your own infrastructure around Duna, but has a small twist requiring skilled interplanetary navigation. Your task is to bring a fully reusable lander to your Duna outpost from Duna STS-1 and return to Kerbin performing a flyby of Eve. This was an idea of Wernher Von Braun for his "Marsproject" missions, which would shorten the duration of the mission. Duna STS Pilot - Rank 3 Launch your shuttle to Duna, capture how ever you like, rendezvous with your orbital outpost from Duna STS-1 and deploy the lander for at least two kerbals. Then run a mission where you land on the surface of Duna, plant a flag and return to the outpost without decoupling anything from your lander. Leave the lander docked to the outpost. Transfer from Duna to Eve, perform a flyby and set yourself on a course to Kerbin. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Duna STS Commander - Rank 3 Launch your shuttle to Duna. Aero-brake/capture at Duna, rendezvous with your orbital outpost from Duna STS-1 and deploy the lander for at least four kerbals. Then run a mission where you land on the surface of Duna, plant a flag and return to the outpost without decoupling anything from your lander. Leave the lander docked to the outpost. Transfer from Duna to Eve. When in Eve's SOI, deploy two communication satelites - one in a circular polar orbit with a periapsis of at least 2 000 km, one in an equatorial circular orbit with an apoapsis of less than 150 km. Perform a flyby and set yourself on a course to Kerbin. Return home, aero-brake/capture at Kerbin, land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS 1-8 IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE JOOL CHALLENGES JOOL STS-1: Can You Breathe here? This mission is hideously challenging and will no doubt require extensive shuttle modifications, or even a totally new shuttle design. You must develop your own unique sub-assemblies and fly an epic interplanetary mission to Laythe in order to deploy a small ground outpost capable of refining Ore (for Pilot level) with the addition of an atmospheric exploration aircraft (for Commander level). This mission is designed to test your shuttle in the extreme, and also your payload construction and deployment methods. The ground outpost must have: Ore refinery and fuel storage with docking port Room for 4 or more kerbals The Atmospheric Exploration Aircraft must have: Room for 1 or more kerbals Docking port NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission. Badges Avaliable Jool STS Pilot - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Laythe, and land on Laythe before deploying an outpost capable of refining Ore. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Jool STS Commander - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Laythe, and land on Laythe before deploying an outpost capable of refining Ore and before or after deploying an atmospheric exploration aircraft. Return home, capture however you like and land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS 1-8 IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE EVE CHALLENGES EVE STS-1: Can You Survive Me? Shuttles were designed for both space and atmospheric flight. This mission will test that to extreme lenghts. Will your shuttle survive Eve's infernal atmosphere, or will a new design be neccessary? Your mission is to deliver a probe to dip into Eve's atmosphere, collect the experiment unit from the probe and return it back to Kerbin. The recovered experiment unit from the probe has to contain: at least 3 different science experiments a probe core a battery NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission. Badges Avaliable Eve STS Pilot - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Eve, capture however you like, deploy the atmospheric probe. The probe must dip into the atmosphere below 70 km, perform the scientific experiments and get back to orbit. Rendezvous the shuttle and the probe, and get the experiment unit of the probe to your cargo bay. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Eve STS Commander - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Eve, aero-brake/capture at Eve, deploy the atmospheric probe. The probe must dip into the atmosphere below 60 km, perform the scientific experiments and get back to orbit. Rendezvous the shuttle and the probe, and get the experiment unit of the probe to your cargo bay. Return home, aero-brake/capture at Kerbin, land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS 1-8 IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE MINMUS CHALLENGES One very close celestial body has been neglected by this challenge so far. Mun's little brother, Minmus. That is over, a series of missions will be dedicated to the little rock floating around Kerbin. Since it's quite close, some parts are beautifully flat, and the gravity is negligible, these missions will probably not be very difficult for shuttle veterans. These conditions are however optimal for a new goal of the shuttle program - building and supplying a huge fuel depot in LKO. So, in this series of missions, you will explore this small celestial body and design and build the infrastructure needed to mine on Minmus, refine the minerals into fuels of different kind and transport it to the fuel depot in low orbit of Kerbin. This will serve as an important step toward the big missions the program was progressing towards. The details have not been announced to the public yet, but we'll learn the details soon. MINMUS STS-1: Ice cream mining operations: Prelude The first Minmus mission will do a bit of a reconnaisance. Are there any resources? If so, where are they located? You will take a look at this both from orbit and from the surface. NOTE: In this mission you will pick a site which will be used in the rest of the Minmus missions. I recommend picking one in one of the "Flats" biomes, since base construction is much easier on level ground. Badges Avaliable Minmus STS Pilot - Rank 1 Reach low minmus orbit and deploy a resource scanning sat. After performing the scan, pick a spot with reasonable ore concentration and land your shuttle nearby. You will then deploy a rover for at least 2 kerbals and perform additional measurements with the surface scanning module. After performing the scan, return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Minmus STS Commander - Rank 1 Reach low minmus orbit and deploy a resource scanning sat and one additional CommSat, which you will place in a polar orbit with a Pe and Ap of your choice. After performing the scan, pick a spot with reasonable ore concentration and land your shuttle nearby. You will then deploy a pressurized (no command chairs) rover for at least 4 kerbals and perform additional measurements with the surface scanning module. After performing the scan, return home, perform an aero-capture and land at either at the KSC runway, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. "TEST PILOT" MISSIONS - NO PREVIOUS MISSIONS REQUIRED An STS-or-Buran-looking shuttle+LV is strongly reccomended. You might not be able to complete certain missions with a significantly different design! STS-1T: Approach and landing test Approach and landing tests were a series of test flights of a space shuttle prototype "Enterprise" conducted in 1977. The aim was to verify the systems behaviour and test the parametres of atmospheric flight of the orbiter. The orbiter was released at an altitude over 7,000 metres and glided to land at the Edwards air force base. A bit of reading on shuttle flight testing available here. Your mission is to design an aircraft that will take your shuttle to an altitude over 5,000 metres, separate from the aircraft, and glide for a landing at the KSC. The orbiter can not use engines of any kind during the whole mission. Badge Avaliable STS-2T: RTLS abort Let's not practice Russian roulette, because you may have a loaded gun there. [John Young, STS-1 commander] RTLS (Return to launch site) was one of the procedures considered for aborting an STS mission after losing one of the SSMEs during the early stages of flight. It was considered the most dangerous abort mode, and was never used in a real mission. To read more about RTLS abort, I recommend this article, or a wiki page on all the different abort modes here. RTLS abort chart from NASA manual Your mission here is to simulate an RTLS abort situation. You will launch as usual, heading to orbit of your choice. At approximately T+30, simulate a loss of one of the main engines (for example by an action group). Continue your ascent, ditch the SRBs. When you are over 50 000 metres, commence the PPA (powered pitcharound) while still burning the SSMEs, and possibly the OMS engines. Your ascent trajectory should put you out of the atmosphere for a while. After depleting most of the ET fuel, separate from the tank and glide back to the KSC runway for landing. Badge Avaliable STS-3T: Cassini-Huygens This mission is a bit different than the two previous missions - the main focus is not shuttle flying, but payload design, mission planning and advanced interplanetary navigation. Your goal is to run a mission to the Jool system, mimicking the famous Cassini-Hyugens mission, which brought us a lot of valuable information on Saturn and its moons. If you're not really familiar with Cassini-Huygens mission, a brief article can be found here. Your task is to launch a space shuttle carrying the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft (and its trasfer stage) to LKO. After deploying the probe, the shuttle will land on Kerbin. Then, you will carry on with the mission to Jool. There are very specific requirements for the spacecraft and mission profile, so, please, read carefully! - The transfer stage must consist of solid rocket boosters only, and must separate after a single burn in LKO -The Cassini probe must be at least 1,5 tons, the Huygens lander must be at least 1 ton -The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft + the transfer stage must fit into the long MK3 cargo bay -The Cassini spacecraft and Huygens lander must enter Jool's SOI before separating from each other -The Cassini probe has to flyby at least four of Jool's moons and finish its mission by entering Jool's atmosphere, where it will meet its fiery end -The Huygens lander will land on Laythe -The only fuel tanks allowed on the spacecraft and the lander are: a single R-12 "Doughnut" (left) for the Cassini probe and a single "Oskar-B" (right) fuel tank for the Huygens lander Badge Avaliable STS-4T: Skylab boost mission Your mission here is to rescue the Skylab station - something NASA failed to achieve because of significant delays in the shuttle program. And while you are at it, you will improve the station a bit. There will be two shuttle launches in this mission. A bit of reading about a possible skylab boost mission can be found here. First, you will have to set up the station into a correct orbit. You can either download my version from kerbalX here, or build your own. If you choose to build your own, please build it in a way so all the objectives are achievable. The easiest way to set up the orbit is to go to "cheat menu" (alt+F12), choose cheats/set orbit, and put the station in an orbit with Ap/Pe between 80 and 90 km, and an inclination between 50 and 52 degrees. However, if you want, you might launch it on a rocket. Now about the mission. The first shuttle mission will: - Rendezvous with Skylab -Bring a docking adapter for all the future missions - the docking ports do not have enough clearance for a shuttle - Remove and deorbit the solar/comms array (detachable via docking port jr.) - Disconnect, load into a cargo bay and land the hab module (on the right of the screenshot, detachable via docking port sr.) -Dock a rocket stage to Skylab, which will boost the station into an at least 200 km/200 km orbit The second shuttle mission will: - Rendezvous and dock with skylab (which is now in a 200 km/200 km orbit) - Bring a new habitation module - Bring a new solar/comms module - Bring crew of at least 3 to Skylab Both shuttles have to land on Kerbin after their mission. You can do the "repairs" however you like - by MMUs, or some sort of probes doing the docking work. As always, creativity is encouraged. Badge Avaliable STS-5T: Shuttle-Apollo crossover This mission is a bit ridiculous, but will test yet another aspect of spaceflight planning - free return trajectories, and your capacity to guide your shuttle to a precise landing from sub-optimal entry conditions. Wiki article about free return trajectories can be found here. Your mission here will be to design an Apollo-like spacecraft for three kerbals and a lander for two kerbals. You will launch the spacecraft in a shuttle cargo bay, and the shuttle will perform a maneuver to reach a munar free return trajectory, which will place you into Kerbin's atmosphere on the inbound leg of the journey. You may perform one small correction burn on your way to Mun. In Mun's SOI, you will deploy the spacecraft, which will then burn for munar orbit, land two kerbals on Mun, rendezvous in LMO and return the crew to Kerbin in the command module. The shuttle will meanwhile continue its flyby of Mun and begin its way back to Kerbin. You may perform another small correction burn. Then you will perform a direct entry and land either at the KSC runway, the island airfield just off of the KSC, the Dessert Airfield from MH, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport Badge Avaliable STS-6T: SRB recovery This mission doesn't focus on the orbiter, but on another part of the launch vehicle and the infrastructure associated with it. The SRBs of a space shuttle were supposed to be recoverable after splashdown to be refurbished and reflown in a short time. There were issues about that caused by damage from the sea water and the refurbishment was much more costly than estimated. Your mission here has two parts: you will launch a shuttle, separate the boosters as usually, and let them splash down in the water safely (it's not neccessary to fly the shuttle all the way to orbit, from the point of SRB separation you do not have to focus on the shuttle at all). Then a vehicle/several vehicles of your design will transport one of the boosters all the way to the SPH. Badge Avaliable HONORARY BADGES STS Engineer Award Given by an STS Architect for developing a sub-assembly that ends up being a core part of this challenge, or for assisting heavily in the development of a Shuttle. If you have a sub-assembly you'd like to be reviewed, please post a detailed analysis and example mission report in the challenge thread. Skunkworks Badge This badge is given to people who have submitted especially unique and outstanding designs which abide by the given definition of a space shuttle. Skunkworks badge holders are still eligible for the above mission badges. The full list of Skunkworks badge holders is as follows: @Alchemist - A full Jool-5 run in two shuttles completed on the Jool STS-1. A mission report here @Ozelui - Two shuttles going on an adventure to Duna, building crazy stuff all over the place. STS Duna 2 report here @Kerbolitto - An extensive trip through the inner solar system, including a Moho landing. A mission report here Architect Badge The full list of Architect badge holders is as follows: @Speeding Mullet - Version 3 and 4 Challenge Creator, temporary admin of Version 2 Challenge @inigma - Original Challenge Creator/Manager, Builder of highly-capable STS Space Shuttle and numerous STS-related subassemblies @FCISuperGuy - Version 2 Challenge Creator/Manager, builder of a highly capable shuttle, and excellent giver of advice @xoknight - Creator and maintainer of the venerable Hubble Space Telescope across 3 versions, requiring consistent updates To receive the Architect Badge is a rare honor. To be awarded at my discretion, or through nomination of SpeedingMullet, FCISuperGuy or Inigma for my consideration, and given for acts of invaluable contribution to the challenge above and beyond the call of duty.

My first real craft that I've really ever modded, I made a toy scale Space shuttle. It primarily uses Tweakscale, but on account of the f'd aero this thing produces I've also utilized part Welder on the entire Pilot bucket, and have edited the part file it produces to be quite a bit more reasonable. The only part on this craft that hasn't be tweaked with tweaked scale is the Command Seat, and I think this thing turned out beautifully.

Kerbal Space Program 1.3.0 This is my Shuttle, i called her Aurora because the launch is in the sunrise. This is the first video in a series of KSP experiments, I do not know where this will go. Salvatore, YourOldNerd

HRO shuttles, originally designed for some advanced levels of STS challenge, now join together for even more daring mission than before Launch sequence First is HRO-M03 with all the deployable vehicles. Including the Elcanoplan 2 strapped on its back Barely enough thrust for takeoff (and that's with payloads having the tanks practically dry). I even activated the main engine of the Elcanoplan, but that didn't seem to make much difference either. Those boosters barely miss the tail wings (just don't forget to set SAS to prograde) Also waited a bit after the tank ran dry before separating it - to wait for the ship to get a bit more balanced (orbiter's tanks are set to drain from the tail first) 55 km? Eh, this isn't Laythe yet! Also forgot to ignite OMS OMS + upper pair of main engines = the best balanced solution with this payload. One ship in orbit OK, now to the second launch... What the Kraken?!! OK, After a tweak to the clamps... let's pretend that didn't happen HRO-M takes off a bit easier, despite having full payload bay as well Looks like we launched a bit too early Well, raise the apoapsis a bit higher and let's meet in one orbit Let's align... and wait for some sunlight Despite the size, HRO is quite good at docking. If you don't rush. (Hey, it's called Heavy Recovery Orbiter - what else could you expect?) This position will provide the best balancing And in couple passes we get the transfer to... somewhere green But this is... Anyway, let's get into polar orbit. By the way, HRO-M also has the scanner antenna in the bay Going down This modification of HRO-M has got some landing upgrades from the latest version of HRO-M03 And a full mining rig in the bay Minmus means "mine me", doesn't it? And a few days later... And in the meantime HROM-03 changed to equatorial orbit - so here's the direct intercept with it There's enough to fully fill all LFO and ore tanks of the craft in orbit So let's make another run down - this time at the equator And after refuel... Who needs atmosphere for horizontal takeoff? And back together - with plenty of fuel Transfer And over 300 days later... (yeah, completely missed the window) What's the best way for Minmus-Jool transfer? Oberth effect! Say goodbye to Kerbin! And a couple years later... Let's just capture into Laythe-Pol transfer orbit What a view! And then, since there seems to be enough fuel to reach the destinations independently, let's separate the ships Oh, hey there! Has anybody checked for running into Vall? Now to pass by Tylo - barely missing its SOI (turned to get better solution than with slingshots) and we are getting to the destination Let's capture with rocket engines, and then release the mapsat - it will change plane at apoapsis Now, to lower the orbit... the shuttle way Strangely enough, the moment you get in, it feels about as much (if not more) drag as on the same altitude on Kerbin. Just don't forget to stabilize the orbit Low Laythe orbit achieved! Next phase - going down there

INTRODUCING... Mabdi's Convenient Tourist Shuttle, by MASA AEROSPACE. [1.3.0] Ahem. This is a shuttle, used for tourism. It has 6 Crew cabins for holding tourists/crew (Duh!). It has 2 Kickbacks, A Mainsail and a Swivel as it's engines. It weighs 138T and has 4,739 m/s of Vac. Delta V. NO PICS, NO CLICKS CRAFT FILE Technical Specifications: Gravity Turn: Like any other craft Shuttle flip: 35km alt. Reentry and landing instructions: Turn on RCS. Burn Retrograde above Crater, until on impact course to peninsula east to KSC. Point Prograde. Turn off prograde and lift nose by 30-40 degrees above hori(s)zon. Turn on bake to open airbrake. No heating problems. KSC Continent @ 35km. KSC/Grassland Terminator at 1km alt. Touchdown at 50km. Turn on Parachute and brakes 2 seconds after touchdown.

I am looking for a mod which adds space shuttle parts and which is compatible with Realism Overhaul 1.2.2

Hello again, fellow Kerbalnauts, I've returned after a long slumber to bring to you a brand new shuttle that I've been developing over the past couple of days Endeavour - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_ZkNlM8j7rjR25kd2hraDNzX1k Mass - 410 tons Part count - ~290 Height - 35m Width - 12.6m Length - 21.2m ACTION GROUPS - 1 - Toggle Bay Doors Best way to fly it, that I've noticed, is that as soon as you launch, the craft wants to pull west at about 5 m/s within 10 seconds, so pull 5 degrees east. Once you lose the boosters, you'll be going about 270- 310 m/s and 6.5 km up. at that point, you will notice your velocity dropping just a little bit. DO NOT PANIC, it goes away pretty fast. At the altitude of 20 km and about 450 - 500 m/s, pull to 40 degrees east , once at 28-30 km, roll 180 degrees so the large tank is under you, closer to the ground. Once that happens, go to map view to monitor your Ap (Apogee) , once it's around 65-80 km, go back to the shuttle and reduce engines to 2/3rd power, and burn BELOW PERIAPSIS NODE. You need the horizontal velocity more than vertical velocity at this point. You will run out of fuel at around 2.1 km/s. Nose down, and while the shuttle's still moving, jettison the main tank and start the OMS engines and burn for a few seconds to get away from the big tank. Time warp to about 2 minutes to Ap, and start up the OMS to push to orbit. Great, you're in orbit, and probably wondering how to get down. Easy! just point your OMS in retrograde direction and fire when you're 90-100 degrees west of the space center in perspective to Kerbin. Point your shuttle up at about 25-40 degrees while in atmosphere to aero break. (Do not go above 40, or you'll flat spin at orbital speed, NOT pretty) The shuttle has a very low stall speed, it's about 45 m/s. so make sure you land the thing Anyways, hope you guys enjoy my masterpiece! pics - (just realized I misspelled Endeavour as Endeveror)

Hey all, I am still fairly new to Kerbal Space Program (about 90 hours) and I have recently established a space station. I have several designs for disposable launch platforms, all of which successfully get Kerbals to and from my space station. The thing is, I want to use at least a partially reusable launch system. My mind immediately jumped to NASA's late great Space Shuttle, which, as I'm certain you all know, was capable of carrying cargo to and from the ISS, as well as being able to put satellites in LEO. I have begun developing my own space shuttle, but it has numerous problems (flipping over, short range, etc.). Even with the help of Kerbal Engineer, I simply can't get it right. What I was wondering is whether or not anyone had a functioning design for a space shuttle that is capable at the very least of taking kerbalnauts (I'm guessing that's what their called) to and from LKO. Thanks!

Hi, dear Kerbals, I made at home a very detailed plan of a space shuttle that i created myself but it looks a lot like the original shuttle but has some changes...I would just want some ADD ONS for space shuttle parts (BURAN AND AMERICAN SHUTTLE) If someone could answer me it would help me so much... thanks !

STS - Pegasus II A more specialized Shuttle with a recoverable SSTO lifter... It's not very easy to fly and max payload is only 18T, but can perform a variety of missions, including interplanetary transport... Download: https://kerbalx.com/luizopiloto/STS---Pegasus-II

Discussion of Russian vs US launch vehicles and Buran vs Shuttle vs Soyuz got me thinking. I'm sure all of us here are well aware that the Shuttle program was based on some ill-conceived notions, both with respect to the demand for flights as well as the capability of NASA to execute rapid Shuttle turnaround. The Shuttle had some neat capabilities (launching payload along with service crew, e.g. Hubble) and promised abilities (sat recovery), but it was never really used like it could have been. And the flight rate was so low that reuse cost more than it saved. But what if they had been right about the demand for the Shuttle's abilities? What if the market demanded a launch vehicle that could sent up large payloads along with crew, as well as occasionally retrieving sensitive cargo from orbit? What if the market was so saturated with demand that economies of scale were in full swing? It's clear that even under those circumstances, the Shuttle's high refurbishment cost and lengthy turnaround time wouldn't have been the best fit (even ignoring its safety record). But what might have been better? If you were designing a launch vehicle with these sorts of target capabilities, how would you go about it?

Hello, I've created a craft (Space Shuttle) all-stock in 1.1. I've have since then flown it many times (as others) in version 1.1 of KSP without any issues. I haven't played for a few months, and now I'm dusting off my KSP and tried to load the craft file. Since it's all stock, it loads without issue of course but it doesn't fly as well anymore. Who with CoM / CoT / SAS / Flaps and such knowledge is willing to have a look at the craft file please ? https://kerbalx.com/mart_nl73/Space-Shuttle-Prometheus The 2 main issues (I can PM you a video of the issues): - During launch right when SRB occurs the shuttle starts to rock back and forth. Wobbles. It's controllable but annoying. - In space, when I circularize orbit (I do that with Main engines for the first part), the craft becomes very very unstable and uncontrollable. Note: The craft file has a 'hidden' RC-L01 in the nose. So there is SAS settings on the cockpit and the RC-L01. there are also 2 flaps 'tugged' away there for CoM and landing. Yes, some might be odd, yet this was one perfect bird to fly with in 1.1. Regards, Martin Ps. It mentions on Kerbalx, it's made during 1.2 pre-release. That's not true. It was build in 1.1 and intended for 1.1 and worked in 1.1 it is however never tested in 1.2 until now. edit: Can confirm 'gimbal' might be a big issue with this issue

Searching this forum for 'chibi' brings up a few tiny shuttle designs, but most are just scaled down, so I set out to build something with "proper" chibi/SD proportions. I quickly gave up trying to make an external tank and solid boosters work, so the orbiter sits on top of a liquid booster instead. Nonetheless, I think the result is kawaii: Shuttle-chan on the pad. Sayonara, Kerbin-san. Stage 1 separation. Circularising. Landing; engine bell hot from burning off excess fuel. Shuttle-chan parked in front of Tower-senpai. Shuttle-chan comes complete with an abort sequence and emergency parachutes: "Baka!" "Geez, Val, no need to get all tsundere." "Bill, you okay back there?" "Um, I guess..." "Bob? Bob! Bob, look at me. Use the bag. No, the bag!" If you're interested in boring technicalities, this next section is for you: The booster fins are too small to achieve static aerodynamic stability in the pitch axis; SAS prograde hold is mandatory during ascent. Planform of the orbiter. Stability is marginal* with full tanks... ...But improves as fuel is consumed. And finally, if you must have a copy of Shuttle-chan for yourself: Download *Not as suicidal as it looks here, thanks to a draggy fuel cell mounted high on the rear bulkhead.

I've posted a challenge over in the gameplay challenges forum but I thought it could use a discussion thread. Here's the link: This thread is for discussion of different launch configurations to achieve a fully-reusable orbital shuttle with parallel staging. Lots of pros and cons to different configurations and engine types and recovery options, so I'm interested to see where the discussion goes.

Challenge: Design and model a fully-reusable PSTO (parallel stage to orbit) shuttle, suitable for taking a crew to orbit and returning them safely to Earth. People get excited about SSTOs (both of the VTVL and winged varieties), but for Earth, using multiple stages is almost always more cost-effective. However, we've never once flown a fully-reusable human-rated shuttle, and there's no obvious configuration for a fully-reusable shuttle that uses staging. In particular, I like the idea of a parallel-stage-to-orbit design, where all the launch engines fire on the pad together, with the orbiter engines continuing to fire through stage separation (think Space Shuttle). This introduces additional complications, particularly with respect to configuration. Some considerations: 0/0 LAS. Being able to escape in the event of a booster RUD is ridiculously important, from pad to separation. The orbiter either needs to have sufficient thrust to push itself free of an exploding booster, or it needs auxiliary solids for LAS, or it needs full cabin ejection with chute recovery. COM/COT. Centers of mass and thrust in a vertically-stacked launch vehicle are simple, but for a parallel-staged launch vehicle, it's a little more difficult. The SSMEs had ridiculously high gimbal ranges to help with this, but with a fully-reusable launch stack things may be more or less complicated. Engines and crossfeed. Using the same engines and fuel on the orbiter and the booster simplifies operations and can also allow for fuel crossfeed, but that does introduce some additional complications. If the launch engines are used for orbiter LAS, then they will be large enough to take full advantage of propellant crossfeed. Booster recovery. A liquid fly-back booster is one option; a RTLS tail-sitting booster with landing legs a la Falcon 9 is probably better. No splashdowns for this. Asymmetric thrust and COM may be a consideration depending on how the launch configuration looks. Orbiter recovery. Again, no splashdowns. The orbiter can have wings and landing gear, or it can come back and land vertically with landing legs. However, if it is going to land on its tail, then the crew cabin probably needs to be ejectable using landing-abort solids and chutes, since a tail-first vertical landing is a high-risk maneuver. The ideal solution is to have landing engines which (somehow) can vector or change orientation to allow a vertical landing in horizontal attitude, like sci-fi spaceships. This allows minimal-risk landing and immediate egress. Lifeboat. If the cabin is ejectable, then it makes sense to allow it to act as an orbital lifeboat in the case of orbiter damage a la Columbia. However, this means it either needs its own RCS and TPS. It may be possible to integrate its RCS and TPS for use within the orbiter. Airbreathing. Should you use a rocket-combined-cycle airbreathing engine on either stage? It's a good question. On the one hand, having airbreathing engines on the booster reduces the weight penalty (since they don't have to go to orbit) and can assist in recovery. Having an airbreathing engine on the orbiter increases weight penalty, but could be helpful for landing since airbreathing engines are more readily vectorable than rocket engines, which must be gimballed. It's also possible to conceive a partial airbreathing engine, like an air augmentation shroud on the booster which wraps around the orbiter's launch engine. Altitude compensation. If the orbiter engine doesn't have altitude compensation, it will incur a specific impulse penalty. However, aerospike engines are heavy. An SSME pressure-compensated engine is one possibility. Another possibility is to have the orbiter engine interface with the booster body in such a way as to allow a higher expansion ratio after separation. Keep in mind, however, that you may be using the launch engine for recovery as well. Cargo. A cargo bay is not necessarily a requirement, but it definitely adds versatility. A cargo bay can also be used to add an auxiliary fuel tank for extended on-orbit operations or BLEO missions. Consider orbital refueling as well. I have a few ideas for how to pull this off, but I'm really interested to see the kinds of things the forum can come up with. There are a lot of options here, and none of them are automatically ideal. Design, describe, and model your submission! You don't necessarily have to fly it; it will probably be ridiculously overpowered for stock KSP. Excited to see what everyone comes up with.

https://youtu.be/ADniojiWMJ8 Beautiful example of how NOT to fly a shuttle.

SHUTTLE CHALLENGE v4 - THE 1.2.X STS THREAD Incredible artwork by @Pine from the Screenshots Re-imagined thread This heritage challenge is a revised and updated version of my STS Challenge, @FCISuperGuy's STS challenge, which was in turn derived from @inigma's original STS challenge The series of challenges below represent a sliding scale of difficulty ranging from relatively simple to highly complex. More incredible missions to exciting destinations will be added as the challenge continues, but I've had increasing calls for the challenge to re-open, so in the meantime I've re-worked a lot of the old ones to make them relevant for 1.2.x, and tweaked a few things to give you a taste of things to come! UPDATES ****I'm looking for someone to do a decent job with planetary badges so if that's you please PM me!**** ****I'm looking for a co- admin for when RL calls and I can't check in as regularly as I'd like. If you've completed at least STS-1 through to STS-8 and would like to help out, please PM me!**** ****NEW MISSION ADDED 10.02.17**** ****Rule change to allow for shuttles with no cargo competing for STS-1A**** RULES - PLEASE READ THESE BEFORE ATTEMPTING THE CHALLENGES Official definition of a shuttle for this challenge: A "reusable" winged Orbiter which carries Kerbals (and cargo for any mission beyond STS-1a) to orbit and back and is capable of a horizontal landing. It's advisable to have OMS engine(s) for trajectory changes as well as an RCS system for maneuvering. The Orbiter must be lifted into space by a Launch System that decouples or un-docks once expended, allowing the Orbiter to land entirely under it's own power. 1. You must declare any and all mods used so I can place you into the relevant category / award the relevant badge. 2. All atmospheric flight should be handled manually, with the exception of self scripted autopilot programs. Mechjeb etc is fine for on orbit procedures. 3. All atmosphere-altering mods (except FAR) are disallowed 4. You may not cheat in any way, whether it be by using plugins like HyperEdit or by using the Debug Menu for infinite fuel/RCS (you may, however, use the Debug Menu for part clipping). 5. You are required to use your own shuttle when completing any of the missions below (Astronaut badge excluded) 6. All missions require either an album showing each stage of the flight, or a video showing all stages of the flight. 7. Once you have completed a mission, please post your proof in this thread for my review. 8. SSTO's are not eligable for entry to the challenge 9. Missions must be completed in the logical order unless you are certified from either STS v1, v2, or v3 challenges to the relevant level MISSIONS STS-1a: Getting the Basics Right This is the simplest mission - all you need to do is build a space shuttle, fly it, and land it. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 1 Build a shuttle complying to the above space shuttle definition and fly it to orbit, then de-orbit and land wherever you like! STS Commander - Rank 1 Build a shuttle complying to the above space shuttle definition and fly it to orbit, then de-orbit and land. Land either at the KSC, the island airfield just off of the KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport STS-1b: Bonus Fuel Pod Mission (Do you even lift?) Mullet Dyne has contracted you to take their brand new 40t fuel pod up to the highest possible Kerbin orbit. Since it requires special on-orbit activation procedures, unmanned expendable launch vehicles are out of the question; it's up to you to take this behemoth to orbit and then return to land. Not only that, but they require a very precise orbit: You must adhere to the tolerances (Maximum difference between periapsis and apoapsis below). Can you do it? Tolerances: 70-1999km - 100m 2000-4999km - 500m 4000-5999km - 1km 6000-8000km - 10km 8000km+ - 50km Mullet Dyne Fuel Pod Available Here If you have successfully taken the Fuel Pod to orbit (70+km), you get the special Flight Director badge, the ultimate display of piloting and engineering prowess and skill. STS-2a: Can You Hear Me? This mission is slightly harder - your goal is to design and deploy two or more comsats to geostationary orbits from your Shuttle and to return to Kerbin. Additional goals are required for higher-ranking badges. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 2 Reach an orbit of 200+km and deploy two comsats without spin stabilization to geostationary orbits. De-orbit and land anywhere you want. STS Commander - Rank 2 Reach an orbit of 350+km and deploy three or more comsats with spin stabilization to equidistant geostationary orbits. De-orbit and land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-2b: Bonus Ore Pod Mission (Do You Even Land?) Mullet Dyne has contracted you to recover their 40t fuel pod from where you left it, after contaminates were discovered in the fuel. Can you land the thing!? If you have successfully landed the 40t fuel pod (from where you left it), you get the special Flight Director - Rank 2 badge, the ultimate display of piloting and engineering prowess and skill. STS-3: Can You See Me? Your mission here involves some design and orbital construction - you are to launch a Space Telescope into orbit and deploy it. This will require assembly with the 2 MMUs you will design, as the solar panels need to be attached on-orbit with Kerbals. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 3 Launch the space telescope to an orbit of your choice and deploy and assemble it; afterwards, deorbit and land. Land anywhere you want. STS Commander - Rank 3 Launch the space telescope to a 550+km circular orbit inclined at 25-30 degrees and assemble it. After deployment, land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-4/4R: Can You Rescue Me? This'll be the most daring mission so far - first, you must launch a single shuttle to orbit, then send another shuttle to rescue it. See this article for technical details of the IRL proposed STS-107 rescue. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 4 Launch your first space shuttle into a 200+km orbit with a minimum of 4 crew, then send up your second shuttle to rendezvous with it and rescue its crew before coming in to land anywhere you wish. STS Commander - Rank 4 Launch your first space shuttle into an 350+km orbit with 6 crew at an inclination of 25-30 degrees, then send your second shuttle to rendezvous with it and rescue its crew. Land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-5-8: Can You Build Me? Your mission here is to build a 4 module space station with your space shuttle. Your space station must have: A service module with RCS, engines, and reaction wheels A habitation module 2 scientific modules Badges Avaliable STS Pilot - Rank 5 Assemble your space station above 150km. After each mission, you may land anywhere you want. STS Commander - Rank 5 Assemble your space station above 300km. After each mission, land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. STS-9: Can You Land Me??? This mission is significantly more difficult than those before it. You must develop your own unique sub-assembly and fly a daring mission in order to capture a space potato and return it to Kerbin for study. This will test the balance and re-entry capability of your shuttle to the limits and is not for the feint of heart! Also It's not mandatory for a kerbal to ride the asteroid in on top of the shuttle, but serious respect if you manage it. Example mission here if you need inspiration. Badges Avaliable STS Pilot - Rank 6 Launch your shuttle and capture an asteroid, then de-orbit and land wherever you like! STS Commander - Rank 6 Launch your shuttle and capture an asteroid, then de-orbit and land. Land either at the KSC, the island airfield just off of the KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE MUN CHALLENGES MUN STS-1: Do I have Mun-quakes? @michal.don on the Mun and having a whale of a time! Landing on an airless body was never going to be easy in a shuttle, but your task is to not only successfully land on the Mun, but to deploy a small research facility of your choice to study the Mun. Oh yes you need to get back too! Badges Avaliable Mun STS Pilot - Rank 1 Land your shuttle anywhere on the Mun and deploy a small un-manned research facility (which you will design) on the surface and then return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Mun STS Commander - Rank 1 Land your shuttle on the Mun and deploy a manned research facility (which you will design) on the surface and then return home, perform an aero-capture and land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE DUNA CHALLENGES DUNA STS-1: Can You Visit Me? This mission is significantly more challenging than those before it and may require extensive shuttle modifications, or even a new shuttle design for some. You must develop your own unique sub-assembly and fly an epic interplanetary mission to Duna in order to deploy a small orbital outpost. This will test the range, aero-capture, and re-entry capability of your shuttle to the limits and is not for the feint of heart! The orbital outpost must have: Room for 4 or more kerbals, Electricity generation and storage Antenna for communication Probe core with SAS NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission. Badges Avaliable Duna STS Pilot - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Duna, capture how ever you like, deploy an orbital outpost at your chosen altitude, and return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Duna STS Commander - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Duna, aero-brake/capture at Duna, deploy an orbital outpost below 70km, and return home, aero-brake/capture at Kerbin, land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. DUNA STS-2: Can You Land on me? This mission requires not only a Shuttle capable of getting to Duna, but also one capable of landing on the red planet and successfully returning to Kerbin. You may require extensive shuttle modifications, or even a new shuttle design for this mission. NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission, and feel free to use the mission to add another module to your outpost (this is not a requirement for the challenge) Badges Avaliable Duna STS Pilot - Rank 2 Launch your shuttle to Duna, capture how ever you like and visit your orbital outpost from STS-10 before or after your Duna landing. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Duna STS Commander - Rank 2 Launch your shuttle to Duna. Aero-brake/capture at Duna and visit your orbital outpost from STS-10 in Low Duna Orbit before or after your Duna landing. Return home, aero-brake/capture at Kerbin, land at either at the KSC, the Island Airfield just off of KSC, or at any Kerbal Konstructs airport. YOU MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE ORIGINAL KERBIN MISSIONS IN ORDER TO PROGRESS TO THE JOOL CHALLENGES JOOL STS-1: Can You Breathe here? This mission is hideously challenging and will no doubt require extensive shuttle modifications, or even a totally new shuttle design. You must develop your own unique sub-assemblies and fly an epic interplanetary mission to Laythe in order to deploy a small ground outpost capable of refining Ore (for Pilot level) with the addition of an atmospheric exploration aircraft (for Commander level). This mission is designed to test your shuttle in the extreme, and also your payload construction and deployment methods. The ground outpost must have: Ore refinery and fuel storage with docking port Room for 4 or more kerbals The Atmospheric Exploration Aircraft must have: Room for 1 or more kerbals Docking port NOTE: You may launch 1 support package for your shuttle using a traditional rocket or shuttle launch for this mission. Badges Avaliable Jool STS Pilot - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Laythe, and land on Laythe before deploying an outpost capable of refining Ore. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. Jool STS Commander - Rank 1 Launch your shuttle to Laythe, and land on Laythe before deploying an outpost capable of refining Ore and before or after deploying an atmospheric exploration aircraft. Return home, capturing however you like and landing where you want. HONORARY BADGES STS Engineer Award Given by an STS Architect for developing a sub-assembly that ends up being a core part of this challenge, or for assisting heavily in the development of a Shuttle. If you have a sub-assembly you'd like to be reviewed, please post a detailed analysis and example mission report in the challenge thread. Astronaut Badge This badge is given to anyone who has completed any of the above missions with a shuttle built by another person. Skunkworks Badge This badge is given to people who have submitted especially unique and outstanding designs which abide by the given definition of a space shuttle. Skunkworks badge holders are still eligible for the above mission badges. The full list of Skunkworks badge holders is as follows: Architect Badge The full list of Architect badge holders is as follows: Speeding Mullet - Version 3 Challenge Creator, temporary admin of Version 2 Challenge @inigma - Original Challenge Creator/Manager, Builder of highly-capable STS Space Shuttle and numerous STS-related subassemblies @FCISuperGuy - Version 2 Challenge Creator/Manager, builder of a highly capable shuttle, and excellent giver of advice @xoknight - Creator and maintainer of the venerable Hubble Space Telescope across 3 versions, requiring consistent updates To receive the Architect Badge is a rare honor. To be awarded at my discretion, or through nomination of FCISuperGuy or Inigma for my consideration, and given for acts of invaluable contribution to the challenge above and beyond the call of duty.

After all the advanced technology usage decided to take my knowledge down deep to the days of the beginning. This is space shuttle for small payloads, pretty small and pretty cheap. As this science stage has no proper wheels it lands in water. Everything but the boosters is recoverable. Price without the probe pictured is 14,506 credits (cargo is at the tail, since there is no cargo bay and drag in front would mess things up). I suppose an mk1 crew cabin would serve just fine there for crew transport as well. Struts are necessary since the command pod tended to fall off at landing ... and the front of the plane is normally not expected to fall off. Parachute is for reducing drag only, not used really. Takeoff is designed upside down due toe drag from the rudders, no point to fight it: Somehow forgot to take the screenshot from releasing the probe (had to go out to eva with the pilot and nudge it since it is so tight there). After detaching the probe pictured and doing the deorbit burn - i even had some fuel left (Jebediah knows he is in for a bonus). One must be very conservative with electricity though. Just remember one thing - there are no wheels, you have to land in water (at 50m/s horizontal speed it survives, or use the parachute (which i added to reduce drag only) and rocket engines to land on tail): Quite a scenic landing site. Full gallery from 2 flights can be found at http://imgur.com/a/naD3O

It's year 11 in my KSP save. After finishing my Kerbalnational Space Station it was time to start a new project. I was looking for the Chinese Station that will launch somewhere 2023/2030. So I thought that, because not many people have tried it, to make my own. I'm not going to do anything too realistic. I use the launchers and parts that I think fits well in my world of KSP. Progress: My inspiration image for this project is: Mods I'm currently using: Mission 01 - Ghidorah 9 (01): http://imgur.com/gallery/VQtAD Mission 02 - SYS-121: http://imgur.com/gallery/xKdN1 Mission 03 - STS-122: http://imgur.com/gallery/bnOhZ Mission 04 - Shenzhou (01): http://imgur.com/gallery/Vhxe0 Mission 05 - STS-123: http://imgur.com/gallery/kEKD6 Mission 06 - STS-124: http://imgur.com/gallery/czSI9 Mission 07 - STS-125: http://imgur.com/gallery/09jip Mission 08 - STS-126: http://imgur.com/gallery/3daad Mission 09 - Ghidorah 9 (02): http://imgur.com/gallery/Z7HwB Mission 10: Coming Soon™

Find me on KerbalX Hello everyone, here comes a terrible creation which had been sleeping for some time in the VAB and was about to be totally forgotten, the X-26A Eos. The project was born some times ago of the desire to make a small craft inspirited from the U.S. Space Shuttle system but having no more than the Mk1 size for its parts. Named after a Greek Titan and goddess of the Dawn, Eos was in my mind the symbol of a "new" way to build tiny shuttle... and I should have called her Hecate as she gives me so much troubles but the name was already taken. Originally she was conceived to be a super cheap Space Shuttle and easy to access in a new career. For it the boosters were made of Thumper, but they were absolutely incapable to kick her to a good altitude before running out of fuel. 6, 8 even 9 Thumper offset into each other on both sides still were unable to made it... and the low launch cost which was one of the reason supporting the project just explode (it did reminds a true story). So absolutely disappointed I opted for the Kickback and a total remodeling of the craft, changed the vertical stabilizer, placed more fuel inside the Orbiter. This made it more light and performant but still a test flight was needed... The climb is surprisingly smooth, the whole system being just a bit sensitive during the SRB last seconds of operation. Once jettisoned the orbiter and its External Tank recover their good control. The main problem appeared once close to the circularization altitude. The O.M.S imitation is consisting of just two Spark small rocket engines, those are totally underpowered for the mass of the orbiter even to start the maneuver about 2 minutes before the T time. The unique solution being to keep the E.T and start the maneuver with S.S.M.E Thud. For an Apogee of 140 km those are absolutely able to complete it with even some fuel still available in the tank, so I used to shut them down and eject the tank when just a 100 m/s are still needed and complete the maneuver with the O.M.S. At this point around 900/950 m/s of dV are still available. (Four Sepratron will ensure a quick clearance off the fuel tank) Once in orbit at 140 km the target was the traditional space station orbiting at 200 km : The whole docking maneuver is simple with four RCS pods being placed around the CoM. Then I don't know why but the X-26A remained abandoned for almost a year before finally returning to on the surface. Once again I overshot the KSC. The unique solution was to land on the old island airfield. Finally, what was supposed to be a simple system to ensure the transport of four souls for a very low price became a real luxury, costing more than 50 000. But it remains fun to control.

Hi everybody, I released yesterday my small X-38 inspirated shuttle, the X-35A Adikia : As I wrote on the craft desription page on KerbalX, that puppy was built for spaecial reason to me and is absolutely inspirated from Flakbadger's X-38 which got a particular place in my memory. Made with 77 parts the X-35A is a small 5-seats space shuttle system named in honor of the Greek goddess Adikia a minor divinity representing the injustice. It is available here : https://kerbalx.com/XB-70A/Sleg-X-35A-Adikia And the whole flight album here : http://imgur.com/a/ll0nx Small but capable the whole shuttle system is made of an Atlas V-like launcher amde of two stages, the first one gets a pair of Vector engines to represent (roughly) the powerful RD-180 and the second two Swivel to simulate the Centaur stage. All together they get a total of 4775 m/s of delta-V in the atmosphere. The orbiter for its part got two Spark engines giving her enough thrust to accelerate and jump to another orbit pretty quickly. Her total delta-v represent 1688 m/s once in vaccum. But images are better than words : The first seconds can be a bit hard as the whole system is a bit instable, but once 40 m/s reached you can already start your gravity turn. Also the first stage is coming with two pairs of legs and eight parachutes for recover (as I hate wasting funds). In the qualification flight used for the album I dropped the stage with more than 1000 fuel units still onboard, more than enough so deccelerate before (sea)landing. I cames with a RC-L01 Remote Guidance Unit and more than 800 units of electricity to ensure some flexibilty. The second stage for its parts is non recoverable. On the demonstration flight I dropped it just after it put the AP to 200 km but it should have still been much more than usable. On KerbalX the user kitmatthews take a screenshot of the orbiter in the Mun SOI : For my part once in orbit I tried to join the docking training space station Orbital Target Alpha on its 300 x 300 km orbit. Everything went well and each maneuvers cost around 58-60 m/s : Once we got bored enough it was time to be back home! I recommend to start the re-entry maneuver by not deccelerating over an orbit of 150 km. More is feasible but prepare for the BBQ. Taking an angle of 45 degrees and transfering the fuel from the front tank to the back one will ensure a stable re-entry without even touching the commands : Now with her ridiculous lifting surface an horizontal landing is well... still possible but not really recommended. Like X-38 the landing should be made with parachute : one small breaking chute can reduce the speed to 50 m/s and two radial parachutes reduced it to approx 10 m/s. It is still a lot but the landing gears will support the shock without any problem. Once landed there was still enough delta-V available to realize some maneuvers while in orbit : One small 2-stars pilot for my hall of Fames.

okay I want to see how a shuttle will perform and I kinda have an idea of what it should look like but I would appreciate your advice

After three months and five different design changes I finally place the craft online in KerbalX : Named after the Greek titan Kronos (know by the Romans as Saturn) and his daughter Demeter the vehicle is made to reach an Ap of 500 with its "Vector" as S.S.M.E. and circulate with the "Thud" playing a role of O.M.E. Fully made of 140 stock parts the craft is costing a bunch (about 260 000 funds) to just send seven crew members in orbit. The Orbiter for its parts comes with a laboratory and a docking-node-wanna-be made of a lander can and a small fuel tank : The sole bad point to me is the really sensitive attitude of the orbiter during any re-enter. You have to ensure a perfectly stable angle before 60 km or the craft will be easily destroyed. Once around 20-15 km its controls start to beome effective again. The landing for its part is more than easy and soft. Just try to be perfectly aligned with the RWY and everthing will be normal. The file can be find here : https://kerbalx.com/XB-70A/Kronos-Demeter-Saturn-Shuttle And the last flight album here : http://imgur.com/a/LRS2G

I released two new mini shuttles, Kricket and Proton Kricket Mini Shuttle 51 parts, rocket and jet powered for easier landings https://kerbalx.com/PointySideUp/Kricket-Mini-Shuttle Proton Mini Shuttle The Proton shuttle is a sleek, small 1 seat shuttle, only 28 parts, 2442 dV https://kerbalx.com/PointySideUp/Proton-Mini-Shuttle Albums http://imgur.com/a/m8qHS http://imgur.com/a/fMsyj