Search the Community

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

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

For the life of me i don't know why this tiny little spaceplane/booster/shuttle wont launch properly. I've tried everything and searched for the answer on how to build a little shuttle properly but most the tutorials are all about a Space Shuttle Replica. I basically know what i'm supposed to do to even it out but when i do it it fixes nothing it just always starts flipping around right off the pad. Please help me. Edit: Let me rephrase that. I THOUGHT i knew how to build it but apparently I don't.

If anyone wants, I will post pictures. So whenever Ibuild a shuttle, I try to make it fly easily and not look nice. I add canards so I don't stall during re-entry. Now I have tried making shuttle replicas that are close to the real thing. But all of those just stall during or after reentry. I don't want to add canards to it because that looks terrible and isn't what the real one had. What I am saying is, are there any other ways to stop reentry without adding canards? Thanks in advance. Fire

I just saw 3Dprintingnut's brilliant design on KerbalX for early career mode games - https://kerbalx.com/3Dprintingnut/Sky-Shot-mk1 I downloaded the thing and yes, it really does work, and flies well. It's got me thinking about the economics of re-usability, in KSP - assuming that's something you want to RP (yes, i know, you can just ignore economics and fly a few more contracts to farm cash, and most of your cost is upgrading buildings not space vehicles) In a standard rocket, you have a lower stage, which you accelerate to about half of orbital velocity, then throw it away. Then you have the upper stage, which is taken all the way in to orbit. It consists of the upper stage engine, upper stage fuel tank, pod, and whatever stuff you need to survive re-entry and landing. Typically, the upper stage engine and tank are decoupled prior to re-entry, because it makes the process easier. However, since you already accelerated these components to orbital velocity, there is no performance reason why you couldn't bring them back, provided you can solve the design issue. To increase re-usability further, we have to start bringing more of the lower stage components up to orbit then home again. At this point it becomes a tradeoff - there is only so much mass you can carry with you before performance declines too much. So it's helpful to start looking at the Dry mass vs Cost of these components to see which are most worth saving - Reliant Engine - Mass 1.25T Cost 1100 Saving per Tonne when re-used = 880 Swivel Engine - Mass 1.5T Cost 1200 Saving per Tonne when re-used = 800 FT400 tank - Dry mass 0.25T Cost 316.4 Saving per Tonne when re-used = 1265.6 Rather surprisingly, it is better to ditch your lower stage rocket engine but drag it's empty fuel tanks to orbit for re-use, assuming you don't have the delta V to bring the whole lot.

Hello, fellows! In my 1.1.2 career I need to rescue somebody with his debris from the orbit of the Mun. I don't want to build sth. with a 10m heatshield, grabbing the debris and then landing on Kerbin. I want to do a shuttle with a cargo bay. I could install some 2.5m cargo bay mods but that is too easy and after 1,5 years KSP playtime I'm still new to the topic SSTO. I came up with this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4uu21mghca24r3k/MK3 Shuttle.craft?dl=0 But every time I launch, if with RCS or only SAS it keeps falling to the side. What do I do wrong? Thanks for the help

So, the new fuel flow thingiemabobber is in. Problem is, i have no freaking idea how to build shuttles anymore :C I was used to the old and clunky system, i had everything balanced and all... But not anymore. Does anyone have any idea how to make shuttles as of 1.2? Or, do we switch to SpaceX and praise our Lord and Saviour Elon Musk?

SHUTTLE CHALLENGE v3 - THE 1.1.X STS THREAD Good artists copy, great artists steal - Pablo Picasso This heritage challenge is a revised and updated version of @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. All the required sub-assemblies are made available below with permission for free use, and are stock. I've taken this opportunity to open up the challenge further to modded craft with the introduction of a new set of badges for each mission. 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 to orbit and back and is capable of a horizontal landing. It should 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. You may not use autopilot mods (except "MechJeb" and "Pilot Assistant") when flying the shuttle 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. 6. All missions require either an Imgur album showing each stage of the flight, or a continuous (1 take only) 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 or v2 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 (Can You Carry Me?) Inigma Industries has contracted you to take their 42t 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 STS Fuel Pod Available HERE STOCK ALTITUDE LEADER-BOARD (Top 5 ONLY) 1. @zolotiyeruki - Shuttle Untitled Space Craft - 83647.70km 2. @Cipher_077 - Shuttle Force of Nature - 82173.00km 3. @Alchemist - Shuttle HRO-M - 19963.00km 4. @FCISuperGuy - Shuttle STV-1 Valkryie - 8532.00km 5. @Naito - Shuttle Rev 2.1 - 2000.03km MODDED ALTITUDE LEADER-BOARD (Top 5 ONLY) 1. @michal.don - Shuttle Kolumbia - 83000.00km 2. @algeo - Shuttle Ablator - 1094.00km 3. @String Witch - Shuttle TOLV-1 Hornet - 1032.69km 4. @Paranoid Shark - Shuttle Atlantis - 199.50km 5. @Daelkyr - Sarnus Sierra Nevada (Booster plane Colorado) - 175.35km 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 deploy 2 comsats to geostationary orbits from your Shuttle and to return to Kerbin. Additional goals are required for higher-ranking badges. Note: This mission requires the use of an Mk3 Fuselage-based shuttle. Sub-assemblies Suggested (feel free to design your own) STS Comsats - by inigma Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 2 Reach an orbit of 200+km and deploy your 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 your two comsats with spin stabilization (using the provided Sepratrons if using the suggested sub-assemby) to 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 Lift?) Mullet Dyne has contracted you to take their 168t ore 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 Speeding Mullet 168t Ore Pod Available HERE STOCK ALTITUDE LEADER-BOARD (Top 5 ONLY) 1. @Cipher_077 - Shuttle Pulse - 82810.54km 2. @Alchemist - Shuttle HRO-H8 - 10145.78km 3. 4. 5. MODDED ALTITUDE LEADER-BOARD (Top 5 ONLY) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. If you have successfully taken the Ore Pod to orbit (70+km), 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 orbital construction - you are to launch the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit and deploy it. This will require assembly with the 2 MMUs provided, as the solar panels need to be attached on-orbit with Kerbals. Note: This mission requires the use of a shuttle with at least a CRG-100 cargo bay. Sub-assemblies Required (feel free to use Cacteye or other telescope mod to make a working space telescope) Hubble Space Telescope - by xoknight (updated by @Alchemist with full credit to xoknight (Thanks Alchemist )) Hint: You will need to find a way to pack this into the Mk3 Cargo bay and mount it securely so it requires a bit of thought. Badges Available STS Pilot - Rank 3 Launch the HST 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 HST 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. Note: It is recommended to use an Mk3 Fuselage-based shuttle for this mission. Subassemblies Required (OPTIONAL - Requires CRG-100 Cargo Bay) STS-107 SpaceHab Module - by inigma (Used on the first shuttle) (Recommended - Requires at least a CRG-50 Cargo Bay) STS Operations Module - by inigma (Provides 4 extra seats) 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 STOCK ASTEROID WEIGHT LEADER-BOARD (Top 5 ONLY) 1. @Alchemist - Shuttle HRO - 35.01t 2. 3. 4. 5. MODDED ASTEROID WEIGHT LEADERBOARD (Top 5 ONLY) 1. @Paranoid Shark - Shuttle Atlantis - 69.99t 2. @michal.don - Shuttle Kolumbia - 27.00t 3. 4. 5. STS-10: 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 STS Pilot - Rank 7 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. STS Commander - Rank 7 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. STS-11: 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 STS Pilot - Rank 8 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. STS Commander - Rank 8 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. STS-12: Can You Breathe here? First successful mission completion - @michal.don 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 STS Pilot - Rank 9 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. STS Commander - Rank 9 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. @inigma - Creator of the STS Fuel Pod and STS ComSats sub-assemblies @xoknight - Creator of the Hubble Space Telescope sub-assembly @FCISuperGuy - Expert advice giver @Alchemist - Patron of multiple shuttle challenges, consistent advice giver and developer, And updater of the HST sub-assembly 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: @Foxster - From STS Challenge Version 2 - It was the first inline shuttle in the challenge but the badge was always missing. @ZooNamedGames - For building a replica Saturn Shuttle. Very useful and highly unusual design worthy of the Skunkworks badge. @AffreuxLex - Seriously just watch the video for an amazing example of re-usable infrastructure thoroughly deserving of the Skunkworks nomination. @sdj64 - Brilliant inline shuttle with a hilariously dangerous ET separation 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.

Where do you guys strike the compromise between making stock shuttle-inspired craft look like the real thing vs be easy to fly? This is my first successful shuttle (gets to orbit with payload, remains controllable). Unfortunately by the time I was done fixing handling issues, it doesn't look so much like STS anymore https://kerbalx.com/AeroGav/Kolumbia First Change - Vector engines too heavy and screw up the empty CG. Replace with Terriers Second change - External tank causing engine thrust to not be inline with CG. Centre of mass moves up as tank empties. Solution - no tank. Third Up - With weaker main engines and no External tank, we need three SRBs to get supersonic/over 10km. Which also solves the problem of the SRBs not being inline with CG. With three clustered with 120 degree spacing around the fuselage, everything is in line ! Fourth Prob - It would now fly to orbit, but only when empty. Most of my LF/O was gone below mach 4, so I installed a pair of Turboramjets and finally it can actually get cargo to space. Fifth Change - The classic shuttle wing layout has elevons too close to CG for any control authority. Had to add canards. Sixth Change - Had to change to a double delta to get enough lift. TWR on Terriers is too low to just blast up there like a rocket. Need to fly like an airplane to orbit. Taking the "glass half full" approach It has an OMS system based on monoprop and three Puff engines. Uses tech appropriate to the shuttle era. SRB, LFO main engines, OMS, Pratt & Whitney J-58 jet engines. No nuclear materials on board. Flies like an honest airplane once the SRBs come off. CG does not move as the fuel burns off, boosters separate or cargo bay emptied The bad You need to be proficient in flying rockets as well as aircraft. The initial stages under SRB require competence in judging gravity turns (which i am not good at). The latter stages require airplane skills of maintaining correct AoA and energy/performance management. Just point the nose somewhere vaguely upward won't do it ! real shuttle had bigger cargo bay! How do stock shuttles fly then? I think I made a lot of changes to try get neutral handling qualities, do other guys just lock one of the autopilot modes and rely on scads of control authority to get it to hold the line?

You're looking at "engineless orbiter" from ShuttleVariations pdf. It's an extended Shuttle with only OMS engines and no SSME's. Looks pretty dope, doesn't it? Does anyone know how designers thought to get this thing in to space? Some say Area 51 has some spectacular tech in there, so does NASA hyper edit?

I just stumbled on this film of Buran's (only) launch. My question is how does this thing balance itself? How does a rocket fly straight when up to 105 ton tumor is strapped on it's side? Buran-Energia's boosters are bit offset in wrong direction making it lean even more "on it's back". Did they have mad reaction wheels on board?

I was shuffling through the local Half Price Books recently, when I found a three-DVD set titled "Voyage of Discovery," which is coverage of Discovery's STS-114 flight in 2005; this was the "Return to Flight" after the Columbia tragedy a couple of years before. In addition, it was the first mission commanded by a woman (Col. Eileen Collins), and featured construction activity on the ISS. As I've been building my ISS-analogue in KSP, I've been really enjoying watching... when the crew was replacing a control moment gyroscope on the Z-1 truss assembly, I was thinking, "Okay, Bob is out there fixing the reaction wheel!" It's boiled down from real live mission coverage, and about the only bad thing about it is the excerpts from during-orbit press conferences when all the reporters seem to want to know is "Are you frightened (because of Columbia, etc.)?" and the astronauts are saying (with no visible evidence of impatience!) about seventy different variations on "We have a job to do and we're concentrating on that." Bonus material includes a 30-minute documentary on the Apollo-Soyuz mission and the first Hubble servicing mission. Great stuff, especially if you're a fan of the little details of a real space flight.

Hello fellow Kerbalnauts! I've put together some of my humble experience with landing shuttles to make this little guidance graphic to hopefully help those of us having trouble bringing down their precious, carefully designed shuttles (and I guess we all can agree we've been there to some extend ;)) Entry Guide It is of course based on my experiences and approach but has already been "validated" by friends to work very well Please tell me what you think of it!

Thought this warranted a separate thread since FAR players and Stock players are usually completely separate groups. Download here: https://kerbalx.com/crafts/14936 My KSP1-Shuttle (https://kerbalx.com/Naito/KSP1-Shuttle2016) now fully compatible with FAR! Full launch/re-entry/landing. Add the challenge of FAR with your Shuttle launches! Almost the same launch profile/capabilities as my original shuttle, though you now need to be a little more careful with high dynamic loads during launch and landing or else you'll rip your wings off =D Practice your landings with the SCA: https://kerbalx.com/Naito/KSP1-Shuttle2016-FAR-SCA3

I must stop to build shuttles... *starts to build a new shuttle* ಠ_ಠ This shuttle is for sure the closest one to the RL shuttle I have made with stock parts... Download: https://kerbalx.com/luizopiloto/STS---Bravura

Ok my Shuttle keeps Falling apart on the Launchpad with a bunch of launch clamps an struts holding it together. Apart from looking absolutely hilarious, how do I fix this?

hello I'm new to the forum. can you guys please help me? I have a shuttle that flies well, except in autopilot mode. it tends to wabble. can I upload my ship so you guys can see what its doing and possibly fix it? Thanks Chriswheelz

Yes it does make it to space and back on its own Yes I spent way too long developing it Yes it is adorable

I was wondering if there are any good shuttle mods