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X-37B ATLAS V 501 replica -Now with cute but useless service carts!-


Majorjim!

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2w69jwl.jpg

Hi all,

I am really happy to be able to share a new build with you after an extended craft posting lull.

This is a complete rebuild of a craft I uploaded in December 2014. As I had to replace every part I thought it was fair to start another post for it!

I had the perfect launch vehicle for the X-37B in the form of the Atlas V 541 I made for my rebuild of the curiosity rover. So I just removed the boosters and I had myself an Atlas V 501! My Ares V rockets have no clipped engines in engines or hidden aero surfaces at all. Just good old fashioned engineering! (read: test it till you cant stand the sight of it)

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The rocket is an absolute joy to fly, rock solid and holds her course excellently. If she flips you have turned too soon or too hard, butter fingers! Treat her with respect.

The second stage (Centaur) has an abundance of dv even with some fuel removed. Enough to shoot the X-37B to most places in the system. But you don't want to do that! You want to land it back at the KSC like a badass! Having shown your docking skills in orbit by reattaching the cargo bay door with the satellite payload!

This really is a very satisfying and challenging way to put a satellite in orbit.

The original X-37B I made used a large number of cubic struts to hold the 'skin'. This gave the orbiter alone a part count of over 500.. I have used the wonderful no offset limit mod to remove all but one cubic strut from this build, the orbiter now has around 300 parts and the whole thing is only 430.

I took advantage of the rebuild and corrected a few things in the design. I made it slightly longer at the rear and removed the old adapter playing as the rear of the orbiter so I could more closely recreate the shape of the craft.

It is a much close approximation now and quite the looker. So on to the pics!

HOW TO FLY

Start you turn when you are around 250m/s

Turn slowly following a ballistic arc

use the centaur second stage to circularize, it can de-orbit under its own power

TO LAND THE X-37B SPACE PLANE

after de-orbiting (Some of the 'heat tiles' will be glowing red!) and assuming you burned correctly and are coming down nearly two thirds of the way between the mountains and the KSC, make sure you are diving towards the runway to keep up your speed. You will not be able to land any lower than 50 m/s.

Dive towards the runway and flair at the last moment to bring you safely down on the runway. This video will show you how:

PILOT NOTES

Action group 3 engages the orbiter SAS. Activate this when firing the second stage. This is important.

There we have it. Thank you very much for looking and if you have questions please feel free to ask away. I hope you enjoy flying it as much as I enjoyed building it. You wont find a better X-37B anywhere!

Cheers!

MJ

Download from KerbalX: http://kerbalx.com/Majorjim/Atlas-V--X-37b-MKII.craft

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Edited by Majorjim!
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Looks quite pretty. Though it appears the imgur album is broken.

I did add at the bottom that it's an imgur issue. I had it private, it has been public for two hours... Imgur is just slow.

And, quite? :D

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The YouTube video doesn't appear to be working either :)

Yup it was set to private. Should be working now.

This took me around 16 hours to build. I recommend giving it a go, it's a lot of fun!

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That is awesome! The refueling truck is so cute. Only one slight complaint: 3.75 is a bit big for a Atlas V in my head canon of kerbin-earth size conversions. Still, if you're not going to clip engines, 3.75 is the way to go.

After making my own X-37B, 3.75m is the only way to go. To fit the damn thing in the fairing and not look out of proportions is impossible without using a 3.75m first stage.

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That is awesome! The refueling truck is so cute. Only one slight complaint: 3.75 is a bit big for a Atlas V in my head canon of kerbin-earth size conversions. Still, if you're not going to clip engines, 3.75 is the way to go.

Cheers mate. Yeah as the dood below this comment said. My x-37B is a very good correct scale to the Kerbals. Therefore 3.75 is perfect for it.

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After making my own X-37B, 3.75m is the only way to go. To fit the damn thing in the fairing and not look out of proportions is impossible without using a 3.75m first stage.

Yup as above.

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Very nice! I wonder what secrets that thing takes into orbit, (or even brings down).

Shhhhhh! They are listening.

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I think that looks great! Good job.

Thanks a bunch mate, It took a while but the finish on it is excellent.

Oh and YAY the imgur album works now.

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Actually, in terms of the size of the launcher, I tried a 2.5 m atlas V, and it actually scaled better. You see, the X-37b is very tight withing the fairing, as seen here:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Boeing_X-37B_inside_payload_fairing_before_launch.jpg

Within your 3.5 m fairing, there is far too much space.

Hey man,

As you can see in this image here:

Fairing02.jpg

The second stage (Centaur) Is perfect for 2.5m parts. That just leaves the 3m parts just a little too wide. And as all us builders know, KSP replicas are all about one thing, compromise. I could make the fairing a little narrower but then it wouldn't look as good against the 3m stack.

I did try a 2.5m Atlas and the 3m parts are a much better choice for my X-37.

I appreciate the interest mate. Thanks for looking.

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Oh, I have had one or two people say they flipped the rocket on ascent. This is simply due to an incorrect ascent. I will record a full launch to show how easy it is to get into orbit.

Thanks all!

MJ

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No problem, just trying to help!

I'm glad you commented man! I like to be pushed and challenged.

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This looks really cool MJ, one question though in the pics the fairing separation is neatly in 3 parts, is this from a mod or do you have a cool stock trick?

Hey man,

Alas it is no trick. It is a mod called 'clamshell fairings'. Here is the LINK.

O, and thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

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Can you post the ground vehicles?

Er yeah sure man. I made them just for the picture to kind of try to recreate this pic from the first X-37 mission flight:

2014-10-09T001257Z_1255679601_TM3EAA81JJE01_RTRMADP_3_SPACE-MILITARY-SPACEPLANE.JPG

x37_02.jpg

In fact, the X-37B in the picture is attached to the rover behind it! I will tweak them and upload them if you like.

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