The Astraeus Orbiter - Half a year in the making

[HafCoJoe]

The Astraeus Orbiter
The race has begun

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone, Avera9eJoe here with the latest and greatest in space shuttle technology. Originally named the "Zephyr", I started this craft in the early days of 0.90 and after progressing through iteration 24 ("mk. XXIV"), I can finally catch some sleep with a full release.

 

I hope you all enjoy

Download:     Astraeus Orbiter (Dropbox)

 

Control Points:

Control from the large probe core the vectors are attached to when you jettison the boosters.

When firing the rapier engines in space you'll want to control from the small probe core on the tail.

When docking in orbit you'll want to control from the docking port on the nose.

For reentry it's best to control from the main cockpit but you can chose the vector-probe core if you want a more steep angle of attack.

 

Action Groups:

1. Toggle main engines and main engine gimbals. Use after separating from main tank to stop them from wiggling when in space or reentry. 
2. Switch engine mode on rapiers. The rapiers are intended to be used as both OMS engines and as rocket engines as in their original purpose. You can spy the intakes on top of the Big-S wing strakes (The nose ones are for aesthetic but also work). 
3. Toggle tail antenna. It is extended by default and isn't needed to be retracted ever, but you can if you so chose to. 
4. Toggle bay doors. Usually it's simpler to just click it, but still. 
5. Toggle docking port on nose. Again it's probably easier to just click and open but it's still handy.

 

Tips & Tricks:

• WATCH THE VIDEO!!!  Examples will always make better descriptions than words.
• While you reenter, have SAS set to prograde. This helps significantly with stability and makes the ride go along smoothly.
• As you land, try using only the roll axis when steering to the left or right. It's the most stable.
• Pressing brakes will also toggle the tailfin flaps. Extend the flaps as you reenter to help slow you down. You can toggle it on and off with brakes depending on how steep of a landing you are making or to control drag/lift a bit better.
• It looks really cool to just open the cargo bay doors once free from the main tank. It isn't necessary for ship function although it is realistically accurate, as the radiators are mounted inside the craft similarly to how the space shuttle had radiators inside the bay doors

 

 

Well, it's 1:00 AM once again and that's all I have for now.

 

See you all later!

Edited June 20, 2016 by Avera9eJoe

[Foxster]

I can appreciate there has been quite a bit of work gone into this...but...it's yet another shuttle replica. They are dime a dozen these days. 

[HafCoJoe]

45 minutes ago, Foxster said:

I can appreciate there has been quite a bit of work gone into this...but...it's yet another shuttle replica. They are dime a dozen these days. 

Not a replica. The video points out the the main differences. 

EDIT: Although if you have a dime...

Edited December 19, 2015 by Avera9eJoe

[Redshift OTF]

Impressive! I'll have to remember some of the ways you stuck those parts together for aesthetics. Particularly the docking ports on the station with the radiator panels. I like the grey tanks being curved in to make the top of the orange tank pointy.

[HafCoJoe]

In making this I did my best to shy away from using the pre-built "shuttle parts". I don't have anything against the parts (truly they're beautiful parts) except that they replace a lot of possible creativity in shuttles with very cookie-cutter designs where ten different people can accidentally all build the exact same space shuttle. I like thinking out of the box.

[Jon144]

Hey Avera9eJoe I'm happy to see you finally have this shared and flying! I remember how long you have been working on this! And all of you just calling this another shuttle replica should appreciate that it is much harder to build good looking and functional shuttles in 1.0.5

My own shuttles were broken by the 1.0.5 update and unfortunately unable to fix them without a complete redesign.

[pTrevTrevs]

3 hours ago, Avera9eJoe said:

In making this I did my best to shy away from using the pre-built "shuttle parts". I don't have anything against the parts (truly they're beautiful parts) except that they replace a lot of possible creativity in shuttles with very cookie-cutter designs where ten different people can accidentally all build the exact same space shuttle. I like thinking out of the box.

Yeah, this is exactly why I chose this for Spacecraft Friday. With the prebuilt shuttle parts, most STS or Buran type ships end up feeling like cheap factory produced goods. This one feels like time and effort was put into it, that's why I like it so much.

[HafCoJoe]

11 minutes ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Yeah, this is exactly why I chose this for Spacecraft Friday. With the prebuilt shuttle parts, most STS or Buran type ships end up feeling like cheap factory produced goods. This one feels like time and effort was put into it, that's why I like it so much.

I can't thank you enough for this. I'm pretty happy with how this craft turned out and it warms my heart to see others who appreciate it for the same reasons as myself - and especially from a judge of Spacecraft Fridays. Thank you!

Edited December 20, 2015 by Avera9eJoe

[Dman979]

I liked it twice- once for the craft, and once for the very inspiring use of parts. It reminds me of the shuttle I made in .90, but better.

[mythic_fci]

Very nice! Congrats on the Spacecraft Friday feature from a fellow shuttle builder! I'll DL this and give it a spin to test its payload capacity.

[HafCoJoe]

5 hours ago, FCISuperGuy said:

Very nice! Congrats on the Spacecraft Friday feature from a fellow shuttle builder! I'll DL this and give it a spin to test its payload capacity.

When you do so make sure you test with filling the extra tanks! I didn't mention it in the film but three of the orange external tanks are completely empty by default. You may end up being able to carry more by filling some of them. The sides on the external tank feed each booster and the front and back feed the vectors. Speaking of the vectors... They are also significantly throttled down from what I remember too. That could be worth experimenting with too. Lol.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Avera9eJoe

[mythic_fci]

8 hours ago, Avera9eJoe said:

When you do so make sure you test with filling the extra tanks! I didn't mention it in the film but three of the orange external tanks are completely empty by default. You may end up being able to carry more by filling some of them. The sides on the external tank feed each booster and the front and back feed the vectors. Speaking of the vectors... They are also significantly throttled down from what I remember too. That could be worth experimenting with too. Lol.

Will do. I've done a few preliminary flights, and can tell you that she's a wonderful vehicle - nice touch with the RAPIERS as the OMS engines! I'd recommend changing the engines on the boosters to face inwards (towards the Orbiter) to some degree instead of outwards, for added stability. Also, maybe you could try using fuel lines to route the fuel onboard to drain bottom-up for added stability later in the launch phase.

[HafCoJoe]

3 hours ago, FCISuperGuy said:

Will do. I've done a few preliminary flights, and can tell you that she's a wonderful vehicle - nice touch with the RAPIERS as the OMS engines! I'd recommend changing the engines on the boosters to face inwards (towards the Orbiter) to some degree instead of outwards, for added stability. Also, maybe you could try using fuel lines to route the fuel onboard to drain bottom-up for added stability later in the launch phase.

I actually routed the fuel flow from top to bottom first and found that it greatly destabilized the vehicle. I have at least 6 iteration in which I tested various fuel flow setups. It currently half bottom-top drains. The center of mass goes the desired way don't ask me why!

Edited December 21, 2015 by Avera9eJoe