FAR Space Shuttle Atlantis

[Halsfury]

Before the Mk3 cockpit parts were updated I created a similar space shuttle, which was slightly modified to be KSP friendly for stock aero, this time round I decided to build a much more accurate replica using FAR.

Flight Manual:

Flight Maximums and Minimums:

Stall Speed @ 1000m; mach .33

Maximum allowable dynamic pressure; 30 kpa

Maximum supersonic and subsonic AoA; 25 degrees below 20km

Maximum hypersonic AoA; 90 degrees

Maximum Dynamic G forces; 3g

Maximum Thrust G force in atmosphere; 2g

Maximum re-entry angle at speeds greater than mach 3.5; -10 degrees

Mods:

Adjustable Landing Gear, Ferram Aerospace Research

Liftoff:

1) proceed normally, in the upside down configuration to 40km

2) roll over at 40 km, and switch to map to plan your apoapsis 

3) upon main engine cutoff, press action group 1, to shutdown engines, and activate the orbital engines

4) open the taps on the onboard fuel tank, behind the cargo bay, with the throttle set to 0%

5) Activate RCS, back away from the auxiliary tank and then circularize

Notes: Manual control will become necessary near engine cutoff since the centre of mass will shift enough to make the SAS module unable to compensate

Landing:

1) Fill forward auxiliary tank (In the cargo bay in front of docking clamp) up to 3/4 if main tank is empty, fully if some fuel remains in the rear.

2) Fire Retrograde, over the desert aiming for a place 4-5 km in front of KSC

3) Open FAR flight data

4) upon hitting the atmosphere, pitch up until lift and drag values are about equal, nose down to increase flight distance, nose up to decrease it

5) If the nosecone begins to overheat, it is advisable to pitch up to take the strain off, the nosecone heat indicator has about a minute's warning.

Notes: Using the airbrakes at high AoA while hypersonic improves stability, sometimes however the nose will begin to wag if you push the AoA past critical points, it is important to watch this carefully, and not allow this condition to worsen. Do not re-enter while tail heavy. Do not reenter with cargo, jettison all internal stores before re-entering.

Approach:

1) Best glide path is mach 0.7 & -10 degrees

2) If the craft feels too nose heavy don't panic, just manually open up the front cargo bay doors and alt click on the rear fuel tank and front fuel tank, drain the front fuel tank into the rear tank until the situation is normal, pull up slowly, use orbital engines to extend glide to KSC Runway.

3) on final approach turn on the brakes & airbrakes by pressing the button at the top of the screen, turn to decrease speed, aim for a spot 1 km in front of the runway

4) flare, slowly starting at 2000m keeping the brakes on, press G twice to lower the gear, bleed off speed down to mach 0.4 and slowly approach the runway, allow speed to drop to mach 0.35 before touchdown.

5)Upon touchdown, deploy the drogue chutes.

Notes: Never attempt to land on the Island runway, the space shuttle is 32 tons when dry, and will be unable to land safely. Do not stall or exceed AoA of 25 degrees below 3000m.

http://www./download/zvw34udix6h4yzv/STS-102_USS_Atlantis.craft

Edited December 25, 2015 by Halsfury

[mythic_fci]

Interesting. What's the payload capacity? Might consider trying this on career. Also, I recommend you cluster several boosters together and hide it with empty LF tanks (see Inigma's and Westi's shuttles) to increase power. Finally, I HIGHLY recommend replacing the rear drag chute with a larger radial one for added braking and (possibly) the ability to land on the Island runway.

[Halsfury]

10 hours ago, FCISuperGuy said:

Interesting. What's the payload capacity? Might consider trying this on career. Also, I recommend you cluster several boosters together and hide it with empty LF tanks (see Inigma's and Westi's shuttles) to increase power. Finally, I HIGHLY recommend replacing the rear drag chute with a larger radial one for added braking and (possibly) the ability to land on the Island runway.

Payload capacity is basically what you can fit in the bay, so long as it's not fuel (which is heavy).

It has a mass simulator included which weighs about 10 tons, I'd say that's the cutoff, not because you couldn't lift more, just that the orbital engines were chosen for high ISP not thrust, so you could find yourself at the AP after launch and unable to circularize in time.

Also, I've avoided clipping bigger boosters because you don't need it there's plenty of power to go around on launch (you can make it to 70 km in 3 minutes)

Maybe I'll do something like an expanded shuttle program with some liquid fuelled boosters but that would have limited use.

EDIT: Feel free to edit it, but modifications are always problematic, it's a complex design so I'd back it up first.

The Island runway has more issues than breaking, the surface is irregular so sometimes you hit it wrong and blow up before you even know what happened

Edited December 26, 2015 by Halsfury

[mythic_fci]

15 hours ago, Halsfury said:

Payload capacity is basically what you can fit in the bay, so long as it's not fuel (which is heavy).

It has a mass simulator included which weighs about 10 tons, I'd say that's the cutoff, not because you couldn't lift more, just that the orbital engines were chosen for high ISP not thrust, so you could find yourself at the AP after launch and unable to circularize in time.

Also, I've avoided clipping bigger boosters because you don't need it there's plenty of power to go around on launch (you can make it to 70 km in 3 minutes)

Maybe I'll do something like an expanded shuttle program with some liquid fuelled boosters but that would have limited use.

EDIT: Feel free to edit it, but modifications are always problematic, it's a complex design so I'd back it up first.

The Island runway has more issues than breaking, the surface is irregular so sometimes you hit it wrong and blow up before you even know what happened

...I know what payload capacity is. I was asking you what the capacity was for this ship. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

[Halsfury]

11 hours ago, FCISuperGuy said:

...I know what payload capacity is. I was asking you what the capacity was for this ship. Anyway, thanks for the tips.

Ah pardon the misunderstanding, the shuttle comes equipped with a mass simulator attached to the rear of the bay and is 10 tons, that's about the maximum recommended.

 

I meant don't fill the bay with full fuel tanks cause it probably won't make orbit