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Shuttle Challenge v5 - The STS thread [Stock and Mod Friendly] - MAJOR CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENT! - 30.3.2020


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27 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Just a couple of questions:

(I'll check the STS-2b later, but here are the answers to your questions)

Well, the telescope doesn't need to work at all - it pretty much comes to roleplaying on this one. If you enjoy it, you can make the telescope pretty complex, and pretend it does awesome science stuff. If you don't, you can slap two tanks together and claim it's a telescope. Designs of the telescopes here varied a lot, and some were really impressive, but the rules do not state it has to be. There are no size requirements, either.

What is required though is the assembly, specifically solar array(s) installation by the MMUs. You can

As far as mods go, I never used any telescop-focused, but I'm sure someone here will help out in that respect pretty soon ;) 

I hope I answered all your questions sufficiently,

Michal.don

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1 hour ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Are there any suggested Space Telescope mods you would suggest for this?  I'm aware of the Tarsier, the Sentinel (stock), the Cacteye Optics, as well as smaller telescopic cameras in HullCamVDS (and possibly others)

As suggested, a swift response from the crowd ;)

 

Both Tarsier and HullcamVDS provide excellent parts for building a space telescope, but is easily just as fun to construct something that looks like a telescope but is simply a bunch of parts collected in an aesthetically pleasing configuration

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1 hour ago, michal.don said:

(I'll check the STS-2b later, but here are the answers to your questions)

Well, the telescope doesn't need to work at all - it pretty much comes to roleplaying on this one. If you enjoy it, you can make the telescope pretty complex, and pretend it does awesome science stuff. If you don't, you can slap two tanks together and claim it's a telescope. Designs of the telescopes here varied a lot, and some were really impressive, but the rules do not state it has to be. There are no size requirements, either.

What is required though is the assembly, specifically solar array(s) installation by the MMUs. You can

As far as mods go, I never used any telescop-focused, but I'm sure someone here will help out in that respect pretty soon ;) 

I hope I answered all your questions sufficiently,

Michal.don

You did, thanks.  

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1 hour ago, Kerbolitto said:

bHHoaxW.png

 

Awesome looking shuttle ! ;D


I just don't get why you put it inside a fairing ? You can't control the ascent with that much lift on top of the launcher ?

With that much lift at the top, it flips, even when testing with MechJeb and Gravity turn.  The fairing blocks that.

While I may do the telescope mission the same way, although with a shorter shuttle (it doesn't need those huge wings), I will probably have to abandon the Mk2.5 shuttle parts soon, at which point I'll be starting to learn how to launch a shuttle on the side

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2 hours ago, hoioh said:

something that looks like a telescope but is simply a bunch of parts collected in an aesthetically pleasing configuration

That's what I did with mine, and I'm not the only one. It's modeled after a proposed x-ray telescope, but the actual science parts are just  a few stock sensors.

13 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

at which point I'll be starting to learn how to launch a shuttle on the side

I've talked about my designs at some length, but I was thinking I could take some detailed screenshots and try to break down some of the varying forces over time.

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It's not that I don't know the forces, but learning how to work with them is what I'm after.

For example, last night I learned how to use the "S" turns properly, and was able to make a pinpoint landing for the very first time with a shuttle

1 hour ago, sturmhauke said:

've talked about my designs at some length, but I was thinking I could take some detailed screenshots and try to break down some of the varying forces over time.

Would be nice to see

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Hello, 

 

while usually dabbling around in RO I've come to seek some diversion and especially challenge with the stock scale and mechanics, what place is better than this one here?

Since I actually have a decent shuttle lying around for some time now, I hope I can make an entry here?
 

Despite the shuttle being build with pure stock parts, the following gameplay mods are used:

  • KER, RCS Build Aid and EditorExtensions for the Editor
  • Atmospheric Autopilot for basically all operations during flight (Is that "allowed"? I can't be bothered with the stock PID controller ..)
  • Visual mods and sound enhancements just for the viewing pleasure

 

I plan to make videos of the upcoming challenges, 

 

but I hope for the STS-1a entry an imgur album is sufficient?

If all mods are given a "go" and the pictures are enough to evaluate my efforts, I'd like to very well join!

 

This is my orbiter, meet the Fortuity.

 

and here's my mission album for the STS-1a mission, going to orbit and landing back down. 

https://imgur.com/a/bDkFdLp

 

Edited by Theysen
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@Theysen Welcome to the challenge ;)

You got a really nice shuttle there, I like it :)

11 minutes ago, Theysen said:

Atmospheric Autopilot for basically all operations during flight (Is that "allowed"? I can't be bothered with the stock PID controller ..)

Well, rule no.3 says:

Quote

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.

I'm not familiar with the mod and don't know what it can be used for but 'all operations' sounds like a bit more than it is allowed.

The other mods are definitly fine though :)

 

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4 minutes ago, 4x4cheesecake said:

@Theysen Welcome to the challenge ;)

You got a really nice shuttle there, I like it :)

Well, rule no.3 says:

I'm not familiar with the mod and don't know what it can be used for but 'all operations' sounds like a bit more than it is allowed.

The other mods are definitly fine though :)

 

No problem, I can definitely do this manually :)

Then scrap my post above - I'll do it on entirely on video, makes it more legit :P 

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19 minutes ago, 4x4cheesecake said:

Well, rule no.3 says:

Quote

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.

I'm not familiar with the mod and don't know what it can be used for but 'all operations' sounds like a bit more than it is allowed.

I specifically asked about this mod (Atmosphere Autopilot).  I got an ok to use it for straight & level, long distance flights, but nothing else.

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3 minutes ago, Theysen said:

I'll do it on entirely on video, makes it more legit :P 

More legit? If you didn't use it, it's fine anyway. It's definitly not like 'oh you got a mod which can be used to 'cheat' so you have to make a video', otherwise everyone with MechJeb installed would have to do it.

If you want to provide a video anyway...well, go for it^^
Your choice ;)

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I'm curious, do most people use the stock shuttle parts, or are some of the mod shuttles used by people?

Specifically, I'm aware of the following (besides the Mk2.5 shuttle which I'm using):

 

Edited by linuxgurugamer
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12 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

I'm curious, do most people use the stock shuttle parts, or are some of the mod shuttles used by people?

Since I joind the challenge (on page 26 of this thread :o), the majority of shuttles I've seen used stock parts.
Maybe, on a rainy day and when I have a lot more important stuff to do, I'll create a statistic/link collection for all flights in this thread :confused:

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51 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

I'm curious, do most people use the stock shuttle parts, or are some of the mod shuttles used by people?

My shuttles barely contain any stock parts, especially the later ones for the longer distance flights didn't. I've used so many mods over the past couple versions I wouldn't even presume to know which parts are stock and which are not! 

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22 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

STS-2b completed.

I did this on stream last night, and there were several reverts as well as one complete do-over.  Odd things kept going wrong, such as, I was ready to dock and the satellite/fuel container lost all EC, so it lost station-keeping ability.  Took a minute before I realized that we were in an eclipse, and just had to wait until we came out.  Unfortunately, that took about 10 minutes or so, ended up running out of monoprop.

Yeah, the docking process looked like it was quite a struggle - the fuel pod is a really tight fit on your design :) But mission successful, and the landing looked quite graceful, considering you were hauling 40+ tons of cargo. Good job, and here's another badge for you:

d4EjEgf.jpg?1

 

(next page coming soon)

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13 hours ago, Theysen said:

Hello, 

 

while usually dabbling around in RO I've come to seek some diversion and especially challenge with the stock scale and mechanics, what place is better than this one here?

Hello, welcome to the challenge! :) What place is better than this one? Not to brag, but there probably are not that many.... :D 

Jokes aside - your orbiter looks really great, and it seems to handle pretty nicely as well.

Concerning the mods - I don't see any problem with the ones you use, except for the autopilot. This challenge is about both designing and flying the shuttle. Limited use of autopilots is allowed (holding attitude during reentry), but most of the ascent and the final aproach and landing have to be done manually. I hope that it's not a problem for you, but that's how the rules work around here :) 

Screenshot-based reports are completely fine, but if you feel like doing a video report, it's appreciated and encouraged :) 

Moving on to the mission itself - very good job on your first flight here! :) The orbiter looks really elegant, and judging from the fuel capacity, should be quite a powerful machine, even by itself. My guess is it should not have much problem completing most of the Kerbin missions, but we'll (hopefully) see about that soon :) So, here's your first badge (unless you let the autopilot do most of the work):

QThe6Sf.jpg?1

Congratulations!

 

13 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

I'm curious, do most people use the stock shuttle parts, or are some of the mod shuttles used by people?

I think one of the most used mods around here is the Mk4 parts (can't find the thread right now :( ) to build huge shuttles with enormous cargo capacity. I'm not aware of many people using the ones you listed.

 

Michal.don

 

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1 minute ago, michal.don said:

I think one of the most used mods around here is the Mk4 parts (can't find the thread right now :( ) to build huge shuttles with enormous cargo capacity. I'm not aware of many people using the ones you listed.

I'm aware of that, but didn't consider it a "shuttle" mod.  Thanks, I'll review it.

As you can tell, I'm looking at my options for my next series of shuttles.  The next few missions, STS-3, STS-4, , is probably doable with my current design.  But I think that STS-5 will require a larger cargo bay

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Okay @michal.don that’s great to hear. 

 

To clarify what Atmospheric Autopilot *would* do is nothing more than holding attitude, the same as pressing T for stock SAS. It neither flies any profile or specific launch trajectories. 

Its just a lot „finer“ than the seemingly broken stock SAS

As I said, it’s no biggie for me to use stock SAS for ascent though :) 

 

mission 2 is basically done already, coming soon I hope :) 

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33 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

I'm aware of that, but didn't consider it a "shuttle" mod.  Thanks, I'll review it.

As you can tell, I'm looking at my options for my next series of shuttles.  The next few missions, STS-3, STS-4, , is probably doable with my current design.  But I think that STS-5 will require a larger cargo bay

Well, if you're a fan of payload designs on the more compact size, I think that every mission is doable with one of the long, stock Mk3 cargo bays. BUte some of the folks around here just love to build monstrosities, so if you're rather in that camp, I think the Mk4 stuff will be the prefered option :) 

 

21 minutes ago, Theysen said:

To clarify what Atmospheric Autopilot *would* do is nothing more than holding attitude, the same as pressing T for stock SAS. It neither flies any profile or specific launch trajectories. 

In that case it's not a problem :) Good luck in the future missions :) 

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5 minutes ago, michal.don said:

Well, if you're a fan of payload designs on the more compact size, I think that every mission is doable with one of the long, stock Mk3 cargo bays. BUte some of the folks around here just love to build monstrosities, so if you're rather in that camp, I think the Mk4 stuff will be the prefered option

Looks like it, but the 2.5 size is just a bit too small.  Good for what it does, but just not big enough

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