Ultimate Steve

Hmm, good idea, I may change that. STS-7 has launched! All of phase 2 is open for proposals (I mean, it was before, but I'm re-announcing it) as all of phase one is pretty much taken. Only one more launch in phase one, @KerbalKore 's lab-1.

I just took the pic from an angle that makes it look like that! I tried to keep it as close as possible. The only major visual changes are that I shifted the wing forward, added a small tailplane, messed with the engines, moved the OMS to the front of the craft, and moved the SRBs. It looks a bit more airliner-y than the original, but yeah, it does look pretty close.

Alright, good news. The Starlight has been redesigned. As it turns out (I haven't made a shuttle replica that I used more than a few times before), shuttles suck aerodynamically in KSP. The dry mass is near the back, so even if the center of lift is far behind that, the center of pressure will pretty much always be in front of it due to the huge cargo bay. I can move the wings back all I want, but it will still be very yaw unstable at re-entry velocities. I could fix this by adding a lot of yaw surfaces, but then it basically looks like a rocket and it's fairly stupid. I wanted the modifications to be functional, but still look like a shuttle. I tried using a feathering system like Spaceship Two does, but the stock hinges are very weak especially at re-entry velocities. I tried mounting the engines forward like Skylon would, but I couldn't get it to look good. In the end, I played around with a few of the minor things and clipped like 7-8 tons of ballast into the front of the craft. To compensate for this and various engine changes, I filled the external fuel tank more. To compensate for that I had to move the SRBs closer to the shuttle and angle them so they wouldn't destroy the wings, but it also meant I could set the thrust limiters back to 100. The end result? It still will flip out at hypersonic velocities if you fly it wrong, but it is nowhere near as severe, and most of the time it is recoverable early on. It's also harder to get to flip out. There are four air brakes at the back in order to help with stability during re-entry. Also, the two wheesleys have been replaced with a panther, but I might change that as it's not enough to fly it very well. I tested it with a jumbo 64 tank and it almost made it to orbit. With some alterations to fuel levels and piloting, it should be able to get to orbit. However, for anything heavier than that, additional fuel tanks may have to be installed in the cargo bay if there is room, but for anything substantially heavier (the volume available can handle like 1.5 jumbo tanks) we may use 4 SRBs instead of 2. Maybe. It was also tested with no payload, and it made orbit perfectly fine, with a lot of fuel left over. I think at this point it might be worthwhile to do with less fuel in the external tank and a bit more in the shuttle. This is because with heavier payloads, gravity losses because of low TWR hurt my Delta-V numbers more than the additional fuel helps it, I think... Anyway, I won't ramble any more, here is the upgraded Nebula: I won't update the craft file, unless anyone wants to fly the shuttle, as the payload bay volume is exactly the same.

STS-5 and 6 have been launched!

To be fair, the first failure was people filling up the stage with more fuel than needed due to improper instructions intended for an older stage, causing the vehicle to be too heavy to reach orbit. The stage never got to fire. The second failure was the infamous "accelerometers upside-down" failure, which was not the stage's fault, and the stage never got to fire. So it seems like the failures were operator error and unrelated problem, respectively, so mechanically, the stage has had a 100% success rate. Granted, that's only one mission, but it builds on other, similar stages that have been used for decades.

I have done STS 5 and 6, but I haven't posted them yet. Working on that soon.

IIRC that just changes textures and a few physical parameters, right? If so, then craft files should still transfer, and yes, that should be fine.

Great work! I'll probably launch them tomorrow, as I won't have much free time tonight.

Currently the flag is one of the default ones, but a custom one would be appreciated.

Either way sounds good, I guess. An overall mission flag would be alright to make, I'll go add it to phase zero. If you make a custom module flag I'll include it.

Alright! Just pick a module (preferably from phase one), design it, ensure it fits the guidelines (payload space and the details listed under the module) and post the craft file here! Also, STS-4 has been launched with Kerbolitto's Propulsion/Service module, the KerMoStu! Starlight Shuttle Possibility ready for its fourth mission, launching its heaviest payload yet. And, liftoff! I forgot to adjust the SRB thrust, so the pitch was pretty much maxed out and the shuttle nearly flipped on ascent, due to the heavy payload. External fuel tank jettison! And, Possibility is in orbit, maneuvering to its final orbit of 140x140km. Payload away! The first module of the as of yet unnamed space station. The re-entry, however, did not go as well. The shuttle flipped out and lost control, but control was regained eventually, fortunately. And crewmembers Valentina, Bob, Kerbolitto, and Steve are safely back on Kerbin! The shuttle will be modified to prevent atmospheric flipping.

I learned a lot from this challenge, about teamwork based challenges in general. You're still welcome to launch if you want to, but I'm pretty sure that this is dead. In the meantime, I have started a much simpler challenge, one where there is a list of modules that need to be designed and people can choose one (or several) and submit it to me to be launched, sort of NASA style. It can be found here, if any of you want to participate in another community station:

I'm fairly sure it's general stuff. I think that covers food, oxygen, water, and additional life expenses. I'm not exactly sure what I expected that number to be, but it seems both lower and higher than I expected.

I read an article discussing it. It's $35,000 per night, but that doesn't include launch costs, sadly.

Even more apologies, the sizing problem is completely my fault. It's 1.25 cargo bays and not 1.5, I accidentally counted the one used for utilities. The craft files are in the OP, hopefully this won't happen again.

Alright, thank you for your contribution! I have switched two of the normal docking ports out for jr. size ports, and doubled the solar panels, but the module remains the same apart from that. Thank you very much for participating! Is the name of your module KerMoSt or is that a "company" name? Also, Kerbolitto Kerman will be added to the astronaut roster! Also I've decided to launch the modules as they come. STS-4 will launch soon! EDIT: Oh, sorry. Your module appears to be too long for the cargo bay. Apologies for being vague about sizing, I will upload the shuttle to KerbalX to alleviate future confusion.

Any takers? Not to push too hard or anything, but it is just designing a module or two. If not that's fine.

They are more than that, yes, But can you deny that part of their job is professionally stabbing people?

Today, I got stabbed by a professional people stabber, who stabbed me with dead fragments of a hideous disease that will mount a fake attack on my body to train it up so I can defend against real future invasions. In other words, I got a shot.

Aww, thank you! That reminds me, I should read the Kerbfleet graphic novels again, it's been a while! And yeah, not as much of a cliffhanger as it could have been. I went easy on you... This time... Is that different from sublemon? [adjective] reaction! Yeah, this story is such a spiderweb at times... I kept having new ideas and putting them into the story... I'm mostly glad for that, though. The story would have been so different had I stuck with the initial concept... But of course that means that if/when I do a big revision there is so much to change... Going on a vacation on the 22nd through the 7th, I think. I won't be able to write then, and I might get something done before then, I might not, just so you know!

I've made it a point to send probes to the poles when possible. Duna and Eve have really cool and elaborate spikes at their north poles. Tylo has some cool hills at its south pole, although it might have been Vall... Several of the minor moons have small spikes, like IIRC The Mun, Gilly...

Chapter 21 - Pull Up

Big thing 1: My honors physics class did a model rocket unit. He's not doing it again next year, and he gave me the leftover engines... More than 30 A8-3 engines... That's quite a lot and I don't know what I'll do with that many low power engines... But a static fire is definitely on the list. Thing 2, I launched 3 rockets yesterday, all of which were firsts or record setters. Midget flight 1. I was given this rocket a long time ago, and it's like 3 inches tall, making it the smallest rocket I've ever flown. I flew it on a 1/2 A engine. Despite that it went really high, and we didn't find it until later on, looking for something else. A fin broke off on landing, but that's easily fixable, and somewhat expected when using tumble recovery. X-3 Red Goblin flight 3. This rocket is one I built almost entirely by myself, from things lying around, except for the parachute. I don't like making parachutes and the ones you can buy are way better than the ones I can make. This rocket is a cluster rocket, with space for 2 engines. It flew on two A8-3s. It has done this in the past, on flights 1 and 2. However, neither flight had a successful ignition, only one engine ignited. Yesterday I wound the igniters together tightly, taped the launch controller clips on, and lifted the wire up on a tripod to give the rocket some slack if the engines didn't ignite at exactly the same time. And it worked! Both engines ignited, although slightly apart, as it launched probably 30 degrees to one side. The parachute didn't deploy, mostly due to shoddy design of the shock cord mount. That should be fixed in time for the next flight, whenever that will be. A fin broke on landing, but that is easily fixable. X-4 Red Skywalker flight 2. This is another rocket I built by myself except for the parachute and some spare parts from other incomplete or broken rockets, and probably the most impressive flight of the day. It is a two staged rocket, one of only two in the fleet, and the other one is earmarked for a very important mission, most likely its last. That leaves me with a surplus of booster motors, so I built this rocket. This flight carried an altimeter, and I was standing 200 feet away with an angle measurement device in an attempt to check the altitude. In addition, this rocket had a payload bay, with a lego man, a piece of paper, and maybe a few other things inside. In this case, the rocket was powered by a C11-0 and a C6-5. The launch was spectacular, but the wind caught it despite its small, slightly melted parachute, and it blew half a cornfield over, making it the farthest I've ever had to walk to recover a rocket. We didn't find the first stage, but it's basically just a small cardboard tube and a washer, so easily replaceable. Final altitude was 838 feet according to the altimeter, but that was not backed up by the angle measurement, which was 55-65 degrees. However, I saw the rocket fly off to the west from my perspective, and the personnel at the launch site saw it go mostly north. Plus, I was distracted by how awesome of a view it was, and was trying not to lose the rocket, so that number is probably not super accurate.

I tried making some robotic arms, but due to docking bugs, lack of rigidity, and clipping, they are not at all practical to use. Thing Attacher 3 in action on STS-3. The mission was to grab the fuel pod, rotate it around and re-dock it, and then release it. However, whenever I got it docked (I basically had to release it and let the magnets do the work due to docking bugs) neither docking port would display the undock option. After retrying several times, I decided to just jettison the pod.