Naito

Glad you're enjoying it =)

Finally got to flying this with MechJeb. Has no problems out of the box, can bring up 18T to a 500km orbit easily. You can tweak the roll angle and ascent path if you want to make it a shuttle authentic trajectory, but it flies just fine without any adjustments. I would suggest tweaking the auto-stage delays to 0 however, to reduce the performance hit from carrying spent boosters deadweights for a couple seconds. Created a new EDO Pallet module that includes MechJeb just for fun: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/3455

Put together an album now that I can re-enter and land properly =) Added some "excitement" to the launch and re-entry just for fun too

Holy crap I actually managed to land on the runway lol Was launching my TDRS constellation, trying S-Turns to manage energy on re-entry. Looks like if I come straight in I can set perigee to about 12-15km and there's enough hypersonic lift to make it a bounce re-entry, but with a 30 degree S-Turn left then right, if I re-enter higher at 30km perigee it stayed in control and was much easier to manage proper amount of energy to make the runway!! Landing speed was bout 60-70m/s, just slightly off center-line. Pretty damn happy =)

Quick update: Revision 1.7 - REMOVED SAS module in orbiter. Doesn’t help as much as I thought, flies fine without. So officially there are NO SAS UNITS on this shuttle once again! - REMOVED split rudder airbrake. As nice as it looked, it seemed to cause unwanted instability when deployed. Will have to wait until stock parts update to make this possible I think. - Adjusted launch clamps so they’re prettier - tweaked SSME angles for more stability for all supported cargo weights (0 to 36T) - Added auto-deploy airbrakes to boosters to make them recoverable again in 1.03/1.04 aero. Makes the booster separation slightly less authentic as the fairings separate to release the airbrakes, but boosters are easily recovered. Replace with plain nosecone if you want to make it look closer to the real thing, but your boosters will crash and burn =p such are the tradeoffs with stock parts!

Actually, regardless of the answer, here it is =) http://kerbalx.com/crafts/3259 Allows the KSP1-Shuttle's LRBs to be successfully recovered intact in stock 1.03/1.04 aero. Hidden inside the nose cone are a trio of auto-deploying airbrakes that work as high speed "drogue chutes" to help safely slow the booster down during re-entry to ensure the landing chutes open safely. Landing speed around 16m/s. Simply replace the booster nosecone that the KSP1-Shuttle comes with with this subassembly and you're good to go! I may make this part of the next revision depending on feedback.

Question: Do you guys actually care about recovering the boosters? 1.0.3/1.0.4 aero makes the current booster design unrecoverable; the chutes burn up! I have a design that actually DOES work, but working on making it look nicer. Not sure if anyone really cares about the boosters actually being reusable tho....?

YIKES. Dude, hope ya feel better soon!

Made an update to commemorate 1.03/1.04 =p Revision 1.6: * Major update: Baselined thrust for 18T in the cargo bay. Now can launch from 0-36T WITHOUT ANY ADJUSTMENTS! * Redesigned OMS pods again * Previous version had a bug where the SSMEs could drain fuel from the Orbiter tanks and render the fuel cells useless. As per @sgt_flyer's suggestion, redesigned the fuel flow from the ET to the SSMEs to ensure that SSMEs only get fuel from the ET * Reduced thrust on the boosters to allow for a slightly longer burn time. * Moved SAS module from nosecone to cargo bay so that it can be easily removed if you want to try fly it without using ANY SAS modules. Be warned that rolls in orbit will consume a lot of propellent, but launch should be unaffected. * Still keeps all the various abort options workable, including 2-engine out or gimbal failures!

Had to test quickly in 1.0.3, seems to fly fine! Will likely update to remove/add parts as necessary for new heat model, but so far seems to fly without any changes!

Interesting. I remember I was using a mod a while back that gave me the same "cannot activate engine while stowed" message but I don't remember which one. I suspect some of the may be changing the clipping definitions or something since the SSMEs do have to be recessed into the orbiter quite a bit. The booster exploding is new, I've never seen that except when I accidentally lower the stack too close to the launch pad, then the base of the boosters will break during the "twang". Any chance you can send me a list of mods and I can try re-create when I get a chance?

Huh!! Are you using any plugins/mods? Exploding half-way up can happen if you're launching with an empty cargo bay, the aero forces can break the stack apart if you don't throttle down or are trying too aggressive a course correction anywhere between 350-500m/s in stock (1.0 or 1.02) aero.

Thanks Jackal! If you want any help with your shuttle I'd be glad to help!

Cool! Thanks Inigma! =) Thanks Shifter =) Haven't had time to play KSP much lately, but always nice to see people still fly my shuttle too! Any comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Added a space tug I've been using to help construct a space station: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/2815

the most important thing is to be at idle throttle and in a shallow dive before you release. Just like with the real ALT tests =) I gotta look into this Camera Tools thing

That's really cool! Love that view from the rear windows.

Yup, the first two launches were the only ones with the tank painted white. Every pound saved on the external tank was an extra pound the shuttle could bring to orbit, so it was one of the places NASA did the most weight reductions on. Wish I was old enough to remember the first launches =)

Submitting my Shuttle for your consideration The US Space Shuttle The US Space Shuttle really needs no introduction. First launched on April 12th 1981, it served as the US's manned launch vehicle until its retirement in 2011. In that time it flew 135 flights, carried 833 astronauts into space, and launched some of humanity's most awe-inspiring scientific instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. Despite its flaws and small number of tragic accidents, the Space Shuttle will surely be remembered as one of the most influential space vehicles of the early space age. http://kerbalx.com/crafts/1923/ Shuttle-C Concept NASA examined a number of ways to extend the capability they had developed with the Shuttle. One of the most analyzed variations was to make a cargo-only version known as Shuttle-C. It was basically a Shuttle orbiter stripped down to only the propulsion system and the cargo bay. By removing the crew cabin, life support, and reusability capability, it was intended that this would allow reuse of Shuttle technology into a cheap to develop heavy-lift launcher. This idea came and went a number of times, and the final variation that got closest to being produced was the "Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle" in 2009. Ultimately all Shuttle derived ideas were scrapped as the fleet was retired. This is a recreation of the original Shuttle-C concept. http://kerbalx.com/crafts/2740 Shuttle Aft Cargo Carrier Another way that NASA sought to maximize the Shuttle's capabilities was with the Aft Cargo Carrier. This concept came about due to fact that since the external tank was essentially already carried up to orbit by the Shuttle every launch, why not actually bring a little extra up with it? This was briefly studied and proposed in the Shuttle's heyday pre-Challenger, but has been largely forgotten since then. See http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19850002742 and http://www.wired.com/2012/05/shuttle-with-aft-cargo-carrier-1982/ for more information http://kerbalx.com/crafts/2743 My thread for these vehicles here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/117696

Last update today =p Revision 1.5a, updated OMS pods to be prettier =)

ROFL the fact that the N1 keeps exploding means you got the replica accuracy part down pat LOL

Craft file? Does the aero actually work? very cool!

Aft Cargo Carrier concept as seen here http://www.wired.com/2012/05/shuttle-with-aft-cargo-carrier-1982/ http://kerbalx.com/crafts/2743

Just cuz it was pretty simple to do, I created a Shuttle-C variant: http://kerbalx.com/crafts/2740 Tuned by default to launch Inigma's 42ton fuel-pod, you can remove the ET ballast in the bottom tank and it will launch any regular Shuttle cargo the same way.

No sorcery, just a meticulous obsession with getting the CoG and thrust axis just right