Talverd

I am really, really excited to start flying Shuttle - Centaur and all the other payloads I have planned.

STS - 3, Part 2/2 Getting Into Step Mission Day 5 - Pathfinder ignites its OMS motors once again, lowering her orbit. On Mission Day 6, the planned 8 day stay in orbit is truncated to 7 days due to issues with Pathfinders fuel cells. There are also issues present in the shuttle's climate control systems. Mission Day 6 - Pathfinder drifting above the Earth Mission Day 7 - Pathfinder being prepared for de-orbit burn. Mission Day 7 - De-orbit burn. Getting toasty. Smooth sailing. Pathfinder touches down at Edwards Air Force Base Runway 15 and concludes the STS - 3 mission. A little bit off center, but the orbiter and her crew are safe. With the conclusion of this mission, there is one last test mission left. Post-Flight Briefing: I hope you enjoyed this! I had a very fun time flying this mission and stress testing tings is always fun. Apologies for not being able to finish this in one sitting, I was very busy yesterday. There are great things to come and I hope you'll stick around so I can share them with you.

STS - 3, February 1st, 1980 Part 1/2 Getting Into Step Through Its Paces: Whilst the two prior flights of the Shuttle had proven the vehicles capabilities in the eyes of some, there was still much work to be done. From the conception of the program, there was expected to be 4 flights dedicated to "breaking-in" the shuttle before it entered a fully operational state. STS-3 is planned to be the most rigorous of these test flights. The crew will raise and lower their orbit several times, they will simulate failures such as a single OMS engine being unable to fire, they will deploy the first satellite of the program, and they will be the first mission to spend over a week in orbit. The orbiter is also carrying several important items in its payload bay, including the Flight Development Recorder, which will be used to find ways to improve performance on future flights. The crew will be responsible for carrying out several small experiments while in orbit as well, with all of these being stored in the middeck. STS-3 was planned to be the first mission to have the Arcadian developed robotic arm present, but unfortunately due to issues in the translation controls the arm was removed for this flight. The two crew members chosen for this flight are: Cdr. Barry, Pilot Hadlock Jumping straight into it, we begin at t-minus 10 9, 8, 7, 6... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. Liftoff of Pathfinder on her third flight to orbit! OMS 1 & 2 Photo of Pathfinder in orbit, February 3rd, 1980. Photo captured by ████████ ███████, █████. OMS - 3 burn, with a simulated failure of a single OMS engine. There would be 5 more of these types of burns performed. Pathfinder is also rolled heads up and left in this orientation for an extended period of time to see how well heat-flow is managed when in direct sunlight. STS - 3 also carried the first satellite to be deployed by the shuttle, Star I. Unfortunately, there was a failure in the decoupling system of the probe and it remained inside of its carrier. It would remain this way until it was eventually brought back to Earth at the end of the mission. Unfortunately I cannot finish this in one sitting, as I am barely able to keep my eyes open. Part 2 will be out whenever I roll out of bed, hope you enjoyed this snippet of the mission.

STS - 3 will be going up sometime tomorrow, I was pretty busy today and didn't have time to work on it.

STS - 2, June 13th, 1979 A New Purpose A Race Against Time: Before Shuttle, there was Athena. Laid out by president Hadcal in the early 60's, it was Akerima's grand endeavor to put a Kerbal on the Moon and return them safely to the Earth. The program was a massive success, putting 14 Kerbals on the Moon throughout the years of 1969 - 1973. In 1965, the Athena Applications Project was created. Intended to study protentional avenues for post-lunar Athena missions, the program saw very limited practical success. While hundreds of future missions were studied, severe budget issues began to crop up due to the creation of the Space Shuttle Program and this financial crisis resulted in a massive scale-back in scope of the AAP. Fortunately, one proposal was able to survive this tumultuous time. Dubbed the Manned Orbiting Workshop, it was NASDA's idea of a cheap and easy solution for the creation of an Akerimian space station. The station itself was virtually just a hollowed out third stage of the Juno V moon rocket which offered a colossal working and habitation area. In mid '67 the program was greenlit and construction of the station began in early '70. Early on in development the "Manned Orbiting Workshop" name was dropped and in its place rose the name Skylab. Skylab finally launched on April 29th, 1973 but suffered a multitude of issues on launch. One of its solar panels was ripped clean off, one of them jammed half open and it's micrometeorite shield was torn away, exposing the stations thin skin. Skylab 2, the first crewed mission to the station, quickly became a rescue mission. In the end the station was able to be brought into an operational state. There would be four missions to Skylab using Athena hardware, with plans for the Shuttle to visit and refurbish the station later down the line. After the departure of Skylab 5 in 1974, the station was left derelict. With no way to raise it's orbit on its own, Skylab's orbital decay could not be corrected. Now, in 1979, the Shuttle has one opportunity to save Skylab. In order to raise Skylab's orbit, the Teleoperator Retrieval System (TRS) was built. STS - 2 will deliver the TRS to Skylab, where it will be deployed by the crew and remotely docked to the station by mission control. It will then fire its engines and boost Skylab into a higher orbit, keeping the fires of re-entry at bay for just a little longer. The crew chosen for this mission is: Cdr. Jeb Kerman & Pilot Bill Kerman. Cdr. Jeb & Pilot Bill crossing the orbiter access arm into the white room. t-minus 3 hours and 11 minutes. Quickly running through the launch timeline, we have crew arm retract at t-minus 7 minutes and 26 seconds. GOX arm retract at t-minus 2 minutes and 25 seconds. Excess hydrogen burn-off systems activated, t-minus 9, 8, 7, 6.. We are go for main engine start! We have main engine start! 4, 3, 2, 1... Booster ignition and liftoff of Space Shuttle Pathfinder! "Pathfinder - you are negative seats." Successful SRB separation. Everything is proceeding nominally. 7 minutes and 53 seconds into flight, engine number 3 begins to experience thrust issues. This will not effect the mission majorly, fortunately. "Clean sep." "Roger on the sep." OMS - 1 & 2 Payload bay doors opening after one orbit. After spending a day in orbit, the burn to rendezvous with Skylab is made. Arrival at Skylab, crew will station-keep for one orbit until releasing the TRS. Deployment of the TRS, it will now make its way over to Skylab. TRS docked to Skylab. Pathfinder will now move away from the station and depart. Once Pathfinder has departed, the TRS' engines are ignited. Skylab is on the move! Second burn. Skylab's orbit has successfully been rescued. Jeb & Bill will spend another 3 days in orbit before landing at Edwards AFB. De-orbit burn preparations. Re-entry. Touchdown. Wheel stop, STS - 2 concluded. Post-Flight Briefing: Well that was a really long one! I had a lot of fun making it and I apologize for it taking so long to release. Like I said in my previous post I got a bit distracted making a cinematic for the launch of STS-1. Also, sorry for so few pics of the landing the SOCK aerodynamics kept behaving weirdly and eventually I just got so fed up with it that I forgot to take photos until the very end. Hope you guys enjoy this!

Cinematic is finished, I hope you enjoy it! It was really fun to make.

I got a bit side-tracked working on a cinematic for the launch of STS - 1, so the posting of STS - 2 will probably be a little bit late tomorrow.

STS - 1 The Greatest Test Flight, Part 2/2 Pathfinder performs OMS - 1 Pathfinder drifting above the Earth, waiting to perform OMS - 2 OMS - 2 After one orbit, Pathfinder's payload doors are opened. OV - 102 "Pathfinder" Now in a stable orbit with no need for further corrections, Munbro & Alan begin moving about the crew cabin. Their 2 day mission will consist of taking photographs, inspecting the orbiter, and running system tests. A few small experiments are also carried onboard the shuttle in the payload bay. The crew also receives a phone call from an elated president Carlas, congratulating them on their successful launch and wishing them a safe return. Pilot Alan Kerman sitting in the commanders seat, photographed by Cdr. Munbro Kerman on mission day 2. After a successful 2 days in orbit, Pathfinder begins preparations for re-entry. The payload bay doors are closed and the crew dons their flight suits and straps in once more. Pathfinder is GO for deorbit burn. Pathfinder begins reentry Main gear touchdown. Nose gear touchdown. "Pathfinder Houston - Wheel stop." "Roger wheel stop, welcome home Pathfinder!" Pathfinder, guided by Cdr. Munbro, makes a flawless touchdown on runway 15 at Edwards Airforce Base. A beautiful conclusion to a truly awe-inspiring mission. The shuttle will now be ferried back to Cape Kennedy, where it will be refurbished and prepared for another launch in the coming months. STS - 1 is concluded, thank you for reading. STS - 2 should be either later today or early tomorrow.

STS - 1, January 7th, 1979 The Greatest Test Flight, Part 1/2 The Start of Something Grand: As OV - 102 "Pathfinder" sits atop LC-39A poised to make her maiden flight into the cosmos, few can hardly believe it. When the Space Shuttle Program was approved by President Tedski Kerman back in 1970, many in NASDA (National Aeronautics & Space Development Agency) didn't believe the concept would ever actually fly. A re-usable space truck capable of delivering large amounts of cargo and Kerbals into LEO just wasn't something that was believed to be even remotely feasible at the time, even in the wake of Athena Lunar missions. However, despite the protests, the President pushed hard for the program to be adopted in the interest of saving costs. After almost 9 years of testing and developing, the shuttle is ready to begin its hopefully long and successful career. Two Kerbals have been selected for the first mission, Commander Munbro Kerman & Pilot Alan Kerman. Both are extremely seasoned test pilots and veterans of the Athena program, even flying together on Athena - 14. They are the best of the best. Munbro & Alan Kerman, Pathfinder can be seen behind them. As the hours tick by and the countdown milestones are hit, it begins to dawn on everyone observing.. "We're going to space today." Pathfinder, prior to the launch of STS - 1. T-minus 10 minutes and counting. T-minus 7 minutes and 23 seconds, orbiter access arm being retracted. T-minus 2 minutes and 40 seconds, the GOX arm is retracted. At T-minus 50, Pathfinder will be switched over from ground to internal power. T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6.. Main engine sequence start.. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Booster ignition and liftoff of Akerimia's first Space Shuttle! Clean external tank separation confirmed. Pathfinder still has a small orbit raising maneuver to perform. That's all for tonight, folks. I need to get some sleep, I'll correct any mistakes & finish writing part 2 of STS - 1 tomorrow. Constructive criticism is appreciated, I have never done a forum post like this before.

"Chasing Dreams" Introduction: Hello, and welcome to the "Chasing Dreams" thread. For the past few weeks, I have been working on my own alternate shuttle program and it's reached a point where I am confident enough to share it here. The main focus of this thread is to have a cohesive collection of all of the lore, mission profiles, and screenshots going forward. The main bulk of "Chasing Dreams" revolves around the shuttle program beginning in 1979 instead of 1981. This thread will follow almost every mission I do related to this, and should continue for quite awhile. Special Thanks: Tim Gagnon for the main patch and several others down the line. @Colby5874& Raccourier for helping me with patchwork. @AmateurAstronaut1969for inspiration with his Eye's Turned Skyward SSF thread. @Jackticalfor more inspiration with their Space Station Liberty thread. @Jay The Amazing Toasterfor their amazing Kānāwai: Ares to Mars @TruthfulGnome& @DG1for convincing me to do this, and thank you to Truthful especially for coming up with the name. The Space Shuttle Adventures thread & the ISS Adventures thread SunsetLimited84 and their Caliverse for the Delta-blue external tank idea. All of the mod developers that made this possible. Mission List (so far): Mods:

Redid SSE

Woohoo.

good stuff

That sucks. Hope someone finds a fix for it.

Having issues with the boosters plumes always showing, if anyone knows how to fix it and can tell me that'd be awesome.

I recreated Space Station Enterprise from Boldly Going.

Can't wait for Buran!

Yeah they are a pain to recreate in normal KSP, hopefully he continues work on this.

A shuttle without TPS would be awesome. Very useful for Space Station Enterprise!

129 mods currently installed, about 10-15 minutes of loading.

How do you fix it, then? I'm curious as I'm having this issue even with just stock parts.