AdrianDogmeat

EUCLID | TRANSIT & LANDING Following the successful flight of CFT-2, Euclid is now separated from S-III flying on a pre-planned trajectory to the moon, with lunar arrival occuring on Dec 21, 1998 In addition, Mission Control at Houston, TX is now tracking the spacecraft, monitoring systems and telemetry data downlink via the Deep Space Network DAY ONE: SEPARATION "All systems in good status, 13000km above Earth" DAY TWO: TRANSIT "Mission Control reports nominal trajectory, Euclid 36000km away from Earth" DAY THREE: LUNAR ARRIVAL "Engine Ignition on Euclid, LOI in progress on the lunar far side" [Moving away from Mission Control] [......] Earthrise Deorbit "Engine Shutdown #1" "Fine-Tuning Landing Spot" "Approaching the Landing Spot, 80m above the moon" [Switching now to Mission Control] [......] "Euclid Landing Confirmed"

SATURN III | CFT-2 Following the (almost) successful maiden flight of Saturn III, engineering teams at both NASA and Rockwell International have both collected valuable data from the test flight including (but not limited to) Engine Performance, First and Second Stage telemetry data. Following this, works on getting the necessary flight hardware up and ready for Certification Flight Test-2 [CFT-2] have already started with a set launch date of NET Nov 1998 On top of this, some changes were implemented to the launch vehicle, these include: - Completely redone stage separation system - Changes to the Guidance System from using Saturn IB/V Instument Unit to a more modern Inertial Measurement Unit used on the Space Shuttle - Transitioning from using Lightweight Tank [LT] to Super Lightweight Tank [SLT] Mission Profile: CFT-2 will follow the same flight plan as its predecessor, lifting off from Launch Complex 39A. Inserting into a low orbit of 135x160km around Earth, But instead of a simple phasing burn at T+30 minutes, S-III [EDS] will perform for the first time since Apollo 17 a Trans-Lunar Injection on T+52 minutes sending another 20-ton mass simulator to the moon and then to a heliocentric orbit As part of the new flight plan change implemented on June 28, 1998, CFT-2 will be delayed to Dec 1998, and it will carry an additional payload being the Joint NASA-ESA "Euclid" Lander, intending to study the lunar geology and how the solar radiation affects the moon on higher latitudes Aerial View of Saturn III, Dec 16. 1998, T-minus 2 days "T-minus 10 minutes and counting, TLS auto-sequence has been initiated" "..eleven, ten, nine, eight.. We have a go for Main Engine Start.." "..six, five, four, three, two, one..." "Booster Ignition and Liftoff of The Second Flight of Saturn III Rocket Carrying NASA and ESA's Joint Lander To The Moon" "Houston Now Controlling the Flight of Saturn III" "One minute thirty-two seconds into the flight Saturn III already two miles from the Kennedy Space Center all systems reported in great shape" "Three minutes into the flight [...] Saturn III twenty-four miles in altitude eighteen miles downrange, good telemetry data from both stages" "Booster Officer here in Mission Control reports a good Solid Rocket Booster separation [...] Saturn III fourty-one miles in altitude fifty miles downrange" "Flight Controllers here in Mission Control standing by for Main Engine Cutoff" "Booster Officer reports Main Engine Cutoff right on time" "Mission Control now has data confirming a successful Stage Separation event" "Mission Control now picking up telemetry from the Second Stage five minutes fifty seconds into the flight" "And we now have reports of a successful fairing separation event six minutes into the flight" "Second Stage still following the flight plan six minutes fourty seconds into the flight" "Mission Control now confirms Second Engine Cutoff nine minutes into the flight S-III will now enter a coast phase" "Thirty minutes into the flight Mission control now tracking S-III as it coasts in Low Earth Orbit in preparation for Trans-Lunar Injection" "Mission Control now has confirmation on a successful engine restart fifty minutes into the flight on the way to the moon" "Mission Control reports a nominal Trajectory, All systems looking good - Standing by for Euclid Lander Separation Callout" [Switchover from NASA Narrator to Mission Control] [......] "Euclid Separation Confirmed" Post-Flight Analysis CFT-2 once again proved to be a successful mission and another accomplishment for the teams involved, not only that it exceeded everyone's expectations, but it proved the lunar launch capability required for the 21st century rocket NASA envisioned all the way back in 1994 As for the new separation system, reports indicate that it worked flawlessly, a far cry from the days of faulty first stage separations on CFT-1 way back in February of the same year Now Mission Control at Houston will continue to monitor Euclid's path on the way to the moon in the coming days, with Lunar Orbit Insertion [LOI] occuring on December 20, 1998 NEXT POST: EUCLID LUNAR ARRIVAL AND LANDING

CHANGE OF PLANS FOR CFT-2 While collecting telemetry and flight data from CFT-1 and ongoing preparations for CFT-2, A change to the flight plan was announced on a Press Conference held on June 29th, 1998 turning it from a standard Certification Test to a dual-payload Launch carrying the NASA-ESA "Euclid" Lunar Lander to the moon as part of the revised flight plan It will sit atop a 20-ton mass simulator on the way to the moon, separating 2.5 hours after Trans-Lunar Injection, arriving on the moon Note that the flight of CFT-2 will be delayed by two months to implement the changes to the separation system on S-IIC, targeting a launch window of NET Jan 1999 And as part of the NASA Press Conference, new schematics of Euclid were released to the public NASA-ESA "Euclid" Lunar Lander Schematic - June 28, 1998

SATURN III | CFT-1 After almost half a decade of design iterations, manufacturing and extensive testing of flight hardware, Saturn III is finally rolled out of the VAB and onto Launch Complex 39A ready to test flight hardware and collect the necessary telemetry data from both stages and Solid Rocket Boosters as part of the Certification Flight Test-1 [CFT-1] Mission Profile: CFT-1 will verify all systems and flight hardware. As part of the flight plan, Saturn III will follow regular launch procedures and inserting into a low insertion orbit (108x179km) carrying a 60-ton mass simulator. Then 32 minutes after orbital insertion S-III [EDS] will test engine relighting capability by inserting into the intended orbit of 180km with an inclination of 28.5 degrees "We have a go to proceed with terminal count and launch of CFT-1" [...] "TLS Mainline has been initiated, T-minus 10 minutes and Counting" "..twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven.. We have a go for Main Engine Start.. four, three, two, one, zero" "Booster Ignition and Liftoff! Liftoff of Saturn III, Pushing Humanity's Reach Beyond the Stars" "Tower Clear" "50 seconds into the flight Saturn III is already downrange from the launch site at a range of two-and-a-half miles at an altitude now of 5 miles" [...] "Approaching two minutes twenty seconds, The next event is burnout and separation of the twin Solid Rocket Boosters which consume about nine tons of propellant every second" "SRB Separation Confirmed two minutes fourty seconds into the flight Saturn III travelling one thousand eight hundred miles per hour at an altitude of 15 miles downrange from the launch site thirty miles" "And we have Main Engine Cut Off on the first stage 8 minutes into the flight Awaiting Stage Separation Confirmation" [...] "And we have Stage Separation eight minutes and 10 seconds into the flight We have reports of a minor anomaly on the first stage but it won't impact mission performance and the second stage has separated successfully" "Second stage ignition confirmed 8 minutes and 40 seconds into the flight S-III travelling at five thousand miles per hour downrange sixty four miles" "Nine minutes twenty seconds into the flight and Mission Control Confirms successful fairing separation on the second stage" "T-plus eleven minutes into the flight and we have the first Second Engine Cut Off. The vehicle will soon start cruising to its designated target of 111 miles above Earth standing by for Second Engine Start Two" [...] "Thirty minutes into the flight Mission control is now tracking the Second Stage waiting for Second Engine Start-1" "We have a confirmation on a successful engine restart, Telemetry now confirms that S-III is now within the target orbit parameters travelling at eight thousand miles per hour" "Mission Control will continue to monitor the flight path looking for any discrepancies in telemetry and altitude" Post-Flight Analysis: CFT-1 proved to be a successful test that validates most of the flight hardware for future Selene Program missions. The team will also look into the anomaly that happened on separation occuring at T+ 8 minutes and 10 seconds, this will be rectified on CFT-2 by adding a new separation system on the first stage This flight also demonstrated the in-orbit relighting capabilities required for Trans-Lunar Injection on future lunar missions later on in the program's lifespan Public Reaction: Hundreds of amateur and professional photographers and even locals outside their homes lined up across Cape Canaveral on Eastern Florida to witness the first Super-Heavy Lift Launch vehicle since Skylab 1 on May 1973 Here's some pictures from the event: Video Frame from a VHS camera near Ocean Front, FL Picture Taken on a Nikon F3 near Port Canaveral, FL NEXT LAUNCH: SATURN III CERTIFICATION FLIGHT TEST-2

Background & Development NASA was hit hard after the Challenger disaster, requiring a presidential commission known as the Rogers Commission Report, following this several steps were made to ensure that similar incidents won't happen again in the Shuttle's operational lifespan, these include: - Cancellation of shuttle-flown LH2/LOX stages including Centaur G'/G Prime - Addition of a new Shuttle "Endeavour" - New contract to build replacements/upgrades for the faulty Thiokol RSRMs By March 1989 NASA starts looking for contractors looking to replace the faulty boosters and by May 1990 Rockwell International is selected and awarded an $80 Million Contract under the name of "Reusable Shuttle Rocket Motor Upgrade [RSRMU]" to replace/revitalize booster production/technology 1991 Shenzhou 2 Uncrewed Lunar Orbit and the subsequent Aftermath: The world was taken by surprise after news of China becoming the third nation to enter the circumlunar space and return safely using an uprated version of Shenzhou. This spread panic among U.S. Politicians fearing that the United States might lose its lead in spaceflight technology to China - Therefore a congress act was reviewed and passed the next year "The Morrison Act" signed in February 1992 which grants NASA a 13% increase in budget to build a competing Lunar Program to land humans on the moon for the second time since Apollo 17, aiming for an end goal of No Later Than December 1999 Development Starts For America's Return To The Moon Shortly after the congress act, NASA began the development of new hardware for a Saturn/Shuttle Hybrid Super-Heavy lifter under the [Selene Program] with engine testing beginning as soon as 1994 In addition, new construction works began in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station shortly after the congress act was passed to convert the aging LC-14 into new testing grounds for flight engines, called the Cape Canaveral Testing Grounds [CCTG]. Starting from May 1992 to December 1993, with testing starting shortly after Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) Chart Space Transportation Main Engine [STME] was selected for use on future NASA Heavy-Lift and Super-Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles due to its reliability and proven design, carried over from the cancelled National Launch System, this engine will fulfill a better role in helping NASA return to the moon since Apollo 17 I - Engine Testing Testing began shortly after CCTG was set in place with engines delivered to Port Canaveral on 1994 New Year's Eve, with Testing starting NET February 25th 1994 Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) Full Duration Test on Cape Canaveral Testing Grounds - February 18th 1994 II- Design Iterations and Finalization To say there was a lot of iterations would be an understatement, from 1994 until 1996 NASA engineering teams went through countless concepts and iterations ranging from using shuttle-derived hardware intended for use on NLS to using smaller commercial launchers to assemble everything in LEO However a final design was settled on called the Saturn III - A successor to Saturn I and V, using Rockwell International's RSRMUs and a Saturn-Derived Core Stage but using lighter materials similar to Shuttle External Tank Lightweight Aluminum Structure, with 5 STME engines on the first stage and a brand-new Upper Stage called Earth Departure Stage [EDS] or S-III (Internal designation) using 2 J-2B engines with extendable nozzles - something that was considered to be used as an upgrade on the venerable RL-10 engine Saturn III Final Rocket Schematic Document - September 17, 1997 With Everything coming together, The First Inaurgual flight of Saturn III better known as Certification Flight Test-1 [CFT-1] is scheduled to be launched no later than Q3 1998, with Wet-Dress-Rehearsal commencing on Jan 1998 NEXT MISSION: SATURN III CERTIFICATION FLIGHT TEST-1

Terras Irradient Introduction: Hello everyone and welcome back to my latest Alt-history series focusing on a "What if" scenario in which NASA pursues a program similar to Apollo. That might sound similar because I've done one in the past where you can find it here, but in all honesty it wasn't that great and I was limited to a completely different solar system/modset - not to mention my interest in KSP dropping to an all-time-low. All things considered this will be a remake of the previous timeline but with better rocket designs that aren't just blatant copies of Eyes Turned Skywards concepts. I also have better visuals now and started making posters just to make it even more believable and somewhat plausible. I hope you will enjoy this reimagination/revitalization Inspiration/Special Thanks: @TruthfulGnome and their amazing No Shortage of Dreams Thread @AmateurAstronaut1969/@Jacktical's Artemis Timeline @Beccab's Integrated Program Plan @Talverd's Chasing Dreams Redux: @Jay The Amazing Toaster's Kānāwai: Ares to Mars And finally @PhazzeeYeehaw on Twitter for their extensive knowledge on the Chinese Space program (see latest post) (In all seriousness you should check them out, all of them have awesome posts and builds) Timeline of Events (subject to change):

Yeah the core's basically just a Saturn S-IC downscaled to 5m, and the upper stage is using ORANGES' Jupiter Upper Stage fuel tank with a scaled-up S-IVB/C mount I used 4.25m tanks in my previous AH but didn't like it since my options were limited to just Saturn I/IC hardware

So the first stage is 8.4m (5m ksp scale, not 5.6), and the boosters are the same diameter as the Shuttle/SLS ones

Saturn III Rocket Schematic Document

Is Kcalbeloh compatible with other systems like KSRSS for example?

Dynetics Pyrios Single-Stick

SLS Block II Cargo 10m - 2012 Proposal

Yeah I solved the issue, appreciate your help

I used ConformalDecals as a temporary solution

I can't find the inflatable heatshield parts no matter what I did, I even switched to the dev branch but it's not present in the part list Some other parts and part switches are missing as well

I get stuck on the loading screen when using Parallax with other supported planet systems such as KSRSS KSP Log in case you can find any leads EDIT: Found out that kopernicus was causing the issue

OV-125 Endurance

Well this isn't in my field of expertise so

I'm using Fox's Lukewarm TUFX Profile As for mods: KSRSS + 64k (and associated visuals) KatnissCapeCanaveral for KSRSS Tundra Space Center OSSNTR

Yes but you need this mod https://spacedock.info/mod/3498/Outer Planets Mod - Volumetric Clouds

International Space Station - 2018

Delta II - WISE/NEOWISE

Oh I'm using KSRSS (2.5x scaled stock system)

By "stock dim system" you mean lighting? if so I'm using TUFX for post-processing

We're so barack