inigma

New STS posted! I have posted the STS-5 prototype as STS-4 Space Shuttle 1.0.2 until Squad fixes stock areo. Until then, landings will be an adventure in grinding your teeth, or hair raising overcorrections. Enjoy! OP and stats updated. Test it out, let me know how she flies and any ideas for improvement.

i read all requests. very rarely though i hand out prototypes as im a perfectionist. but if someone is really really desperate I do. Expect STS-5 no later than Sunday night.

STS-5 looking good... 265 parts empty bay. 17 less than STS-4. Modified wings and tail since not as much wing is needed, and current mk3 wings and tail, in my opinion, are aesthetically inferior. This is more of a compatibility release anyways. Even then it's a major balance redesign still in progress. Still more balancing as I am not satisfied with some torque values yet in the new aero (or maybe im still discovering what works best). Waiting for RCS Build Aid to port to 1.0 to do major values tweaking. For now, this has the same relative performance characteristics as STS-4. The new aero really is a challenge and will take some getting used to since you slice through the air like butter (or is that air?). New flight profile requires g-turn at 16k and finishing by 25 to dump the boosters. Throttle management may be a reality now for inexperienced pilots so you don't sheer your shuttle apart, though I've flown both light and heavy bays with two third and full throttle. Just takes practice. Not as newb friendly as STS-4 but that was mainly due to old areo keeping most of the flight very stable - and exploiting that. This one flies more...real. Respect the air and you will have a good time. Added drogue, and added emergency parachute for all those times I lost the orbiter due to aero forces sheering the craft apart when I over correct and gave up and went into flat spins or just to see it all explode. New landing gear are too big for aesthetics. Kept old landing gear. Fixed external tank sep to prevent collisions. I really wanted the tail. Truth is, it's more hassle to use it than modifying a custom tail that performs far better. I'm pretty happy with what the STS is now. Just want to see if RCS Build Aid comes out so I can improve her just a little more. Hope to release later this weekend as I've got dozens of private requests so far. I'll be experimenting with solids for STS-6 or 7 after STS-5 release.

I have one. See my sig. I will post an updated ship this weekend.

most likely. recessed though. i havent tested them yet. have had no time. will have time this weekend i hope.

Yup, no mk3 wing connectors makes using the mk3 wing near impossible to look good and fly well with future STS versions. Someday... but for now it looks like I'll be releasing STS-5 with slightly modified STS-4 wings (to ease on part count). I'll be testing solid boosters after I publish STS-5, and possibly release them with STS-6.

After playing with new mk3 wing, im about ready to ditch it and simply keep a simpler version of the STS-4 wings. The tail I can use. the STS-4 wings work fine for reentry. they just blew up in the video because I had a full fuel depot in the bay i forgot to eject prior to reentry causing me to lose control of the vehicle and thus burn the leading edge of the wings leading to loss of wing parts and further loss of control until velocities ripped the shuttle apart. For now I'm going to release an STS-5 version cleaned up for 1.0 (new booster engines and other tweaks), since the vehicle meets performance requirements, but the flight profile is now different (2/3 throttle for most of the launch for safe orbital insertion). I might do further part tweaks to reduce part count (as thats one of my initial goals with 1.0) and see if my solid boosters might work now as a subassembly. Ive flown several missions of my currently modified STS-4 without reentry heating as severe as shown in the video. I think the mass of the cargo in the vehicle heavily played a part in it its demise. It would have doomed it in .90 anyways.

New videos posted to OP by Angel-124 and totalitor.

Well I worked a bit on STS-5 concepts. The new wings are a no go.

Reentry effects are real, and can strike you the wrong way the moment you don't respect them: This was totally unplanned and unexpected. I have a sense now what mission control managers felt like during a certain shuttle accident...

Congrats! You are the first to be awarded all badges in the Astronaut Corps. For your amazing work on these vids, and your own story, these final badges are yours: Wear them proudly! You deserve them! Amazing videos. Had me on the edge of my seat!

Figured out why my abort failed. Shuttle was carrying a 42 ton fuel pod in the bay and I probably should have emptied it before reentry.

It was controllable until about 30km, then I'm not sure what happened. I was in IVA when the explosions started. - - - Updated - - - I figured it out. I was carrying a 42 ton fuel depot in the bay that I uh... forgot to eject or burn prior to the abort. The shuttle was never designed to land with a full tank.

- - - Updated - - - Saw that! Will respond in the Challenges thread once I get my bearings! Awesome job!

Reentry effects are real, and can strike you the wrong way the moment you don't respect them: This was totally unplanned and unexpected. I have a sense now what mission control managers felt like during a certain shuttle accident...

um... you might be right Sampa.

Thanks snakedoctor. Replacing the booster engines with 80% throttle S3 KS-25x4 engine clusters is a quick and easy "fix" for the STS-4, although less than elegant. I made it to 200km orbit easy without any maxq issues as long as you stay at 2/3 power until sometime after booster sep at about 25+ km. I made a 200km orbit and landing back at KSC. And with your suggestion, you've already earned your Commander's wings, Commander. Good job! Also the STS-4 survives reentry intact... but the control of the orbiter is ... shall we say ... um ... none until you catch enough air to pull out of a stall. Then she glides all the way to where you want to land her. The shuttle needs tweaking obviously, but at least your flight and my flight are proof of concept that the thing still works. Right even. I took a video, but all it shows me is my flopping around on reentry and barely making it through alive and in one piece. heh. Now it's time to test my solid booster design I was hanging onto from Feb.

Just wondering if anyone's accomplished this yet.

its working now.

You sir have the reward and recognition of your peers for posting the first Spacecraft Exchange craft certified for KSP 1.0. Congrats! Have some rep!

Can't wait until this evening. Can anyone confirm if STS-4 still flies in 1.0?

No. he's actually developed the resource system in KSP.

nah, steam users deserve some love. they get the short end of the stick most of the time.

KerbalX site has crashed. Please confirm. logged in users getting 500 error http://kerbalx.com/error/500 at least I am. guests can apparently still access the site. fails for me in FF and IE.

Just a reminder that 1.0 will need the community to all pitch in and report anything game annoying or breaking - and when you do so, do it politely, on the bug report forum, and screenshots if you have them and steps to reproduce if you can. Look for other reports first too before posting. Let's make any post 1.0 patch a golden opportunity to make a great game even greater! (if we need it) And have fun! See you in 1.0.