inigma

Your wish is my command. I borrowed Westi's solids and fixed them up to launch heavier and uh...longer. shhsh. Trade secret. KSP really needs a solid fuel tank to extend boosters. Unfortunately though my decision to ditch my beautiful boosters for STS-1 is due to the fact that solids have a hard time lifting the external tank fuel needed to get to the right altitude and speed at separation (15km) that pushes tank and orbiter with a full orange and yellow tank cargo to orbit using three skippers alone. Simply put, I didn't favor a ring of boosters since it doesn't look like the real thing quite yet. I'm working on it though. Perhaps for STS-2 if I can make solids work for ALL payloads - as that is the goal with this shuttle design. I need a booster that can launch this thing both empty bay, and full space fuel delivery tank load to keep it consistent and noob easy. I also ditched liquid OMS due to a limitation in Stock to not allow fuel flow to be specified by hotkey. It would be preferable to use the 909s for OMS since this would make launching the heavy fuel payload possible with solids most likely, however its not possible in stock KSP yet. Perhaps in a future STS version. Keep watching this thread.

I have solids for it. I spent 6 days developing solid boosters for this thing. They can do the job except lift a full orange and yellow into orbit. Im working on that too for a later release. just wanted to get this craft out now in the meantime.

In all honesty I started out redoing your wings, only to design a new set from scratch, which looked so beautiful that it demanded its own shuttle and launch system. It was demanding but fun. I learned a lot about how fuel tanks empty and all the different ways you can crash or explode. To keep the realistic as possible form factor and still maintain control I installed 20 SAS units in the main tank, and blinged the tank fuel line. I wanted to get this out by Feb 1. Ill work on reducing part count in future versions. If anything, I wanted to design one of the most beautiful space shuttles ever seen in KSP while keeping it flyable and practical. The final result exceeded my wildest dreams.

Part count updated. 270s with empty bay. When I post craft I'll post empty count. Might even go down before release. Aero KSP update will most likely drop count by 37 parts or more since this uses composite wings like Westi's shuttle. A practical use crewed launcher that is fun to make orbit with.

VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING Future work for release: STS Space Station Core STS 51-L Memorial Payload - Naito contributed the basic idea, might adopt his or tweak it myself. STS-7/E Video Showcase - waiting for finalized STS 51-L subassembly development. Shuttle Carrier Aircraft - Sampa is working on this for 1.0.x. CHANGE LOG STS Astrovan II - Updated to KSP 1.0 parts. STS Service Module v.6 - Added default spares and equipment to KIS Containers since most people forget to fill them up with useful stuff before launching. STS-6/E Space Shuttle: Aero update/fix. Airbrakes bound to key 6 as well as to landing gear. Lands beautifully now in 1.0.2 aero. STS ComSats (RemoteTech) - All new subassembly with three RemoteTech ComSats for starter communications constellations. STS Operations Module v.3 - Reoriented Mk2. Crew Cabin for right side up cargo bay views from window. Added stock satellite dish to mimic the Ku band antenna found in most NASA orbiter bay configurations. STS Service Module v.4 - Reoriented Mk2. Crew Cabin for right side up cargo bay views from window. STS Service Module v.3 - 1.0.2 compatibility rebuild with new versions of IR, Tweakscale, an KAS/KIS parts (primarily winch rebuilds). STS-5E Space Shuttle: SOLID BOOSTERS BABY! Same as STS-5, only difference is solid boosters. Performance is amazingly the same. STS-5 Space Shuttle: KSP 1.0.x major rebuild, single wings, tail, parachutes, internals, and balance pass. External tank sepatron added. STS-4 1.0.2 - replaced liquid booster engines with more compatible liquid engines. STS Service Module v.3 - replaced KAS containers with KIS containers, added Tweakscaled KAS winches and magnets to MMUs. STS ComSat Payload (STS-5) v.2 - All new ComSats now come with spinable Payload Assist Modules (which you can attach other satellites too if desired) STS SpaceHab (STS-107) v.3 - aesthetics update. STS Service Module v.2 - Reconstucted MMUs to eliminate cubic struts, and fixed tweakscaled KAS parts. STS Operations Module v.2 - A non modded copy of the STS Service Module now for better cross development. STS-4 Space Shuttle: Major aesthetics update to eliminate gaps, correct fuel line alignment, fix light brightness, eliminate wing jitter, and add an default antenna for science transmissions to the orbiter. STS ComSats (STS-5): Original Release STS Service Module: Original Release STS Operations Module: Original Release STS-3 Space Shuttle: Booster sep more accurate to NASA, decoupler realigned to prevent debris ejection, 0-42 tons rated to 300km orbit. STS SpaceHab v.2: Adjusted location of crew cabin to allow for easier crew transfer to science module. STS Fuel Pod: renamed from STS Fuel Depot STS SpaceHab (STS-107): Original Release STS Fuel Depot: Original Release STS-2 Space Shuttle: External Tank fuel line reconnection to allow for STS subassemblies not breaking fuel flow when attached to rear of cargo bay. STS-1 Space Shuttle: Original Release, 0-42 tons rated to 200km orbit. Notables for future video cameos: RedshiftOTF - awesome repper and fan ilo - posted screenshot of STS-4

STS-7 Space Shuttle STS-7E (With Solid Boosters) Space Shuttle STS-7 (With Liquid Boosters) Space Shuttle Epic STS-4 Showcase Film: Introduction With the plethora of space shuttles on Spacecraft Exchange, you might ask, "why another?" Inspired by Westi29's, Rune's, and Naito's shuttles, this shuttle is the best of all worlds. NASA realistic with monoprop OMS, as easy to fly as Westi's, large as Rune's, and capable of full orange and yellow tanks to orbit plus hardware well above 120km like Naito's, it also can return abort and land with a full orange and yellow tank in the bay! And if that was not all... you can turn around and fly an empty bay back up only by removing fuel from the lower external tanks and liquid boosters. Easy to load and fly. So easy to fly this craft should be stock! (Hey Devs, how 'bout it? This shuttle is free for anyone to use! No credit needed!) Convergence of shuttle technology was inevitable. I think I reinvented the wheel several times. 282 part count when empty, and easy to load and fly, this is my non-shuttlecraft magnum opus. I hope to maintain this as well as Mulbin has with his Munbug, each version being a new STS number. Anything you can fit into a large Mk.3 cargo bay, this thing will lift into orbit without a fuss, and no tweaks except fuel. I wanted to design one of the most beautiful space shuttles ever seen in KSP, while keeping part counts low, and handling and cargo capability practical to the real thing. This design is my first space shuttle, and it has exceeded my wildest dreams. Special thanks to Claw and Starwhip for rescuing the orbiter from a persistence file when I inadvertently lost all my craft files. You can check out Claw's amazing InflightShipSave mod and save any in-flight vessel as a new craft file. Pretty neat. This shuttle would not have continued development if not for this mod. If you fly it, take a pic and share it here! Let me see what cargo you're loading up into orbit. Also, if you want to use this shuttle in a youtube video or series, feel free! I made it for you! If you make a video, post it in this thread so I can add it to this OP so everyone can see it! [table] [tr] [td][/td][td][/td][td][/td][td][/td] [/tr] [/table] Can you fly the STS Space Shuttle? Then Check out our Challenge thread and EARN STS Forum Badges! UPDATE Nov 9, 2015: Certified for flights up to 300km orbit carrying 42 tons in KSP 1.0.5. Re-entry is more harrowing - you have to retro burn 1/2 orbit away, and when you start to see plasma, pitch up to 33 degrees - just like the real thing - all the way through the plasma until you see mach effects. Hit up your key of 6 for the split rudder air brake and glide to a solid finish. Whatever they did in KSP 1.0.5 fixed EVERYTHING I didn't like before. This machine is a dream to fly. No rebuild was necessary, though I look forward to a rebuild in 1.1 if they are saying it's coming as soon as they say. Enjoy! Craft & Subassembly Files All crafts and subassemblies are stock KSP unless otherwise noted. STS-7E Space Shuttle Ranger (UPDATED 6/14/15) - SRB Varient Dry Part Count: 297 (comes with included STS Elevator and STS Fuel Pod, total part count is 407) Cargo Capacity: 0-42 Tons Maximum Cargo Rated Orbit: 42 Ton - 400km Notes: MechJeb Friendly! FAR Compatible! Career Cost: ? Craft File KerbalX: STS-7E Space Shuttle Craft File Mediafire: STS-7E Space Shuttle STS-7 Space Shuttle Yorktown (UPDATED 6/14/15) Dry Part Count: 243 all stock parts! Cargo Capacity: 0-42 Tons Maximum Cargo Rated Orbit: 42 Ton - 400km Notes: MechJeb Friendly! FAR Compatible! Career Cost: ? Craft File KerbalX: STS-7 Space Shuttle Craft File Mediafire: STS-7 Space Shuttle STS Spinoff Vessels (Official and User Submitted) STS Astrovan KerbalX Angel-125 - Kestrel Shuttle Trainer Aircraft Download Columbia - Shuttle Carrier Aircraft MediaFire MattJL - Ares I Launcher (Cargo Rating: 10 Tons to LKO) Dropbox MattJL - Ares V Launcher (Cargo Rating: 12 Tons to Duna) Dropbox MattJL - Unmanned Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Vehicle (Sidemounted Cargo Carrier) (Cargo Rating: 11 Tons to LKO) Dropbox MattJL - Ares Vc Launcher (42 tons?) Dropbox Scathalh - Space Shuttle 3 Filedropper Third_OfFive - Space Shuttle Enterprise (STS-4 Modified with Mk.3 Wings and Landing Gear for KSP 1.0.4) KerbalX Subassemblies Official STS Subassemblies (Stock) STS Elevator KerbalX A stock elevator with rover car for ferrying up Kerbalnauts from ground level to the STS orbiter. STS ComSats (STS-5) (8 Tons) KerbalX | Mediafire Launch a pair of spinning communication satellites to geosynchronous orbit modeled after the NASA STS-5 mission. STS Fuel Pod (42 Tons) KerbalX | Mediafire The heaviest rated STS cargo, and the standard Heavy Plus cargo of the Space Shuttle Orange Tank to Orbit challenge. A self contained orbital fuel depot. Orange Fuel Tank and Yellow RCS Tank, docking, and maneuvering hardware. Fill all STS tanks and launch it! STS Operations Module (5 Tons) KerbalX | Mediafire A standard orbital operations subassembly. Contains an ISS style docking port with Mk2 crew cabin, and two modified Hercules Mk8 MMUs. STS SpaceHab (STS-107) (11.2 Tons) KerbalX | Mediafire For science! Last flew on STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia. A science gathering and processing subassembly that fits neatly in your bay. Official STS Subassemblies (Mods Required) STS ComSats (RemoteTech) (12 Tons) KerbalX | Mediafire Three Remote Tech enabled communications satellites for a starter constellation. Requires 6 STS Space Shuttle crew members, and either the STS Operations Module or STS Service Module. Both modules contain a necessary dish antenna to point at your satellites to maintain control of them to their final Kerbin geosynchronous orbits. STS Service Module (11 Tons) (Requires: Infernal Robotics, Kerbal Attachment System, and Kerbal Inventory System) KerbalX | Mediafire An STS Operations Module extended to add a modded robotic arm Canadarm style, Kerbal Attachment System winches and attachments, and Kerbal Inventory System containers with default equipment in case you forget to bring spare parts. For all your orbital satellite and station servicing needs. User Submitted Subassemblies (Stock unless otherwise specified) borisperrons - Teleoperator Retrieval System KerbalX Mods Required: Tweakscale A remote control station or satellite orbital tug based on a NASA design. ExplorerKlatt - Space Telescope (10.4 Tons) Mods Required: CactEye 2 Orbital Telescope BETA 5, Kerbal Attachment System (KAS) 0.4.10 Dropbox A telescope... in space! Great for taking distant pictures of astronomic interest. Daze - Orbital Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) (Tons?) Dropbox NEW! A stock replica of the Orbital Carbon Observatory. Jackvony - Shuttle Crew Cabin (Tons?) KerbalX Turn your shuttle into a crew transport. Carries 48 Kerbals. Jackvony - ICBM (Tons?) KerbalX An Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile. Speak softly but carry a big stick. Military hardware. Jackvony - Sherman Assault Drones (Tons?) Mods Required: BDArmory kerbalx.com/jackvony/Assault Drones/ Multiple independent assault drones. Military hardware. Jackvony - USAF Spaceborn Laser (Tons?) Mods Required: BahamutoD's Armory A spaceborn laser designed for shooting things on the ground or higher. Naito - TDRS-A with Booster KerbalX Redshift OTF - RCS Pack MMU Mediafire A small part count MMU, highly recommended (may be included in future STS subassemblies) Rune - Kerbal Maneuvering Unit I (KMU) Mediafire A smaller MMU for your STS Operations Module or STS Service Modules. SaturnianBlue - Centaur G Prime KerbalX A famous satellite/probe booster replica. Awesomely designed! Yukon009 - Inertial Upper Stage (Tons?) Dropbox xoknight - STS Hubble Space Telescope (10.5 Tons) Mediafire All stock parts, solar panels require EVA using supplied MMUs to assemble telescope in orbit. Controls 1 - SSMEs 2 - OMS 3 - Cargo Bay 4 - Cargo Bay Forward Lights 5 - Cargo Bay Rear Lights 6 - Tail Air Brake Toggle 7 - Ladder G - Tail Air Brake Extend, Landing Gear Backspace/Abort - Disconnects Shuttle from External Tank Flight Profiles Your mileage may vary depending on ascent profile and payload. I offer these two profiles, since they represent the minimum and maximum payload ratings for the Space Transportation System. For medium payloads, you will most likely only need to fill the central External Tank, and leave the bottom empty. 0 Ton Cargo Ascent (Default Craft) (UPDATED for KSP 1.0.2) Fuel Load: Empty center and bottom external tanks, and empty bottom booster tank (if liquid booster). A. Turn on SAS. B. Solid booster variant requires a starting reduced throttle throttle of 1/3rd as throttle is used to control pitch during launch. Liquid booster variant requires start at full throttle. 0. Spacebar to drop STS Elevator if attached. Again to launch. 1. Roll straight up to 15k, tail facing ocean. Solid booster pilots throttle up after roll. 2. Liquid booster variant pitch to 45 degrees by 25km. Solid booster variant pitches by itself to 45 by about 20km so don't touch your controls much after roll else you will cancel out SAS and could dip. 3. Separate boosters when empty and cycle to them to deploy their parachutes and then cycle back to the orbiter. 4. Pitch to 0 degrees by 50km. 5. Drop tank when empty or desired apoapsis. 6. Monopropellant OMS to orbit and deorbit. 42 Ton Cargo Ascent: (Carrying the STS Fuel Pod subassembly) (UPDATED for KSP 1.0.2) Fuel Load: Fill all tanks A. Turn on SAS. B. Solid booster variant requires starting game throttle of 2/3rds. Liquid variant requires starting at full throttle. 1. Somewhat immediately after liftoff (or after you stop gawking at the sheer power of the scene) but before 3km begin your roll program, tail facing ocean. 2. Liquid booster variant requires you to pitch to 45 degrees by 20-25km, before they run out of fuel. Solid booster variant requires you to go full throttle up just after or even during your roll program, but after this, no major control on your part is needed as long as you have SAS enabled and leave your controls alone for the most part. The solid boosters will naturally curve your trajectory to 45 degrees by about 18km, at which point you can ditch them in a beautiful separation ballet. 3. Cycle to falling boosters and deploy chutes separately then cycle back to shuttle (should maintain heading fine). 4. Pitch to 30 degrees by 40km. 5. Pitch to 10 degrees by 50km and roll belly down then pitch up immediately to 15 degrees. 6. Unlike an empty cargo flight, you will actually raise your periapsis to orbital target altitude while keeping your starting apoapsis marker in the atmosphere (65km or less). Control your pitch to accomplish this by focusing on building speed after reaching 50km, not height. 6. Drop tank when empty or desired apoapsis. 7. Monopropellant OMS to orbit and deorbit. Craft should easily make 400+km orbit with fully loaded STS Fuel Pod in the bay this way. Descent and Landing This Guide is by Frannington: 1) If you're using automation, ignore "Spaceplane Guidance". Instead, use "Landing Guidance" and select the KSC pad. Cancel it once the crosses meet. 2) Come in hot and high. Nothing is as useless as the altitude you don't have. ::Edit:: She's aerodynamic. So if you let the crosses meet, she will overshoot. That's what gives you the wiggle-room when you reach KSC. 3) Use S-turns to get yourself down where you need to be (in other words, do it like NASA did. It's a credit to inigma that this thing behaves so well, though I can't speak to its accuracy having never flown a real Shuttle...) 4) She will want to dive and has an alarming descent rate, so use SAS/thrusters to hold the nose up to bleed off the speed and keep her actually flying. 5) Land her like an airliner, with procedural turns. It's actually easiest to fly past KSC a couple KM to the left of it, then do a base and "upwind" turn. 6) If you get it wrong, the OMS engines have just enough grunt (and fuel) to extend your glide. Use them. 7) Don't hold the nose too high on landing. If you're carrying too much speed, go off the end of the runway. Descent rate is (in this simulation) more important. Those are tiny wheels and won't take anything above 10m/s when they hit the deck. Videos: If you make a video using this craft, post it in this thread so I can list it here, and others can watch what can be done with the STS. No credit needed. Just share your vid here! Latest Video (by totalitor): STS-1 Launch of STS Fuel Pod Payload (42 Ton Payload) STS-2 RTLS Abort with STS Fuel Pod Payload (42 Ton Payload) STS-3 Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial Flight Angel-125's Shuttle Missions! Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 - ExplorerKlatt's Orbital Challenge Episode 1 (STS-3): Episode 2 (STS-4): Nansuchao's FAR and DRE Run Fanwork by Columbia: This was designed and built in memory of the real STS-1 Space Shuttle Columbia, and its last flight STS-107 Feb 1, 2003. Render by esinohio Rick D. Husband William C. McCool Michael P. Anderson Kalpana Chawla David M. Brown Laurel Clark Ilan Ramon They flew to the stars, and came home to rest in the clouds. May they rest in peace.

watching this thread. need to see how much you can fit into a mk3 long cargo bay (testing my shuttle)

U know ive been meaning to develop kerbalcentral.com as an alternative ksp community, linking and listing alt ksp sites like yours.

Tweakable 3 made heavy+ delivery at 200k last night comfortably. Removed fuel lines and redid tank. 20 less parts! Needs slight vertical adjustment to find balance sweetspot between empty and full cargo. Booster tweaks up next. Space Shuttle Claw (Intrepid Class) after 200k heavy+ delivery.

shuttle tweaked a bit more. new tank design. no fuel lines. 286 parts (instead of 304) to deliver a full orange and full yellow to 200km circ orbit. srb tweaks are up next for hands free perfect lift off, and perfect separation event. then comes documenting min fuel required to lift empty, and recommend fuel for medium cargo. i still need a medium cargo subassembly to test. anyone want to offer one? perhaps a cool science package or what not? I only post the good shots. Figured I'd post what's REALLY happening behind the scenes during this WIP... It was Bob's fault this time. Lots o' fun. Now for tonight's shake down flight: Fully fueled Space Fuel Tank at 200km orbit before decoupling from Shuttle. Successful delivery with more than enough monoprop to make it back to KSC!

I am in the final stages of tweaking and testing my space shuttle. I just need a challenging complicated cargo to show off in a video. Anyone care to make a cool looking stock full mk3 cargo package subassembly that I could attach into an empty mk3 cargo bay? No limits. Would prefer if it filled up the entire bay. Be creative.

:D she made orbit with a heavy+ cargo! and ooh boy what a first successful run it was... Space Shuttle Intrepid made heavy plus cargo delivery to 172km. Second run made it to 182km. Landed her at KSC. Then I ripped out everything in the cargo bay leaving the bare floor making her as light as possible, and turned her around back to orbit only by reducing the fuel amounts in the external tank and lower liquid boosters (solids are nearly impossible at this time to lift heavy+ cargo - I should know - I spent 12 hours fighting it lol)! Success!!! A newb-friendly shuttle (hopefully) capable of simple empty flights to space, to capable of anything you can fit into the Mk 3 cargo bay without tweaking anything but fuel amounts! This thing is powerful. Easy. And beautiful. She's a dream to fly. The pictures don't do it justice. :D She can also return abort to KSC with any cargo, including the heavy+ you see above. Pics and vid later for that piece of engineering sweetness. 275 parts empty. 304 parts with the heavy+ cargo. Not bad. I hope to reduce part count further once I tweak it further. After tweaks, and a video run, she'll be ready to publish. Claw, Publish your addin as a separate thread. People need to know this exists!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D she made orbit with a heavy+ cargo! and ooh boy what a first run it was... Space Shuttle Intrepid made heavy plus cargo delivery to 172km. Second run made it to 182km. Landed her at KSC. Then I ripped out everything in the cargo bay leaving the bare floor making her as light as possible, and turned her around back to orbit only by reducing the fuel amounts in the external tank and lower liquid boosters (solids are nearly impossible at this time to lift heavy+ cargo - I should know - I spent 12 hours fighting it lol)! Success!!! A newb-friendly shuttle (hopefully) capable of simple empty flights to space, to capable of anything you can fit into the Mk 3 cargo bay without tweaking anything but fuel amounts! This thing is powerful. Easy. And beautiful. She's a dream to fly. The pictures don't do it justice. :D She can also return abort to KSC with any cargo, including the heavy+ you see above. Pics and vid later for that piece of engineering sweetness. 275 parts empty. 304 parts with the heavy+ cargo. Not bad. I hope to reduce part count further once I tweak it further. After tweaks, and a video run, she'll be ready to publish. I'd do it now, 'cept its 1:30am. heh.

It's a great mod for those who build, and fly, but forgot to save their creations or overwrote their craft with something newer and more broken.

Now there's a challenge for you: Launch a mother airplane, detach an orbital shuttle mid-flight and cruise up to 70+km suborbital, then shuttle comes down and redocks with mother craft while still flying.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/107142-Possible-to-Save-Ship-from-Persistence-File

Awesome! Thank you!

You should add these to the wiki campaigns.

Nice! You've Kerbalized the 787.

Ever flew someone else's vessel on a server and thought how neat it would be to download that craft and use it yourself, only to find that they never shared it in their craft library? Ever launched that perfect ship, but forgot to save your craft file? Ever visited an old savegame but lost all your craft files, wishing you could build them again? Fret no more. Claw developed a neat unlisted addin called InflightShipSave: https://github.com/ClawKSP/InflightShipSave Save it to your GameData, then fly your desired ship. Hit F6 to save a rescued copy of your actively piloted vessel as a brand spanking new craft file in your VAB! I thought the DMP thread would appreciate mention of this tool. darklight, Perhaps DMP could incorporate this code? Perhaps allow admins the option of saving every vessel launched on the server in a Server Craft Library?

Hey Claw, are you going to post this in Addons Work in Progress? I can help maintain it there if you dont have time.

Thank you! I will try it out!

You're welcome. It's not a listed mod since its so new, but it will be soon.

You sir are in luck. Claw developed a plugin last week to save a craft file out of a savegame. Install his plugin to your gamedata and load up said station. Then hit F6. It will save it to your VAB as a recued craft file. https://github.com/ClawKSP/InflightShipSave I had a need to save my shuttle from a bad game deletion (I deleted all my craft files accidentally but managed to have a savegame lying around). Starwhip pseudoed and tested the concept of saving a craft file out of a savegame. And Claw wrote it (aka beat us all to it). Lol. Still in development but it works fine.

Woa. Dude. That is freaking AWESOME! Offer it as a welded part and call it a part addon and you will be instantly famous in Addons too. Now all this needs is a Kerbal hoverboard...