Spice Launch System [SLS] 0.74

[benjee10]

Actually, They stopped painting the tanks to save weight

...That's pretty much exactly what I said

According to NASAspaceflight the tanks will probably be left unpainted for the exact same reason. There is no need to paint the tank since it just reduces the amount of payload you can lift. Paint may not sound like a major amount of mass but consider the amount you would require to properly cover an 8.5m booster core. The artists' renderings seem to be going for a publicity angle to try and hark back to the Saturn V. The only reason I can think of for them to paint the tank would be to protect against UV damage if the stack was going to be left out in the sun for months on end.

Notably, the SLS stages will depart from MAF without any white paint, despite NASA images showing a “Saturn V†type paint scheme for the monster rocket. As such, SLS will have an “orange†core, with the appearance of a large Shuttle External Tank.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/03/maf-major-modification-work-sls-production/

[Kibble]

I like the white outside, I've gotten used to it to differentiate it from the Ares V

One nice difference is it doesn't have that fat 10m core - I am too young to actually remember before Constellation was cancelled, though! System will probably have the same aesthetic look as Space Shuttle did, just with Orion on top.

[Reddragon]

The artists' renderings seem to be going for a publicity angle to try and hark back to the Saturn V.

That's true, although I never understood why that would be good. They didn't do it for Ares V or Ares I.

[benjee10]

I guess with Constellation they were trying to make the link to the Shuttle program clear as a sort of 'the spirit of it is still alive' kind of thing by keeping the tanks orange, whereas now they want stuff shiny and futuristic. I don't know, just guessing here. Personally I prefer the orange, makes it look less generic.

[Reddragon]

I guess with Constellation they were trying to make the link to the Shuttle program clear as a sort of 'the spirit of it is still alive' kind of thing by keeping the tanks orange, whereas now they want stuff shiny and futuristic. I don't know, just guessing here. Personally I prefer the orange, makes it look less generic.

That might be true.

[sashan]

Few notes:

1. Make jettison motors separate parts, with attach nodes for them. It is important to have them working, as at these masses even the smallest collision is fatal. Besides, they do give an awesome cosmetic effect. Note that Ares-1 rocket which everyone here builds has them facing forward.

2. Add collisionmesh to the skirt. It can me a simple cone partially sunk in the main mesh.

3. Fix upper node location - so far it is on the top of the dome, which gives a large gap in the sides if you attach anything to it. The gap is exactly 0.215 meters wide - measured with procedural fairings.

4. Add special launch clamp to fit those attachment points. Not necessary tho...

Edited March 11, 2015 by sashan

[sharpspoonful]

Why not just make a tweakscale config for it so we can rescale it to 1.25, like the other boosters?

[The Space Man]

Modified for the KSO, looks better than the stock KSO booster IMO

[Whirligig Girl]

I think every modding community has one big project that would seem simple, but everyone who has tried has failed. For the longest time, in the Trainz/Tomas community (when I was like, 8 or something), it was Diesel 10. For the KSP Forums, when I first joined, it was a proper replica of the Saturn V. Old versions that were broken beyond use where available, but they didn't work in the newer versions. Then someone started on the Saturn V again, released one, and then gave up before it was finished. And then, finally, OLDD and FASA made their Saturn Vs. Now it seems the Diesel 10 Project is SLS.

Good for you for releasing finished parts in bits so we can enjoy them!

- - - Updated - - -

Exterior was orange on Ares family rockets, which was very similar. On SLS it would be white. See the latest NASA videos and renderings.

You may still make those tank ends hidden in the interstage orange.

I doin't think the SLS will be white and black though. All of the drawings and concept art of Space Shuttles showed a white external tank. It's publicity. THey want you to think of the glorious Saturn Vs. Maybe the first few SLSs will be painted with black and white stripes, but eventually when they want to lift something at the limit of an SLS's cargo capacity, they're not going to paint them anymore.

[sashan]

Do you mean they would fly unpainted, like Atlas? I doubt that.

Shuttle's tank was painted because it was required to reduce boiloff. In fact it was a spray-on polymer foam, not paint. But the SLS has insulation inside, as far as I know.

[Kibble]

Do you mean they would fly unpainted, like Atlas? I doubt that.

Shuttle's tank was painted because it was required to reduce boiloff. In fact it was a spray-on polymer foam, not paint. But the SLS has insulation inside, as far as I know.

System's core stage is a minimally modified ET - it will fly with the same spray-on orange foam as Shuttle.

[Akira_R]

Do you mean they would fly unpainted, like Atlas? I doubt that.

Shuttle's tank was painted because it was required to reduce boiloff. In fact it was a spray-on polymer foam, not paint. But the SLS has insulation inside, as far as I know.

I believe you are mixing up paint (white or black stuff like what we see in current renderings and what was on the Saturn V) and the foam insulation which is orange.

From what I have read here the SLS tanks will most likely be unpainted, as in you will see the exposed orange foam on them. Ultimately painting them would be majorly impractical as it would add a not insignificant amount of unnecessary weight to the vehicle.

The only instance I can foresee them actually painting the SLS would be if the lower stack or any part really is going to be spending a significant amount of time outside exposed to the elements, in which case some kind of additional coating would indeed be needed. That and maybe the first couple of launches where delta-v requirements are well within the capabilities and margins of the vehicle and they are looking for a publicity angle, trying to harken back to the days of the iconic Apollo program. Similar to STS-1 and STS-2, they had their external tanks painted white. Not painting them saved around 272 kilograms (600 lb) according to this wiki article and is why every shuttle mission afterwards didn't.

[Sampa]

Modified for the KSO, looks better than the stock KSO booster IMO

http://i.imgur.com/mVyoxis.jpg

Wow! That gave me an idea to use it with the Component Space Shuttle! I might have suggest these boosters to the guys working on it to see what they think of it!

[Razgriz1]

Wow! That gave me an idea to use it with the Component Space Shuttle! I might have suggest these boosters to the guys working on it to see what they think of it!

The only problem with that is that the SRB's that the SLS will use are actually larger than the ones used by the Space Shuttle. The SLS uses a 5 segment booster whereas the shuttle only uses 4 segment boosters.

[Sampa]

(opens mouth to speak then thinks better of it...) true

[Avalon304]

That looks great!

So these boosters are suitable to be used in stock KSP as well? Because I quite like the looks of it.

[RobotsAndSpaceships]

That looks great!

So these boosters are suitable to be used in stock KSP as well? Because I quite like the looks of it.

No, they contain certain modules that RO adds, and due to that, they will not load.

[liquidhype]

No, they contain certain modules that RO adds, and due to that, they will not load.

Come again? They work perfectly fine in stock. Only a few features won't show up in stock, like the thrust curve to mention one. Also you would need to add a freescale module or adjust the config file to get the proper thrust out of them, if not, they are way OP for stock.

[maccollo]

Tried to get some work done on the core tanks, which resulted in this. Not particularly pleased with my effort. I mean, for one the surface quality of the foam is just wrong, and some other things are very wrong. It will have to do for now, but I definitely want to go back and redo them.

The only problem with that is that the SRB's that the SLS will use are actually larger than the ones used by the Space Shuttle. The SLS uses a 5 segment booster whereas the shuttle only uses 4 segment boosters.

If you guys want I will make 4 segmented version. I mean 95% of the work is already done anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Few notes:

1. Make jettison motors separate parts, with attach nodes for them. It is important to have them working, as at these masses even the smallest collision is fatal. Besides, they do give an awesome cosmetic effect. Note that Ares-1 rocket which everyone here builds has them facing forward.

2. Add collisionmesh to the skirt. It can me a simple cone partially sunk in the main mesh.

3. Fix upper node location - so far it is on the top of the dome, which gives a large gap in the sides if you attach anything to it. The gap is exactly 0.215 meters wide - measured with procedural fairings.

4. Add special launch clamp to fit those attachment points. Not necessary tho...

I will get the collision and the attachment node fixed when I push the core parts. extra booster parts I do plan to make the separatrons, special decouplers for the core stage that will connect into those big pyrotechnic bolts, however that will happen after I've made the engine adapter. For the moment those SRB nose cones from KW rocketry work just great

[Kibble]

Oh wonderful, big rocket <3

[Reddragon]

I think this is perfect. It's good that you have decided to use the actual colors.

[BLUAV8R]

i'm sitting here looking at this thread waiting for my new CPU cooler to come in so I can actually play on my computer without overheating my CPU after 5 minutes of usage... and this... this is testing my patience

[Akira_R]

the quality of your models and texturing skills are astounding. You may feel that the surface textures don't look satisfactory but compared to most anything else in KSP it is incredible.

[Kartoffelkuchen]

You are not pleased with your effort? You didn't really say this maccollo, did you!? Those textures are absolutely fantastic! If you are not pleased with them, I want to see with what textures you are pleased!

+REP

EDIT: Damn, I need to spread some rep to some other guys before I can give you rep again! Sorry;.;

[Sampa]

Hey, I think you should provide BOTH the Saturn V varient colors fuel tank AND the orange shuttle-like tank. One for each of the parties!