Cipler Micro Shuttle

[Dodgey]

I've always loved the idea of a micro shuttle in KSP so with the new update I decided to finally create one. It has a capacity of just 6 Kerbals (2 pilots and 4 passengers). I have managed it into a 100km x 100km orbit with a small amount of fuel left in the main tanks. The main craft has only a small amount of mono-propellent in it for orbital manoeuvring as well as docking so don't forget to fill it up if you dock at a station.

When descending you need to keep a high AOA in order to bleed off as much speed as you can in the upper atmosphere.

Just like the STS the SRBs have parachutes for recovery (my flight profile lands them straight on the runway) and I have plans to attach docking ports to the liquid boosters so that I can reuse them in orbit.

I'm generally happy with its performance however any hints WRT to the aesthetics are welcomed.

Also here is a download if anyone wants to fly it for themselves.

9JOfF

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Edit:

How do I embed?

Edited April 30, 2015 by Dodgey

[LvL]

Hi dodgey, you embed by Placing the end of the imgur link in [ imgur ] in front of it, and [ /imgur ] behind it (with the brackets on the text). the end of your link is 9JOfF. So the result should be [ imgur ] 9JOfF [ /imgur ]

putting the brackets on:

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Edited April 30, 2015 by oarum

[ghostbuzzer7]

I choose to challenge that mini shuttle of yours with mine although yours does have an intricate cargo design.

Nevertheless, my mini shuttle

Edited April 30, 2015 by ghostbuzzer7

[Dodgey]

Man that's neat, I didn't even try to bother with an asymmetric design but it looks like you nailed it pretty well. Just a question have you tried to change the thrust limiter on the skipper halfway through the flight to help out with the thrust balancing? It helps a lot with shuttles and I was able to get the stock shuttle into orbit that way.

Also what do you mean cargo design? It doesn't have any cargo bays on it.

[ghostbuzzer7]

No I have not tried to thrust limit the skipper.... (The most simplest of things that engineers can forget to do) *Oh it doesn't fly straight, add counter thrust!!!! When all you really need to do is thrust limit. Oh and what I meant by cargo, your payload or shuttle you may call it that you are lifting into a LKO. Ohh and I just noticed you had returnable stages.

[Dodgey]

Haha, yeah it's the simple things that get forgotten the most. Ok I see what you mean by cargo, it's quite funny actually, I was so close to this being a SSTO, the amount of fuel in the tanks is just enough to get it to orbit, I'm wondering if I just added a bit more fuel to it if I would be able to get rid of the SRBs'.

WRT the returning stages I absolutely love the extended physics range, it is so satisfying to see them land. In the second version I have made the entire craft "reusable", I put that in quotation marks because I have changed all of the decouplers out on the boosters to docking ports. So now I can dock the tanks to an orbiting propellent depot and de-orbit the engines to be "reused" (sandbox mode).