STS Challenge v2 (Closed)

[Scarecrow]

Due to changing CoM as the fuel drains, it starts to pitch beyond what can be held on the flight controls, so I had to ditch the main tank before it was fully empty.  There wasn't much fuel left in it though, so it didn't cause any problems.

[mythic_fci]

10 hours ago, Scarecrow said:

-album snip-

Due to changing CoM as the fuel drains, it starts to pitch beyond what can be held on the flight controls, so I had to ditch the main tank before it was fully empty.  There wasn't much fuel left in it though, so it didn't cause any problems.

Awesome job! You have qualified for STS Commander Rank 1. Here's your badge:

Can't wait to see you do more with that shuttle!

[Gojira1000]

Aww. 32km short of the Commander badge - but the mountains were lovely.

https://youtu.be/3zCQ5yxSPFI

(Bob might disagree)

Ok, going to get serious and make a non-joke STS and do some of these fine challenges. Or crash lots. Either works.

[Fraus]

Well here is my attempt at a shuttle with the STS Fuel Pod, apologies on being incapable of sharing the imgur properly but I am being idiotic, so I await to be told if I have screwed up somehow.

Album - http://imgur.com/a/oVOnj

Craft File - http://kerbalx.com/Fraus/Aspire-STS-1

Edited December 22, 2015 by Fraus

[mythic_fci]

On 12/21/2015 at 11:19 AM, Fraus said:

Well here is my attempt at a shuttle with the STS Fuel Pod, apologies on being incapable of sharing the imgur properly but I am being idiotic, so I await to be told if I have screwed up somehow.

Album - http://imgur.com/a/oVOnj

Craft File - http://kerbalx.com/Fraus/Aspire-STS-1

Eh... You forgot to show pics of the landing. If you can show me that, you'll get the FD badge  By the way, you can share Imgur albums by pressing the big 'I' button on the very right of the editing toolbar, and then pasting the 5-letter album code (at the end of your link - in your case, it's oVOnj ) into the space. Here's your album embed into my post:

 

On 12/18/2015 at 11:17 AM, Gojira1000 said:

Aww. 32km short of the Commander badge - but the mountains were lovely.

-youtube snip-

(Bob might disagree)

Ok, going to get serious and make a non-joke STS and do some of these fine challenges. Or crash lots. Either works.

So close, yet so far... If you want, you can take this pilot badge for that flight...

...or you could try again for a Commander badge. Your choice!

On 12/16/2015 at 2:50 AM, Scarecrow said:

Due to changing CoM as the fuel drains, it starts to pitch beyond what can be held on the flight controls, so I had to ditch the main tank before it was fully empty.  There wasn't much fuel left in it though, so it didn't cause any problems.

Good job! You hereby have achieved the honourable STS Commander Rank 1 badge. Collect your badge here:

Edited December 23, 2015 by FCISuperGuy
Added response to Scarecrow

[Fraus]

Ah well I knew I would screw up somehow, my fault for assuming I uploaded all the screenshots and didn't upload about a third of them.. Updated the same album to have the images, also would you like me to get a screenshot of the resource panel on the fuel pod? Its still in the same exact orbit, the helpful part of having engineer so you can see I mean the EXACT same orbit.

 

[Speeding Mullet]

Hi @FCISuperGuy  I've been working on a big design review of my Buran to improve re-entry, and also to extend range.  I've completely redesigned the wing profile, in particular the body flap, and the profile of the double main wing also.  On top of that I've swapped out the S3 KS-25's for LV-N's as the orbital maneuvering engine.  Doing so saved a valuable 2t on the shuttle itself, and vastly increased range.  As a final point I re-jigged the RCS thrusters to provide a far more balanced system.  On the Energia launcher itself I've now added proper separation of stages, well hidden and using your clustering technique on the sepatrons.  It's a really pleasing look, and provides much much cleaner and better looking separations.

With all the above done I decided the STS-1 Bonus mission was an ideal try out for the improved format Buran.  Let's check out the mission report:

 

 

As you can see I got a rather comprehensive visit from the KSC Kraken, but the crew still survived.  Quite happy to run the mission again, but It's probably clear if I hadn't been rugby tackled at 35km by the launch pad the jet engines would have taken me easily back to the runway for a landing.  If you accept this, then the new and improved Buran did the bonus mission and boosted the 42t payload to 1000km

I'm still working on the space station modules, but keep finding bit's I'm not happy with.  I've got to try and figure out how to package it into 4 modules after that, and then I should be good to run the mission and release the station pack.

 

SM

[mythic_fci]

On 12/23/2015 at 11:59 PM, Fraus said:

Ah well I knew I would screw up somehow, my fault for assuming I uploaded all the screenshots and didn't upload about a third of them.. Updated the same album to have the images, also would you like me to get a screenshot of the resource panel on the fuel pod? Its still in the same exact orbit, the helpful part of having engineer so you can see I mean the EXACT same orbit.

 

Thanks! To be fair, I'd like the resource panel pic before official qualification. Sorry for hassling you...

2 hours ago, Speeding Mullet said:

Hi @FCISuperGuy  I've been working on a big design review of my Buran to improve re-entry, and also to extend range.  I've completely redesigned the wing profile, in particular the body flap, and the profile of the double main wing also.  On top of that I've swapped out the S3 KS-25's for LV-N's as the orbital maneuvering engine.  Doing so saved a valuable 2t on the shuttle itself, and vastly increased range.  As a final point I re-jigged the RCS thrusters to provide a far more balanced system.  On the Energia launcher itself I've now added proper separation of stages, well hidden and using your clustering technique on the sepatrons.  It's a really pleasing look, and provides much much cleaner and better looking separations.

With all the above done I decided the STS-1 Bonus mission was an ideal try out for the improved format Buran.  Let's check out the mission report:

 

 

As you can see I got a rather comprehensive visit from the KSC Kraken, but the crew still survived.  Quite happy to run the mission again, but It's probably clear if I hadn't been rugby tackled at 35km by the launch pad the jet engines would have taken me easily back to the runway for a landing.  If you accept this, then the new and improved Buran did the bonus mission and boosted the 42t payload to 1000km

I'm still working on the space station modules, but keep finding bit's I'm not happy with.  I've got to try and figure out how to package it into 4 modules after that, and then I should be good to run the mission and release the station pack.

SM

Very nice! Unfortunately, to be fair I have to ask for a successful landing. However, due to the successful nature of the rest of the mission. if you could fly another shuttle (can be empty) up to the same altitude and demonstrate a reentry, that would be awesome and net you the #1 spot on my list!

-FCI

[Speeding Mullet]

11 hours ago, FCISuperGuy said:

Very nice! Unfortunately, to be fair I have to ask for a successful landing. However, due to the successful nature of the rest of the mission. if you could fly another shuttle (can be empty) up to the same altitude and demonstrate a reentry, that would be awesome and net you the #1 spot on my list!

-FCI

Yep, totally agree, rules is rules Kraken or no Kraken

I just re-ran the whole mission as I realised I also hadn't placed the 42t pod in an accurate orbit so also needed to correct for that.  Besides, doing the landing only from 1000km felt a little cheaty.  Here's the new full mission report:

 

I probably could have squeaked an extra 50 or 100km out of the final height, but LF was running low, and 1000km felt like a nice round number.  Lifting @inigma's 42t payload to 1000km is certainly validation of the newly redesigned Buran, and proof it is ready for release on my main thread.  Speaking of which have you released your shuttle yet @FCISuperGuy?

SM

 

[Fraus]

12 hours ago, FCISuperGuy said:

Thanks! To be fair, I'd like the resource panel pic before official qualification. Sorry for hassling you...

Alright, and its fine, no hassle at all, I've been busy failing the STS-2 attempts.

[Speeding Mullet]

Hi @FCISuperGuy I've just completed Mission STS 4 and STS 4R with the Buran Shuttle, earning the rank of (should you pass the mission) STS Commander - Rank 4.  Here's the mission reports for your perusal, and a gallery for you to choose from should you want to use one of my photos to replace the temporary photo as per your OP (I can PM you the full res version).  Without further ado:

 

STS 4 Mission Report:

 

STS 4R Mission Report:

 

 

Gallery to choose image from to replace the temporary photo:

 

 

It was pretty awesome seeing the two shuttles on orbit within feet of each other.  Doing this mission sort of made me appreciate (in the most basic way) how challenging the real mission would have been should it have taken place.

Now I've really got to focus on finishing my space station overhaul, as it's preventing me from moving onto the next mission at this point!

SM

[mythic_fci]

On 12/27/2015 at 9:58 AM, Speeding Mullet said:

Yep, totally agree, rules is rules Kraken or no Kraken

I just re-ran the whole mission as I realised I also hadn't placed the 42t pod in an accurate orbit so also needed to correct for that.  Besides, doing the landing only from 1000km felt a little cheaty.  Here's the new full mission report:

-album snip-

I probably could have squeaked an extra 50 or 100km out of the final height, but LF was running low, and 1000km felt like a nice round number.  Lifting @inigma's 42t payload to 1000km is certainly validation of the newly redesigned Buran, and proof it is ready for release on my main thread.  Speaking of which have you released your shuttle yet @FCISuperGuy?

SM

 

Sorry for late reply, just finished setting up new computer... Thanks for the rerun, and congratulations! You are now the highest-ranked Shuttle flyer on the leaderboard! Keep it up! BTW, yes, I have released my shuttle. It's available HERE!

On 12/27/2015 at 10:34 AM, Fraus said:

-imgsnip-

Alright, and its fine, no hassle at all, I've been busy failing the STS-2 attempts.

Thanks! You are now on the leaderboard! Here's your obligatory Flight Director badge:

22 hours ago, Speeding Mullet said:

Hi @FCISuperGuy I've just completed Mission STS 4 and STS 4R with the Buran Shuttle, earning the rank of (should you pass the mission) STS Commander - Rank 4.  Here's the mission reports for your perusal, and a gallery for you to choose from should you want to use one of my photos to replace the temporary photo as per your OP (I can PM you the full res version).  Without further ado:

STS 4 Mission Report:

-album snip-

STS 4R Mission Report:

-album snip-

Gallery to choose image from to replace the temporary photo:

-nice album snip-

It was pretty awesome seeing the two shuttles on orbit within feet of each other.  Doing this mission sort of made me appreciate (in the most basic way) how challenging the real mission would have been should it have taken place.

Now I've really got to focus on finishing my space station overhaul, as it's preventing me from moving onto the next mission at this point!

SM

Once again, the Buran proves its worthiness! Here is your Commander Rank 4 badge - wear it proudly!

I'll definitely be choosing from those pictures. Will upload final decision in 24hrs.

Edited December 28, 2015 by FCISuperGuy

[Randazzo]

Do water "landings" count? It stayed in one piece.

I goofed a couple of times, forgot to activate the third vector on the circularization burn, turning it into two burns. Then I overshot KSC, as I came up short before and corrected a bit too much. In my defense, this is only the 7th flight of this vehicle and the third orbital flight.

 

Edited December 29, 2015 by Randazzo

[Fraus]

@FCISuperGuy Probably should have mentioned, my shuttle's name was Aspire STS-1

Edited December 29, 2015 by Fraus

[Speeding Mullet]

Hi @FCISuperGuy after quite a substantial amount of work I have finally managed to finish my Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost, and completed the last missions earning (should you pass them of course) the final badge at Commander level 5 (I think the OP is wrong as I already have 4).  I spent a huge amount of time designing and redesigning the space station to fit within the mission brief, and an even longer amount of time making sure it broke down effectively into 4 modules - getting it into 4 neatly packaged sub-assemblies was ludicrous, and involved several new techniques I didn't know about.  Making sure it was finely balanced and rigid enough for the the engines to be actually useful was also a challenge.   Without further ado, the missions:

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 1

 

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 2

 

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 3

 

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 4

 

 

I'd also like to take the opportunity to put my hat in the ring for the Architect badge (again should you agree of course).  With that in mind I am making my Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost available to the thread as 4 sub-assembly downloads. If you do want to award me architect, then I am happy to provide individual images or galleries, or anything as required.  If you don't, then I'll just have to try harder to develop something worthy . Here's the links:

Sunrise Outpost Module 1 - Engines, reaction wheels and RCS system.  Also provides the central core of the station to which all other modules attach.

Sunrise Outpost Module 2 - Science module 1 with experiment set that can be opened to space.  Also contains the RCS robot critical to construction of the outpost, and a large solar array.

Sunrise Outpost Module 3 - Second science module made up of a mobile processing lab and an experimental small Convert-o-tron designed to test on orbit resource conversion.  Also contains a neatly packaged docking tube.

Sunrise Outpost Module 4 - The habitation module including cupola.  Fully contained RCS life-raft in case of emergency can separate from station and maneuver to a safe distance.  Manned flight module so no need for RCS robot.

 

As a point of interest I wanted to see how far the station was capable of going.  I got bored and stopped at half fuel, but raised the orbit from 400km to over 1000km.  I suspect it might be capable of leaving the local system, if not making it to another planet, so it really does work!!

Thanks for administering this set of challenges, it's been really great fun!  Do you have any additional STS missions in the pipeline, it would be great to get a few more missions!

SM

[batman78781]

On November 30, 2015 at 5:02 AM, FCISuperGuy said:

Mission Specialist Badge

This badge is given to anyone who has completed any of the above missions with a shuttle which uses modded parts

 

Hi FCI,

I have a modded shuttle that needs testing, so I'm going to attempt the fuel pod challenge. I was just wondering if this would count as an entry on the leaderboard, or if only stock counts. I'll be attempting this challenge either way though, it's just that I have a mission specialist badge entry ready to go already. Thanks!

Edited December 31, 2015 by batman78781

[batman78781]

Hi @FCISuperGuy,

 

I've uploaded my attempt at earning the Mission Specialist badge. If you need any additional information or a craft file I would be happy to provide it. This shuttle is called the KTS Challenger.

Mods:  

Tweakscale : Shuttle wings, External tank, Boosters, OMS engines.

AIES aerospace: Booster nose cones & Shuttle rcs.

Fuel Tanks Plus: External tank.

 

 I put remotech antennas on the payload, but nothing else was changed. The shuttles boosters are 2.2m I believe, and I have clipped about 8-10 together( I forgot the actual number). These are required to lift the massive external tank and give it a moderately acceptable TWR on liftoff. The external tank is so big (5.5 meters I think) that I didn't need to drop it till before I was deorbiting. It leaves me with ~2250 m/s once I get to 100 km orbit. That was enough to transfer to an 800 km orbit, deploy the payload, and transfer back to 250 km orbit to make the reentry easier. The OMS has only about 400 m/s, since it is made of 2 rockomax thud engines scaled to 150%, and they have to share the fuel of a rocko X-16 that is the stock 2.5m (you see me activate this in one of the pics). I basically use the external tank fo all my operations, and I leave it in orbit using the OMS to deorbit and gain distance on landing if need be. 

 

Again, I'll post more pics if you need. Sorry for not captioning them though, there are quite a few. Thanks for making a challenge for mod shuttles as well! I'm working on a stock shuttle at the moment, so you may hear from me soon.

Thanks again, I hope this qualifies for the mission specialist badge.

Edited January 1, 2016 by batman78781

[Speeding Mullet]

8 hours ago, batman78781 said:

It leaves me with ~2250 m/s once I get to 100 km orbit.

That's a decent amount of on orbit shenanigability!  Be interesting to see what you come up with for a stock shuttle, keep us posted!

Unless I'm missing something with your screenies your orbit is not within the challenge parameters for the STS payload mission.  It looks like 800,275 and 799,428 which would be 847 meters.  The mission requires 100m or under difference.

SM

 

[Alchemist]

8 hours ago, Speeding Mullet said:

The mission requires 100m or under difference.

Facepalm! I've just flown the payload to 500 km orbit and got the craft back to KSC, and only now I've noticed this part of the rule.

Oh well, might as well make the next try to be in daylight.

Well, yesterday it was snowing around here... and the weather inspired me to update this replica.

[batman78781]

17 hours ago, Speeding Mullet said:

 The mission requires 100m or under difference.

Yup! I misread it as 1000m. However, the mission specialist badge says any of the above missions, so maybe the flying to orbit and landing counts. I'll see what @FCISuperGuy thinks, but I'm more than happy to fly it again if required. 

Thanks for pointing this out, I probably would do the same thing for my stock entry if I hadn't seen this!

[Alchemist]

Here's my entry with Energia-Buran replica

100% stock (yes, I have kOS. No I didn't even install it on this craft). As close to the real craft as I could get it.

Liftoff!

 

Ascent:

Spoiler

 

 

Booster separation:

And the rocket is empty - separating the spacecraft

Energia puts the spacecraft in a suborbital trajectory:

Buran reaches the target orbit in 2 burns of its Orbital Maneuvering Engines. First, raise the apoapsis further:

Then circularize

Fuel levels - payload still intact:

Releasing:

Orbit - 500 km above sea level:

 

Payload deployed!

 

Return:
 

Spoiler

 

Deorbiting

Return from such altitude is a bit tricky...

Going down in flames!

And climbing again

Set course for the Cosmodrome!

Одинокая птица, ты летаешь высоко...

Maybe a bit too high

Is this too steep?!

Or is this too far?

Didn't even need the jets!

Touchdown!

 

And we're right where we started!

So this concludes the flight of Buran.

Should I try other challenges with this spaceplane?

[batman78781]

Some pics of my new shuttle, all stock this time:

Also, are gravity assists (Mun) allowed?

http://imgur.com/9GdSirP

 

[Speeding Mullet]

On 1/3/2016 at 11:45 AM, batman78781 said:

Thanks for pointing this out, I probably would do the same thing for my stock entry if I hadn't seen this!

No problems at all

11 hours ago, Alchemist said:

Should I try other challenges with this spaceplane?

It's full stock so it qualifies for entries in to the other sub challenges in this challenge thread.  I say go for it!  Also sounds like from reading your mission report you are experiencing some issues with de-orbits, possibly stability?  Got a few hints and tips to share if you feel like it (or feel free to check out the link to my thread in my sig).  Also from an aesthetic point of view I could provide a couple of pointers.  I prefer the nose on your main tank to mine though, and I also forgot about that large flap when designing my body flap.  May have to revisit my Buran based on those photos, I hope you don't mind!

6 hours ago, batman78781 said:

Also, are gravity assists (Mun) allowed?

Hmm, I hadn't considered that as a possibility!!  I would say it's an absolutely legitimate method of getting around and in no way at all cheating.  Now....who's going to be the first person to get an Inigma Industries 42t payload to another planets soi using a stock shuttle!?  That would be something to behold.  Actually I hope you don't mind, but request @inigma's presence:  Has anyone managed this with a stock shuttle as far as you are aware?

On a side note batman78781:  You could probably do away with some of those engines on your shuttle and get better range on orbit, and possibly better stability on de-orbit if that's an issue for you?

SM

[Alchemist]

The main problem with reentry (especially from higher orbits) is that the nosecone tends to evaporate. It might have something wrong with heat dissipation. Such slight bouncing off the atmosphere helps with this a bit. And gives a good control over the landing site choice.

But balancing the wings (especially with regard for possible payload) was a bit tricky.

Actually, I was a bit surprised to find that with the new engines Energia ended up capable of maintaining stability even with the payload bay of Buran full.

 

 

[mythic_fci]

On 12/29/2015 at 10:29 AM, Randazzo said:

Do water "landings" count? It stayed in one piece.

I goofed a couple of times, forgot to activate the third vector on the circularization burn, turning it into two burns. Then I overshot KSC, as I came up short before and corrected a bit too much. In my defense, this is only the 7th flight of this vehicle and the third orbital flight.

 

Well. I guess the 'anywhere' in the definiton for STS Pilot Rank 1 includes water Feel free to collect your badge at the OP! (I'm on a mobile device)

On 12/29/2015 at 10:54 AM, Fraus said:

@FCISuperGuy Probably should have mentioned, my shuttle's name was Aspire STS-1

OP is amended.

On 12/29/2015 at 7:36 PM, Speeding Mullet said:

Hi @FCISuperGuy after quite a substantial amount of work I have finally managed to finish my Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost, and completed the last missions earning (should you pass them of course) the final badge at Commander level 5 (I think the OP is wrong as I already have 4).  I spent a huge amount of time designing and redesigning the space station to fit within the mission brief, and an even longer amount of time making sure it broke down effectively into 4 modules - getting it into 4 neatly packaged sub-assemblies was ludicrous, and involved several new techniques I didn't know about.  Making sure it was finely balanced and rigid enough for the the engines to be actually useful was also a challenge.   Without further ado, the missions:

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 1

 

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 2

 

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 3

 

 

Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost Module 4

 

 

I'd also like to take the opportunity to put my hat in the ring for the Architect badge (again should you agree of course).  With that in mind I am making my Sunrise High Altitude Orbital Outpost available to the thread as 4 sub-assembly downloads. If you do want to award me architect, then I am happy to provide individual images or galleries, or anything as required.  If you don't, then I'll just have to try harder to develop something worthy . Here's the links:

Sunrise Outpost Module 1 - Engines, reaction wheels and RCS system.  Also provides the central core of the station to which all other modules attach.

Sunrise Outpost Module 2 - Science module 1 with experiment set that can be opened to space.  Also contains the RCS robot critical to construction of the outpost, and a large solar array.

Sunrise Outpost Module 3 - Second science module made up of a mobile processing lab and an experimental small Convert-o-tron designed to test on orbit resource conversion.  Also contains a neatly packaged docking tube.

Sunrise Outpost Module 4 - The habitation module including cupola.  Fully contained RCS life-raft in case of emergency can separate from station and maneuver to a safe distance.  Manned flight module so no need for RCS robot.

 

As a point of interest I wanted to see how far the station was capable of going.  I got bored and stopped at half fuel, but raised the orbit from 400km to over 1000km.  I suspect it might be capable of leaving the local system, if not making it to another planet, so it really does work!!

Thanks for administering this set of challenges, it's been really great fun!  Do you have any additional STS missions in the pipeline, it would be great to get a few more missions!

SM

Amazing! Quite a beautiful station an one station pack I'll have to try out. I'll definitely consider this for inclusion as part of the challenge, although it might be a tad complex for newer players. But then again, this is meant to be a harder part of the challenge... Anyway, feel free to collect your badge at the OP! (Yes, I misspelled Rank 4 by accident. OP is amended.

On 1/1/2016 at 7:16 AM, batman78781 said:

Hi @FCISuperGuy,

 

I've uploaded my attempt at earning the Mission Specialist badge. If you need any additional information or a craft file I would be happy to provide it. This shuttle is called the KTS Challenger.

Mods:  

Tweakscale : Shuttle wings, External tank, Boosters, OMS engines.

AIES aerospace: Booster nose cones & Shuttle rcs.

Fuel Tanks Plus: External tank.

 

 I put remotech antennas on the payload, but nothing else was changed. The shuttles boosters are 2.2m I believe, and I have clipped about 8-10 together( I forgot the actual number). These are required to lift the massive external tank and give it a moderately acceptable TWR on liftoff. The external tank is so big (5.5 meters I think) that I didn't need to drop it till before I was deorbiting. It leaves me with ~2250 m/s once I get to 100 km orbit. That was enough to transfer to an 800 km orbit, deploy the payload, and transfer back to 250 km orbit to make the reentry easier. The OMS has only about 400 m/s, since it is made of 2 rockomax thud engines scaled to 150%, and they have to share the fuel of a rocko X-16 that is the stock 2.5m (you see me activate this in one of the pics). I basically use the external tank fo all my operations, and I leave it in orbit using the OMS to deorbit and gain distance on landing if need be. 

 

Again, I'll post more pics if you need. Sorry for not captioning them though, there are quite a few. Thanks for making a challenge for mod shuttles as well! I'm working on a stock shuttle at the moment, so you may hear from me soon.

Thanks again, I hope this qualifies for the mission specialist badge.

Our first mod submission! Great job, and great shuttle! Feel free to grab your Mission Specialist badge at the OP.

 

16 hours ago, Alchemist said:

Here's my entry with Energia-Buran replica

100% stock (yes, I have kOS. No I didn't even install it on this craft). As close to the real craft as I could get it.

Liftoff!

 

Ascent:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Booster separation:

And the rocket is empty - separating the spacecraft

Energia puts the spacecraft in a suborbital trajectory:

Buran reaches the target orbit in 2 burns of its Orbital Maneuvering Engines. First, raise the apoapsis further:

Then circularize

Fuel levels - payload still intact:

Releasing:

Orbit - 500 km above sea level:

 

Payload deployed!

 

Return:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Deorbiting

Return from such altitude is a bit tricky...

Going down in flames!

And climbing again

Set course for the Cosmodrome!

Одинокая птица, ты летаешь высоко...

Maybe a bit too high

Is this too steep?!

Or is this too far?

Didn't even need the jets!

Touchdown!

 

And we're right where we started!

So this concludes the flight of Buran.

Should I try other challenges with this spaceplane?

Nice shuttle and great flight! Only one thing - could you verify that your orbit meets the <100m difference requirement? Thanks!