Requesting mk3 payloads/missions to do!

[ZooNamedGames]

I'm running my Saturn Shuttle Mission series, and I think I could do with some more ideas. So if you have an idea for a mission or a payload that can fit within the space below, please provide! 

Note- I do have a station in progress and manned deployed payloads are not preferable.

Thanks for the ideas  !

[KerikBalm]

Why do you have that hub piece in there?

I've been working on mk3 payloads recently... for airmobile island hopping bases on laythe.

Its an SSTO, not a shuttle... but it can't get to laythe on its own, so I've got a LV-N cluster in its mk3 bay, that fires out the rear cargodoor.

I've also got a wheesely-panther powered variant capable of operation as a sea-plane (very nice on laythe)... that needs strap-on rapier engine pods (basically mini SSTOs) to get to orbit, and also uses a LV-N cluster in the bay to get to laythe. - The LV-N clusters then act as orbital tugs upon arrival and after refueling.

So... since the spaceplanes' cargbays are both occupied for the journey to laythe, I need something else to bring up the following:

A mobile 2.5m ISRU

A mobile "fuel depot"

A mobile hab (with science lab, or a seperate rover for a science lab)

A science rover... although I'm thinking a 1.25 part base for this one.

I'm also seeing if I could maybe get a neutrally/negatively bouyant sub-rover to work... the idea would be that the panther-wheesely one flies out to drop it off, then for retrieval, the carogbay door opens as wide as possible... the sub jettisons the ore-ballast, and then drives(assiseted by the wheesely engine) up the ramp, and re-attaches (this wheel auto-strutting behavior is great for transporting rovers in the cargobays)... ready for refeuling.

Congrats on the working mk3-shuttle:

 

That was a variant of my first one... before they added the vector... sadly... at ~700 funds per ton, it wasn't economical

I did get this working as a flyback booster design:

 

At under well 500 funds/ton... at which point it did beat disposable rockets...

You can always just do bulk delivery of ore/fuel to orbit if you get the cost down.

Or just fun... shuttles are fun, but SSTOs are more "economical" in KSP... if doind a sandbox save... shuttle away

[ZooNamedGames]

6 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Why do you have that hub piece in there?

I've been working on mk3 payloads recently... for airmobile island hopping bases on laythe.

Its an SSTO, not a shuttle... but it can't get to laythe on its own, so I've got a LV-N cluster in its mk3 bay, that fires out the rear cargodoor.

I've also got a wheesely-panther powered variant capable of operation as a sea-plane (very nice on laythe)... that needs strap-on rapier engine pods (basically mini SSTOs) to get to orbit, and also uses a LV-N cluster in the bay to get to laythe. - The LV-N clusters then act as orbital tugs upon arrival and after refueling.

So... since the spaceplanes' cargbays are both occupied for the journey to laythe, I need something else to bring up the following:

A mobile 2.5m ISRU

A mobile "fuel depot"

A mobile hab (with science lab, or a seperate rover for a science lab)

A science rover... although I'm thinking a 1.25 part base for this one.

I'm also seeing if I could maybe get a neutrally/negatively bouyant sub-rover to work... the idea would be that the panther-wheesely one flies out to drop it off, then for retrieval, the carogbay door opens as wide as possible... the sub jettisons the ore-ballast, and then drives(assiseted by the wheesely engine) up the ramp, and re-attaches (this wheel auto-strutting behavior is great for transporting rovers in the cargobays)... ready for refeuling.

Congrats on the working mk3-shuttle:

 

That was a variant of my first one... before they added the vector... sadly... at ~700 funds per ton, it wasn't economical

I did get this working as a flyback booster design:

 

At under well 500 funds/ton... at which point it did beat disposable rockets...

You can always just do bulk delivery of ore/fuel to orbit if you get the cost down.

Or just fun... shuttles are fun, but SSTOs are more "economical" in KSP... if doind a sandbox save... shuttle away

Well nice craft but what's the suggestion or payload you want me to carry?

[KerikBalm]

Well, I'm suggesting that you put together some "rovers" (I prefer to think of them as mobile surface base modules) that fit in a mk3 bay, and carry them to orbit... and then to another planet/moon where they form a base... ideally carryng them to laythe, where you can have another mk3 craft ferry them around.

[ZooNamedGames]

Just now, KerikBalm said:

Well, I'm suggesting that you put together some "rovers" (I prefer to think of them as mobile surface base modules) that fit in a mk3 bay, and carry them to orbit... and then to another planet/moon where they form a base... ideally carryng them to laythe, where you can have another mk3 craft ferry them around.

Well I'll consider it since I'm trying to keep it within the realm of the Space Shuttles.

[KerikBalm]

So nothing interplanetary?

And no landing your shuttle on Minmus or Mun?

If thats the case, then payloads I'd imagine are:

* Station modules: Fuel storage, crew habitats, research lab, perhaps an ore refinery

* Station associated vehicles/orbital tugs:

like a small mostrly RCS craft for moving station modules, maybe a craft that can act as a docking port adaptor, a claw craft, a more substatial craft that can "go get" a payload that was inserted into a different orbit and lacks dV to come to the station)

*Interplanetary probes: orbiters, small landers, small rovers.. anything that may have been launched by something like the shuttle-centaur:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_%28rocket_stage%29#Shuttle-Centaur

* miscelaneous communication and mapping sattelites for Kerbin

* Space telescope... either a "dummy" telescope that looks cool, or a mod one.

[ZooNamedGames]

9 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

So nothing interplanetary?

And no landing your shuttle on Minmus or Mun?

If thats the case, then payloads I'd imagine are:

* Station modules: Fuel storage, crew habitats, research lab, perhaps an ore refinery

* Station associated vehicles/orbital tugs:

like a small mostrly RCS craft for moving station modules, maybe a craft that can act as a docking port adaptor, a claw craft, a more substatial craft that can "go get" a payload that was inserted into a different orbit and lacks dV to come to the station)

*Interplanetary probes: orbiters, small landers, small rovers.. anything that may have been launched by something like the shuttle-centaur:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur_%28rocket_stage%29#Shuttle-Centaur

* miscelaneous communication and mapping sattelites for Kerbin

* Space telescope... either a "dummy" telescope that looks cool, or a mod one.

Yes and yes.

station modules already considered. Space tug already made.

Ive launched one interplanetary probe already but I'm considering more.

Ive done a CubeSat mass deployment mission already.

Ive kind of done a space telescope, granted I've planned for more.

[KerikBalm]

Well, you could launch a "centaur" like stage in the mk3 bay with a duna rover... go find the face on duna, for instance.

Put together a manned mission piece by piece from parts that fit in a mk3 bay?

A mun lander should fit in there, as should a trans-munar injection stage... or a return vehicle. A long time ago with a mk3 SSTO(with a large bay than what you have there), I made a fully recoverable mun mission... SSTO went to orbit, payload undocked and went to mun orbit, lander undocked and went to the surface and back... whole thing came back, and after some aerobraking in the upper atmosphere, docked back in the ssto, and everything came back.

You could do Mun and mimus missions... with the shuttle never leaving LKO

[Raideur Ng]

We need your shuttle to fly out to the nearest, meanest Class E asteroid/comet and plant a large drill and NERVA engine on it's surface. You then need to make it back alive. If you attempt to dock with any station during this mission, it will explode. Good luck.

[ZooNamedGames]

14 minutes ago, KerikBalm said:

Well, you could launch a "centaur" like stage in the mk3 bay with a duna rover... go find the face on duna, for instance.

Put together a manned mission piece by piece from parts that fit in a mk3 bay?

A mun lander should fit in there, as should a trans-munar injection stage... or a return vehicle. A long time ago with a mk3 SSTO(with a large bay than what you have there), I made a fully recoverable mun mission... SSTO went to orbit, payload undocked and went to mun orbit, lander undocked and went to the surface and back... whole thing came back, and after some aerobraking in the upper atmosphere, docked back in the ssto, and everything came back.

You could do Mun and mimus missions... with the shuttle never leaving LKO

Well I want to keep it within the same time frame, you didn't have the space shuttle deploying manned lunar missions, and if I wanted a rover to go to Duna I'd launch it in a rocket :/ . I'm not being stubborn it's the canon of the story I'm trying to keep linear.

2 minutes ago, Raideur Ng said:

We need your shuttle to fly out to the nearest, meanest Class E asteroid/comet and plant a large drill and NERVA engine on it's surface. You then need to make it back alive. If you attempt to dock with any station during this mission, it will explode. Good luck.

A) I don't think I have enough DV to escape Kerbin and get near one.

B) I don't have enough room for a drill, NERVA and ore tank.

[KerikBalm]

Well, no, the shuttle came after the lunar landings... and the saturn-shuttle, if it ever existed, obviously would come after lunar landings.

" I wanted a rover to go to Duna I'd launch it in a rocket "

Well, as far as cannon, if you wanted to launch anything, you'd probably use a rocket instead of a shuttle, let alone a saturn shuttle which would be even more expensive... It never made sense to me to do the saturn-shuttle... one might as well just keep the saturns, or try and modify it for first stage recovery.

For reasons to use the shuttle for those other missions: politics... for a while, they wanted all launches to be done with the shuttle (as the cost per launch was lower if they did more launches... even though the cost per launch was still always higher than a disposable)

[ZooNamedGames]

Ofc price is a big aspect but some aspects is simple, there's no way (from moderate Kerbin orbit) to pack enough DV  to make an effective Duna rover, transporter and lander. Too small!

[ValleyTwo]

 

Minutes of the Draconis Combine - Subject: How Do We Have One Gravity?

Problem: The planet of Kerbin does not seem to have the mass needed to keep us all from floating out into space.

Question:  How does it generate the gravity needed to keep it in one piece?

Answer:  Something within the crust helps keep it together.

Solution:  Put a satellite into polar orbit to study the pattern of ore deposits to see if there is a hidden amount of mass which keeps the planet generating the gravity we need to survive.

A satellite, designed for the purpose, will be delivered to the KSC to be placed in orbit by the Saturn Shuttle.  This mission, while not of a military type, should not be made public til the data has been collected.  Also, we should likely go to the government with any data before releasing it to the public media.  Due to the cargo bay size the satellite is using a narrow band scanner (M4435).  The total mass is 3.730 t.  And the built-in engine gives it 2599 m/s.  It is hoped that this will allow it to be put in the proper position with the help of the skilled crew of the shuttle placing it into orbit.  True, the use of the M4435 means we will be taking longer to map out the ore then a larger scanner but we want this device to fit within the cargo bay.  The two large solar panels, once unfolded, should give it the power is needs to keep working (along with the battery of course).  The DTS-M1 may be over-kill, but what is the point of getting the sat up there if we can't hear it because we went cheap on the transmission system?

MAD (MAsss Detector):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ngr8anutum4y5n/MAss%20Detector%20%28MAD%29.craft?dl=0

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is time for afternoon tea.  Would you prefer biscuits or cake with that?

(I hope this is what you were looking for?)

[ZooNamedGames]

10 minutes ago, ValleyTwo said:

 

Minutes of the Draconis Combine - Subject: How Do We Have One Gravity?

Problem: The planet of Kerbin does not seem to have the mass needed to keep us all from floating out into space.

Question:  How does it generate the gravity needed to keep it in one piece?

Answer:  Something within the crust helps keep it together.

Solution:  Put a satellite into polar orbit to study the pattern of ore deposits to see if there is a hidden amount of mass which keeps the planet generating the gravity we need to survive.

A satellite, designed for the purpose, will be delivered to the KSC to be placed in orbit by the Saturn Shuttle.  This mission, while not of a military type, should not be made public til the data has been collected.  Also, we should likely go to the government with any data before releasing it to the public media.  Due to the cargo bay size the satellite is using a narrow band scanner (M4435).  The total mass is 3.730 t.  And the built-in engine gives it 2599 m/s.  It is hoped that this will allow it to be put in the proper position with the help of the skilled crew of the shuttle placing it into orbit.  True, the use of the M4435 means we will be taking longer to map out the ore then a larger scanner but we want this device to fit within the cargo bay.  The two large solar panels, once unfolded, should give it the power is needs to keep working (along with the battery of course).  The DTS-M1 may be over-kill, but what is the point of getting the sat up there if we can't hear it because we went cheap on the transmission system?

MAD (MAsss Detector):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ngr8anutum4y5n/MAss%20Detector%20%28MAD%29.craft?dl=0

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I believe it is time for afternoon tea.  Would you prefer biscuits or cake with that?

(I hope this is what you were looking for?)

Aside from the possible airing of Roleplay, sounds like a good mission. We'll take it, however I can't even look at it until I get home.

Thanks  soonest possible mission is SSM-18.

[The Optimist]

Can you fit a mini-spaceplane into the cargo bay?

[ZooNamedGames]

55 minutes ago, The Optimist said:

Can you fit a mini-spaceplane into the cargo bay?

If someone can make it, maybe. You can see the size we can fit in the picture above.

[ZooNamedGames]

Anyone else have any suggestions or submissions?

[ValleyTwo]

I am trying to think of a few - depends on how small I can make the devices to fit them into the shuttle.  Mostly a space tug, small, for testing in orbit.  Kind of a probe controlled scale model.  

[ZooNamedGames]

3 minutes ago, ValleyTwo said:

I am trying to think of a few - depends on how small I can make the devices to fit them into the shuttle.  Mostly a space tug, small, for testing in orbit.  Kind of a probe controlled scale model.  

Ok, that can do. Let me know what you think of, since it seems good so far  !

[cantab]

A few things the Shuttle either did or was considered for:

Bringing satellites *back* from orbit. And not necessarily co-operative ones. Can you grab an uncontrolled tumbling object and take it down?

Spacelab. Sort of an ad-hoc space station in the payload bay.

Taking the external tank all the way to orbit, and putting it to some sort of use.

[ZooNamedGames]

2 minutes ago, cantab said:

A few things the Shuttle either did or was considered for:

Bringing satellites *back* from orbit. And not necessarily co-operative ones. Can you grab an uncontrolled tumbling object and take it down?

Spacelab. Sort of an ad-hoc space station in the payload bay.

Taking the external tank all the way to orbit, and putting it to some sort of use.

I actually did that first objective for a mission but to do it again would be fun- specifically space debris. Accepted!

Ive done 2 SciHab missions, so I'm covered in that department.

Ive thought about leaving the ET for later use (since I read about that) so I'll put the concept to more serious fruition.

[ValleyTwo]

After some debate it was decided that the Students of the Draconis Combine's Space Camp (and Waffle House) would submit a science project to the KSC.  And they designed a working model of the Nuclear Orbital Tugs that our engineers are working on (and failing to get to work).  Unlike the real things this tug seems to work, mostly.  It is very tiny and also free of any nuclear engines or nuclear material.  At 0.752 t it is very light.  And in vacuum should have 2344 m/s Delta-V.  

The goal of the model tug is to see how high a stable orbit it can reach before running out of fuel.  Of course there is a danger, due to how light it is, that it could escape the pull of the planet's gravity and go interplanetary.

The data from the observers on the shuttle (and the small computer inserted into the probe)  would be broadcast back to the planet's surface to allow the students to get real feedback from their creation.  The purpose of such a project, of course, is:

1.  Give the students real hands on experience in rocket design and building.

2.  Encourage students to think about future employment among the ranks of the Draconis Combine's Space Branch (or other space programs).

3.  Good Public Relations for everyone involved.

 

Model Tug:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k4jpc0tutzavj5p/Model%20Tug.craft?dl=0

 

(NASA takes part in a lot of programs with high schools and colleges and I figured you needed to launch a science project  - also it is hard to make a model of my space tug without tiny nuclear engines.  Also, I doubt, if we wish to be realistic, you would allow nuclear engines into a shuttle)

[ZooNamedGames]

32 minutes ago, ValleyTwo said:

After some debate it was decided that the Students of the Draconis Combine's Space Camp (and Waffle House) would submit a science project to the KSC.  And they designed a working model of the Nuclear Orbital Tugs that our engineers are working on (and failing to get to work).  Unlike the real things this tug seems to work, mostly.  It is very tiny and also free of any nuclear engines or nuclear material.  At 0.752 t it is very light.  And in vacuum should have 2344 m/s Delta-V.  

The goal of the model tug is to see how high a stable orbit it can reach before running out of fuel.  Of course there is a danger, due to how light it is, that it could escape the pull of the planet's gravity and go interplanetary.

The data from the observers on the shuttle (and the small computer inserted into the probe)  would be broadcast back to the planet's surface to allow the students to get real feedback from their creation.  The purpose of such a project, of course, is:

1.  Give the students real hands on experience in rocket design and building.

2.  Encourage students to think about future employment among the ranks of the Draconis Combine's Space Branch (or other space programs).

3.  Good Public Relations for everyone involved.

 

Model Tug:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k4jpc0tutzavj5p/Model%20Tug.craft?dl=0

 

(NASA takes part in a lot of programs with high schools and colleges and I figured you needed to launch a science project  - also it is hard to make a model of my space tug without tiny nuclear engines.  Also, I doubt, if we wish to be realistic, you would allow nuclear engines into a shuttle)

Accepted! 

Yeah  nuclear isn't exactly accepted but this works and I like concept.

[mk1980]

a while back i used a rocket plane to get a mun lander to LKO 

the lander was designed to fit in a mk3 cargo bay, since you use the longer version of the bay, you might be able to build a larger, fully reusable lander (my lander used drop tanks to make it small enough). as an added bonus, you could do some aerobraking upon return and get back into an orbit and the space shuttle could pick up the lander and carry it down to the surface.

does that make sense as a mission?

 

 

[ZooNamedGames]

13 minutes ago, mk1980 said:

a while back i used a rocket plane to get a mun lander to LKO 

the lander was designed to fit in a mk3 cargo bay, since you use the longer version of the bay, you might be able to build a larger, fully reusable lander (my lander used drop tanks to make it small enough). as an added bonus, you could do some aerobraking upon return and get back into an orbit and the space shuttle could pick up the lander and carry it down to the surface.

does that make sense as a mission?

 

 

The Saturn Shuttle Program is mostly after unmanned detached cargo. We are trying to keep the mission series similar to the American space shuttle history, so manned detached missions are not advisable by the orbiters. Any other ideas?