The Great Saturn Replica Project [AS-203 Release]

[pTrevTrevs]

Since I've begun to clog up the WIP thread with all my Saturn posts, and because the Saturn I is nearing completion, I would like to move my progress updates for this project to their own thread.

There have been loads of Saturn replicas here, so you may well ask "Why another one?" Well, I felt like it. That's why. The Saturn rocket family is one of the most important in history, and I would like to try my hand at recreating these massive rockets that eventually propelled America to the Moon.

Planned Variants*

• Saturn I
  • Block I: First stage test flight, dummy S-IV: Planned
  • Block II: First live S-IV stage: Released DOWNLOAD
  • AS-101/SA-6 Apollo CM boilerplate test: Released DOWNLOAD
  • AS-103/SA-9 Boilerplate, with Pegasus micrometeorite satellite. Released DOWNLOAD
• Saturn IB
  • Apollo CSM  AS-201, AS-202 Apollo 1 (Planned), Apollo 7, Skylab 2, Skylab 3, Skylab 4: Released DOWNLOAD
  • AS-203 No spacecraft, test of S-IVB restart capability: Released DOWNLOAD
  • Apollo 5 Lunar Module test flight in Low Earth Orbit: In development
  • Apollo-Soyuz Test Project CSM and docking adapter (Soyuz rocket sold separately): Planned
• Saturn V
  • CSM Only Apollo 4, Apollo 6, Apollo 8: Planned
  • CSM + LEM Apollo 9, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 13, Apollo 14: Planned
  • CSM+LEM+LRV Apollo 15, Apollo 16, Apollo 17: Planned (Seriosuly, this one is gonna take some time)
  • Skylab I: Planned

*Subject to change

Work-in-Progress Photos

Saturn I Block II

 

AS-101 Boilerplate Test

 

AS-103 with Pegasus satellite

 

Saturn IB with Apollo CSM 

AS-203

Edited December 1, 2016 by pTrevTrevs
Added links for Saturn I and derivatives.

[Majorjim!]

Good stuff mate! I look forward to seeing the rest of the builds. I see you too made the fairing on the Saturn IB from radiators as I did on my Saturn V, how did you get on with those?

[pTrevTrevs]

7 hours ago, Majorjim! said:

Good stuff mate! I look forward to seeing the rest of the builds. I see you too made the fairing on the Saturn IB from radiators as I did on my Saturn V, how did you get on with those?

Dear god, that was the hardest part of the design. To be honest I had to pull up some images of your Saturn V to see how you did them. I still have no idea if they're going to work the way I want, I haven't been able to get the Saturn IB into orbit to test it yet.

[Majorjim!]

Yeah I spent more than a few hours on those bad boys..

 It's worth the time spent though, for a nice clean release. If you place the decouplers one by one they release more equally than if they are symmetried.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Majorjim!

[pTrevTrevs]

S-IVB is completely uncontrollable. Even with no input it always spins off in a random direction and it takes a huge amount of effort to fix it, almost as if a phantom force were being applied to it. At first I thought it might have been the engine, since it has such a high gimbal limit, but after restricting it to 10% it still has the same problem. Vernor engines make no difference. Less thrust on ullage motors makes no difference. I'm at a loss.

[Majorjim!]

How does the rocket behave from launch? Does that third stage spin the moment you separate the second? 

Is it controllable after the retros and ullage fire?

 Is the control from here probe (if you are using one) upside down?

 Is the CSM pod secure?

 If you like you can PM me the craft file, I am happy to have a look at it. 

Edited October 22, 2016 by Majorjim!

[pTrevTrevs]

7 hours ago, Majorjim! said:

How does the rocket behave from launch? Does that third stage spin the moment you separate the second? 

Is it controllable after the retros and ullage fire?

 Is the control from here probe (if you are using one) upside down?

 Is the CSM pod secure?

 If you like you can PM me the craft file, I am happy to have a look at it. 

• From launch, the rocket behaves fine. The S-IVB begins to spin a few seconds after separation of the S-IB.
• Nope, I have been able to stop the spin for a few seconds one time, but it resumed very shortly after
• Nope. I copied the CM from the Saturn I boilerplate, which definitely didn't have this problem
• It had better be, with all the struts I applied
• I'm going to take another look at it later today, and if I still can't find a solution I may have to hand it off to you.

[Majorjim!]

Have you done any hack gravity testing of the third stage alone? 

 Good luck with it man, and yeah in always happy to have a look. 

[Munbro Kerman]

Those rockets are a real treat to my eyes. Looking forward to see what you come up with next!

[TopHeavy11]

No smoking around Liquid Oxygen! I lol'd at that!

[pTrevTrevs]

Alright, I managed to wrestle a Saturn IB into orbit (sort of), although the S-IVB is still notoriously unruly and threatened to fly off course several times. 

Two major problems still remain. First, the rocket doesn't have quite enough Delta V to reach a stable 80 x 80 km orbit with the Apollo CSM. I've already removed some fuel to represent that the S-IB could only launch a partially fueled Command Module, but it looks like I'll have to take some more out. The second problem is with the adapter petals. for some reason they don't seem to want to separate like they should. In fact, they don't separate at all.

I have yet to find a problem with the Command Module, but I'm sure there's something out there...

[Majorjim!]

As soon as I saw squad show those little extendable antennas I thought they would be perfect for an Apollo CSM. I was right. It looks ace man.

 

[pTrevTrevs]

With the much needed help of @Majorjim! the Saturn IB's problems have been ironed out and it now flies smoothly. It does require a somewhat steeper trajectory and extra caution until the S-IVB has burned off about half of its fuel, but after that it's pretty easy to get it to orbit. The Apollo CSM has about a sixth of its normal fuel due to weight constraints on the Saturn, which limits it to LKO activities, similar to the real Saturn IB. Ablator in the heatshield has also been lowered due to the lower velocities experienced in a reentry from LKO as opposed to a transmunar descent, so remember to take this into account.

DOWNLOAD

Apollo Service Module designed by Majorjim.

Warranty void if launched with extra payload in Spacecraft Adapter fairing. Warranty void if S-IVB is restarted in orbit. Warranty void if CSM is launched with more fuel than provided.

[Majorjim!]

Just now, pTrevTrevs said:

Apollo Service Module designed by Majorjim.

I just made that new fairing body to it, the rest of the CSM is all you dude. This was an absolute pleasure to help with man, I am super happy with the petal fairing release!

 And a useful note to rocket builders, radiators cause a lot of drag so If you find your rocket flipping and you are using radiators high up, that is most likely the cause.

She really is a glorious rocket dude, nice work on it.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Majorjim!

[pTrevTrevs]

I took a few minutes to do the AS-203 variant of the Saturn IB. The only difference here is that the adapter fairing and spacecraft have been replaced by an aerodynamic nosecone, making the rocket light enough to get to orbit with enough fuel to restart the S-IVB in space.

DOWNLOAD

 

Oh wait, now that I have this done, and the Saturn I is practically ready for release, I have no more excuses to put off building the LEM. Anybody got advice for that?

[Majorjim!]

7 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Anybody got advice for that?

Take your time! The little one I made took about two weeks of work.

[Yukon0009]

8 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Oh wait, now that I have this done, and the Saturn I is practically ready for release, I have no more excuses to put off building the LEM. Anybody got advice for that?

That big shiny golden color probe core came in helpful for me.

[pTrevTrevs]

6 hours ago, Yukon0009 said:

That big shiny golden color probe core came in helpful for me.

Yeah, it might work, however I won't be able to use it once I get to the point where I have to add a rover and possibly ALSEP hardware to the LEM.

[Majorjim!]

Just now, pTrevTrevs said:

Yeah, it might work, however I won't be able to use it once I get to the point where I have to add a rover and possibly ALSEP hardware to the LEM.

Oh yes. The gold probes fit the look but are too easy. You can't fit anything in the descent stage. I chose to forgo the gold colour for a two tone appearance that still gave the feeling of the colours of the LEM but allowed for things in the descent stage. There really is only one good panel for making small, kerbal scale craft and that is the solar panel. Have a tinker though. Make a few test versions, that's what I did/do. Try many different approaches at the same time. It allows for a very fast evolution of the build.

[pTrevTrevs]

Alright, these rockets have been done for a while, but I was busy for a while and forgot about them. Fortunately, I had some time tonight to do last minute checks on each of them and they all appear good, so I'm going to go ahead and release them. I'm 99% sure there are no major problems.

SATURN I BLOCK II

SATURN I + APOLLO BOILERPLATE

SATURN I + PEGASUS SATELLITE