Orbital Transportation System

[BubbleWrap]

The OTS Program was initiated in order to meet the needs of this challenge thread:

 

Orbiter Fleet

1.          Mk.1    Test Article            Destroyed During Glide Testing
2.          Mk.1    Test Article            Destroyed During Glide Testing
3.          Mk.1    Test Article            Destroyed in crash after orbital test mission
4.          Mk.1a   Test Article            Heavily Damaged after crashing, rebuilt and mothballed
5.          Mk.1a   Flight Prototype        Broke apart on re-entry, crew survived crash
6.          Mk.1b   Production Model        Mothballed in orbit
7.          Mk.2    Flight Prototype        Operational
8.          Mk.2a   Production Model        Operational
9.          Mk.2a   Production Model        Operational
10.         Mk.2a/M Flight Prototype        Operational
11.         Mk.2b/M Production Model        Operational
12.         Mk.3    Flight Prototype        Operational

 

The first 45 flights were numbered sequentially from OTS-1 to OTS-45, after which the numbering changed to use a combination of the orbiter number, and the mission number for that orbiter (so what would have been OTS-46 became OTS-1103, the third mission for orbiter 11) to avoid constantly renumbering future missions when they get pushed back in the schedule.

 

STS Missions

The following missions have been flown in support of STS objectives:

OTS-10 / STS-1a: http://imgur.com/a/LlVfy

OTS-13 / STS-2a: http://imgur.com/a/SdvGk (completed OTS objectives, but failed STS objectives as Orbiter did not land safely)

OTS-18 / STS-1b: http://imgur.com/a/CpQgm

OTS-20 / STS-2b: http://imgur.com/a/njuGB

OTS-21 / STS-3: http://imgur.com/a/M9GXe

OTS-23, 24 / STS-4, 4R: http://imgur.com/a/DHuKM

OTS-25, 26, 28, 29 / STS-5, 6, 7, 8: http://imgur.com/a/MGBGG

OTS-31 / Mun STS-1: http://imgur.com/a/kGLEe  (failed STS objectives as Orbiter stranded on Mun and needed rescue)

OTS-35 / Mun STS-1 II: http://imgur.com/a/D2gEz (failed STS objectives as Orbiter stranded in Munar orbit after launch and needed rescue)

OTS-1103 / Mun STS-1 III: http://imgur.com/a/wRiQI

 

Rescue Missions

The following missions have been flown to recover other missions after they got stranded:

OTS-33R to rescue OTS-31 stranded on Munar Surface: http://imgur.com/a/Rnc3R

OTS-34R to rescue OTS-35 stranded in Munar Orbit (mission was planned before the Munar attempt to be launched only if needed, and it was): No album, as it was just a simple flight to Munar orbit and back

 

Station Support Missions

The following missions have been flown to support the orbital facilities around Kerbin:

CTO-1 (OTS-29): Flown as part of STS-8 to deliver the first crew to the STS Station, crew still on-station

CTO-2 (OTS-30): Deliver a crew to the Manned Orbital Observatory, crew returned when orbiter was recalled

Station Expansion 1 (OTS-807): Deliver new modules to the STS Station: http://imgur.com/a/9L7c6

CTO-3 (OTS-1104): Deliver two new scientists, resupply the station life support systems and inflate the new habitation module

Station Expansion 2 (OTS-710): Deliver new truss segments, robot arm and reconfigure station http://imgur.com/a/v0GIu

 

Current Orbital Facilities

Manned Orbital Observatory

 

STS Station

 

Munar Orbital Station

Edited March 19, 2017 by BubbleWrap
Station Expansion 2

[BubbleWrap]

With the succesful return of Mun STS-1 III (to be documented later), thoughts have turned to a more permanent presence on the Munar surface. The delivery of Munar bases as monolithic structures direct from Kerbin has been determined not to be the best use of resources. Instead, a Munar orbital station will be constructed, based on STS Station at Kerbin, and fuel from the Munar surface will be stored there to resupply Orbiters heading to and from the Mun. The Munar base will be deployed using small, lightweight modules that pose minimal risk to the Orbiters delivering them.

Initial exploration is to be done in pressurised rovers until a suitable base location has been chosen. To that end, rover testing has begun at KSC. Crane rover testing: http://imgur.com/a/k7byJ

 

[Firemetal]

That is a flipping cool shuttle. Great job man!

Fire

[nascarlaser1]

what does "mothballed" mean?

 

great ship btw!

 

[BubbleWrap]

2 hours ago, Firemetal said:

That is a flipping cool shuttle. Great job man!

Fire

 

2 hours ago, nascarlaser1 said:

what does "mothballed" mean?

 

great ship btw!

 

 Thanks

Mothballed is essentially 'this is no longer in use but we don't want to scrap it, so we'll put it into long term storage in case we ever need it again', so Orbiter 4 is gathering dust in a hangar somewhere, and Orbiter 6 is parked in LKO without a crew.

[nascarlaser1]

12 hours ago, BubbleWrap said:

 

 Thanks

Mothballed is essentially 'this is no longer in use but we don't want to scrap it, so we'll put it into long term storage in case we ever need it again', so Orbiter 4 is gathering dust in a hangar somewhere, and Orbiter 6 is parked in LKO without a crew.

oh ok. thxs!

[BubbleWrap]

Mun Station

In preparation for the munar exploration program, Mun Station is constructed with two shuttle launches. http://imgur.com/a/bW1tU

 

In other news, a proposal for a Mk.4 Orbiter has been put forwards to support the MunEx project. The design is looking good for Munar operations, but has failed both it's glide tests so far due to orbiter break-up on landing. Since we are still 13 days out from the asteroid, authorisation has been given to continue testing, with an expected interruption when flight control is needed to handle the upcoming CTO-3 mission to STS Station.

 

[BubbleWrap]

With the loss of the fourth test article, the Mk.4 project has been terminated. Despite looking promising, the orbiter is difficult to land and virtually uncontrollable during re-entry. Flight data gathered from the five flights indicate that the garage generates ridiculous amounts of drag, and results in the orbiter orienting sideways on during re-entry

 

However, the space program goes on! Orbiter 11 flew OTS-1104 / CTO-3 to deliver additional crew to STS Station, resupply the life support systems and deliver the parts needed to inflate the new hab module. We then flew OTS-710 Station Expansion 2, performing a radical reconfiguration of STS Station and deploying a new robotic arm. The arm is terrible, first sending its target flying out into space (which was saved thanks to KSP crashing and me having to redo the last 10 minutes of my two hour (real time) eva mission), and then flailing about and threatening to tear the station apart (so i reloaded a quicksave and decided to move much lighter things for the time being). I think the arm needs moving onto the service module so it's nearer the centre of mass of the station. I also realised that auto-strutting the station stops it flailing like a spaghetti monster (mostly).

http://imgur.com/a/v0GIu

I need to deploy all the panels and radiators, but for now it's running off the service module backup panels, so all is good.

[BubbleWrap]

The initial phase of the Munar Exploration program has begun, as KSC enters final countdown for the asteroid mission only a few days away. Orbiter 10 undertakes landing duties, while Orbiter 7 handles Kerbin-Mun transfer of the payload.