Shuttle Challenge v5 - The STS thread [Stock and Mod Friendly] - MAJOR CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENT! - 30.3.2020

[zolotiyeruki]

On 10/31/2017 at 7:13 AM, michal.don said:

 

Probably not in STS-2, but I'll design some sort of probe launch mission along the lines of your suggestion. There's a whole new tier of missions coming soon™ , as soon as I get the new badges for them

 

Ooh, ooh, sounds like fun!

[Alpha 360]

I'm back and ready to complete some more challenges

Cut and pasted my entry into here below

STS-3b

Returned to KSP

Sorry for the ages long delay. Computer was dying on me, so I had to let it rest. Now ready to return to work. 

(By the way, will submit for third mission silver stars(gold leaves since this isn't modded). The Extravehicular Mobility suit was just too hard to make. WAY too hard.)

Finally, after all the burnt down information store-houses, we finally are going to keep this up. The computer building WILL NOT burn on us again, I sincerely hope. Now, the Marsupial Mk4 is going to launch out into Infinity and Beyond. Well, hopefully not explosively. I noticed that the recent designs need alot of hope to get them working. Also lets not assume that hope is the same as faith, because if we actually had FAITH in these rockets, we would be plunged into depression. Forever. 

On to less depressing matters. Here is the shuttle on the launch pad. 

It only took four designs and thousands of kerbal engineers months to finally reach this design. Isn't it a beauty. The Mun in a very scenic position, one would think that such a picture could be photo shopped. But nooo, we totally waited until the correct moment to launch in order to capture these shots. 

Oh, everybody, don't notice that the tails are on backwards. That is a visual bug, it will be fixed in the next few minutes. Nothing to be alarmed about.....

The tank decoupling nicely.

(deleted picture)

The NewStart was NOT be damaged when the booster collided with it. The picture above might contain numerous explosions but NOTHING is NOT going to plan. Oh, wait, we have deleted that picture already. Shoot.

Anyway, here is the NewStart looking beautiful against the islands off the coast of KSC. 

Now we are in orbit. We skipped ahead because SOME people forgot to take photos, so we'll say that we wouldn't want to bore the people watching this to death going into orbit again and again. Wait, did I make references to many failed attempts? No, there were no failed attempts(-that will be publicized, because what doesn't happen on the news never happens at all).

After an insertion burn, this is our orbit.

We wanted a full view of the sky, so we put it into this insanely inclined orbit. We also wanted to prove that we had fuel to spare.

Here is a EM suit, or platform. As you see, we need some more work for EM suits. 

Now, Bill has left the platform. Look at that beautiful sunrise. Also, Valentina left the platform and returned to the ship, leaving the platform drifting into darkness. Yes, it was that unwieldy. 

Here was some of the assembly of the satellite. 

Bill returns to the shuttle, having completed his duty.

Now with the solar panels extended, its time to leave!

Here we are changing the inclination of the shuttle. 

Skip forward a few minutes and we are in a 6 degree orbit. Why six degree? Wellll, I hadn't done the best job with the maneuver node placement.

This is the reentry burn. Bill and Valentina are ready and waiting. 

Burning through the atmosphere. Since we are on the wrong inclination, we will not be landing at the KSC. (I'm a little out of practice)

After touching down on the water, We timewarped waited until daytime to catch this spectacular pic. Will this classify for a 3 silver star?

Edited November 4, 2017 by Alpha 360

[macktruck6666]

STS - 1a , no mods

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2017 by macktruck6666

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

Ok I completed STS-2b and STS-3 in one go. Placed telescope into 560km 26.9° inclined orbit, made a massive set of orbital maneuvers to rendevous with the MulletDyne fuel tank in a 331km equatorial orbit, and brought it back to the KSC.

Spoiler

After the evacuation foam was sprayed into the cargo bay, and no fires occurred. It was determined that the fuel tank (but not the oxidizer tank) had burst under the shock of landing. After the majority of the fuel was allowed to evaporate and the oxidizer and mono-propellant were drained, investigators entered the vehicle and collected samples before allowing recovery crew to begin repair and maintenance. Fortunately the damage to the shuttle was mostly superficial, limited to some dented panels in the cargo hold and burst tires on the starboard main gear. As for the MulletDyne fuel tank, not so much.

After an extensive study, it was determined that several stringers in the MulletDyne fuel tank had been constructed with a different material than specified by the designer. As a result, the reactive fuel had corroded them, producing the contaminants. This also weakened the tank structure, resulting in its failure upon touchdown.

The KAA has now posted an advisement against carrying large containers of fuel which have been affected by an unknown contaminant for a significant period of time.

I believe this qualifies me for the commander badge on the STS-2b and 3 missions. It was fun

Edited November 5, 2017 by EpicSpaceTroll139

[michal.don]

On 31. 10. 2017 at 4:26 PM, panzerknoef said:

Here I am again, this time filing my application for STS-4. Did it with both of the shuttles I've currently got operational. The mission went fairly well I'd say, only my bigger shuttle's crew variant has a horrible glide path and that took some getting used to on the way down.

Yeah, from my experience, the larger the shuttle, the trickier it is on descent. Well flown mission, nevertheless, so a badge for you:

 

On 1. 11. 2017 at 5:00 AM, CaptainPanda said:

Entry for STS-1A:

I tried to make my shuttle as much a clone of the actual American Space Shuttle as I could. To that end, I did use quite a few mods to get the look and feel of the shuttle just right. I present STS-100 Albatross:

  Hide contents

Hello, and welcome to the challenge!

You definitely succeeded in making a quite realistic looking replica. It looks very nice, despite almost all the screenshots happening at night. I'm looking forward to seeing your shuttle take part in the more difficult mission.

As for the landing, it almost ended on the runway, so this time, I'll award the commander badge. But the next time I'll be more strict, so try to land it in one piece

And for the next report, please, upload all the pictures in one imgur album, it's much easier to review that way. Thanks!

On 1. 11. 2017 at 9:54 AM, hoioh said:

Can I have the STS-2b as well based on the first attempt at STS-2? I did land the fuel tank that time.

Sure thing! Here you go:

Regarding the STS-3 though...

As the album is not sorted, I can't really see what's going on most of the time. But it seems to me that you are not attaching the solar panels to the telescope, but one big part with both the solar panels attached to it. I'm sorry, but that's not the way it's supposed to go. Maybe the rules are not absolutely clear, I'll take a look at them and possibly re-phrase. But the thing is to attach 2 solar arrays to the whole telescope, not buld the telescope from two parts. I hope you won't be too mad at me

(More reviews coming soon)

Michal.don

 

[Alpha 360]

Coming again soon. THIS TIME, I will succeed, I swear...........

[michal.don]

On 3. 11. 2017 at 6:19 AM, Alpha 360 said:

Cut and pasted my entry into here below

STS-3b

Sorry, but there is a similar issue as with hoio's entry: I don't see the actual "orbital assembly" happening. Just going on an EVA and extending the panels is not enough. The MMU must pick up the arrays from the shuttle cargo bay and transport and attach them to the telescope. So I can not approve your mission, I'm really sorry.

 

On 4. 11. 2017 at 8:29 AM, macktruck6666 said:

STS - 1a , no mods

Hello, and welcome to the challenge!

It seems that another huge shuttle joins the club  Quite an original design you have, I don't recall anyone other using such big fuel pods on the wings, or this type of engine mounts over the wings.

Good job designing and flying, here are your badges, and I'm looking forward for more!

 

On 4. 11. 2017 at 10:25 PM, EpicSpaceTroll139 said:

Ok I completed STS-2b and STS-3 in one go. Placed telescope into 560km 26.9° inclined orbit, made a massive set of orbital maneuvers to rendevous with the MulletDyne fuel tank in a 331km equatorial orbit, and brought it back to the KSC.

Great job! I think this is the first time anybody did STS-2b and STS-3 together, but this is a textbook example of how it should be done  Great telescope design, I especially like the shutter. (@hoioh and @Alpha 360, if you're not sure what I meant in your reviews, take a look at this vide, this is how the orbital assembly should look like)

Anyway, great mission, and well deserved badges:

 

Michal.don

[hoioh]

7 hours ago, michal.don said:

As the album is not sorted, I can't really see what's going on most of the time. But it seems to me that you are not attaching the solar panels to the telescope, but one big part with both the solar panels attached to it. I'm sorry, but that's not the way it's supposed to go. Maybe the rules are not absolutely clear, I'll take a look at them and possibly re-phrase. But the thing is to attach 2 solar arrays to the whole telescope, not buld the telescope from two parts. I hope you won't be too mad at me

I saw some mission reports later on that already made me doubt what I had done, if possible, you might attach an example report to the missions, where you can ofcourse, to show in great detail what the deal is? That would have been a great help in my own case. I'll try again, but proper. I did like the design of the scope in the end, so it'll be worth it!

[hoioh]

STS-3 mission report:

https://imgur.com/a/DQG7P

Just had to adjust the boosters a bit, but once that was figured out it all went real nice and smooth, Jeb didn't chew on the fuel lines again, the ship did not explode, not even a little bit, retracted the solar panels in time before the athmosphere tore them off and fitting the panels was an actual breeze, though my MMU might be a bit overpowered. And look at the nice sattelite! Isn't she pretty?

(oh and I managed to get all the images in the correct order this time. For some reason Imgur messes up the order when I copy paste all those images at once. Am I the only one experiencing this?)

Edited November 7, 2017 by hoioh

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

40 minutes ago, hoioh said:

<snip> For some reason Imgur messes up the order when I copy paste all those images at once. Am I the only one experiencing this?)

Nope. I know, it's annoying.

[michal.don]

9 hours ago, hoioh said:

STS-3 mission report:

I'm glad to see that my verdict on your previous mission did not discourage you to continue in this challenge  This time you certainly got it right - that's the orbital assembly I'm talking about. Nicely flown, a very precise orbit, and an impressive telescope. Just to be sure - is the telescope stock? I don't recognize some of the parts.

If it is stock, here is your well deserved badge:

Congratulations!

 

Regarding the imgur issue - nah, it's not just you.... I know the feeling too

Michal.don

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

@michal.don Is using visual mods considered stock or modded?

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

3 hours ago, michal.don said:

<snip> Just to be sure - is the telescope stock? I don't recognize some of the parts. <Snip>

From what I can tell it looks stock. I'm guessing the part you're not recognizing is the forward tube. I'm 90% sure those are stock medium control surfaces.

 

@Bottle Rocketeer 500 Visual mods would still leave you in the stock category.

It's only when a mod adds parts to or affects how your shuttle flies that the question comes up.

[panzerknoef]

https://imgur.com/a/Fb0uU

 

STS-5 done! I actually did it a while back so all I had to do was arrange the images and put some text in, but there's so many images... Took a while. My sincere apologies if it's boring to go through!

[michal.don]

20 hours ago, panzerknoef said:

STS-5 done! I actually did it a while back so all I had to do was arrange the images and put some text in, but there's so many images... Took a while. My sincere apologies if it's boring to go through!

Not boring at all - routinely executed missions, and a beautiful station as a result, that's the way to do the shuttling  Congratulations, a well earned badge for you:

And now the real fun part comes - how far will you be able to take your shuttle? Time will surely tell

Michal.don

On 8. 11. 2017 at 12:51 PM, Bottle Rocketeer 500 said:

Is using visual mods considered stock or modded?

Yes, mods that only affect visuals, and do not add parts/change game behavior do not prevent you from getting the stock badge, if that's what you are aiming for

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

@michal.don The STS-5-8 says that the station requires 4 modules, a service module with SAS, RCS, and propulsion, a habitation module, and 2 science modules.

Is it alright if I, say, put the RCS and other fuel in one module, SAS on the habitation module, and the station-keeping engines on one of the science modules? I'd still have 4 modules (actually my current design includes 5 + docked subcomponents) and include all the required functions, but the system would be distributed around the station.

[michal.don]

11 hours ago, EpicSpaceTroll139 said:

Is it alright if I, say, put the RCS and other fuel in one module, SAS on the habitation module, and the station-keeping engines on one of the science modules? I'd still have 4 modules (actually my current design includes 5 + docked subcomponents) and include all the required functions, but the system would be distributed around the station.

I don't see why not, as long as the station is properly big, and assembled in four shuttle flights, go for it

[hoioh]

On 8-11-2017 at 10:49 AM, michal.don said:

I'm glad to see that my verdict on your previous mission did not discourage you to continue in this challenge  This time you certainly got it right - that's the orbital assembly I'm talking about. Nicely flown, a very precise orbit, and an impressive telescope. Just to be sure - is the telescope stock? I don't recognize some of the parts.

If it is stock, here is your well deserved badge:

Congratulations!

 

Regarding the imgur issue - nah, it's not just you.... I know the feeling too

Michal.don

 

I've played modded KSP for so long I honestly didn't realize it wasn't a stock part, it looks so Squad, right? It's from the AirplanePlus mod, next to Mechjeb the only mod on this install :-)

Here's the spec of the part. It can be filled with fuel, but I didn't fill it for the sattelite. Considering it was inside the cargo bay the whole flight, it's aero stat can't have had any effect being in a shielded environment, so for al intents and purposes I would just consider it mass and volume. It's too bad the part's not stock, I really like the look of it on the scope. I hope you can forgive me.

[michal.don]

On 10. 11. 2017 at 9:43 PM, hoioh said:

I've played modded KSP for so long I honestly didn't realize it wasn't a stock part, it looks so Squad, right? It's from the AirplanePlus mod, next to Mechjeb the only mod on this install :-)

Here's the spec of the part. It can be filled with fuel, but I didn't fill it for the sattelite. Considering it was inside the cargo bay the whole flight, it's aero stat can't have had any effect being in a shielded environment, so for al intents and purposes I would just consider it mass and volume. It's too bad the part's not stock, I really like the look of it on the scope. I hope you can forgive me.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Like you said, the part doesn't affect anything, so your mission can still be counted as "stock", if you like. But in my opinion, modded missions are not inferior in any way to stock, I don't know why all you guys avoid the modded category like plague

 

And finally, some good news - A NEW MISSION is available, and we're going back to Duna in Duna STS-3!

All the specs are in the OP, and if anything is not clear, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the challenges this mission brings.

For the newcomers to the challenge, I'll have something for you that doesn't need you to complete the first Kerbin missions soon. A small spoiler - a preview of a new series of badges for a whole new series of missions:

What could they possibly be?

 

Michal.don

[hoioh]

@michal.donI wasn't neccesarily avoiding it, but this way my badges all look the same 

Anyway, nice to see this challenge is still evolving!

[Ozelui]

5 hours ago, michal.don said:

I don't know why all you guys avoid the modded category like plague

Craft compatibility, load times, frame rates, steam computers like mine...  

5 hours ago, michal.don said:

A NEW MISSION

Ouuuuyeah !!!    Nice mission, i'm looking forward to fly it.   Would a spaceplane count as a lander, or it must be a traditional vertical lander?

 

I didn't know much about Wernher Von Braun's Mars mission ( and still don't ) but after reading this my jaw dropped to the ground:

"He envisioned an "enormous scientific expedition" involving a fleet of ten spacecraft with 70 crew members that would spend 443 days on the surface of Mars before returning to Earth"  

 

[zolotiyeruki]

7 hours ago, michal.don said:

And finally, some good news - A NEW MISSION is available, and we're going back to Duna in Duna STS-3!

All the specs are in the OP, and if anything is not clear, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the challenges this mission brings.

One question for clarity: Does the lander need to go with the Shuttle to Eve, or can it be left in orbit with the outpost?

[michal.don]

9 hours ago, Ozelui said:

Would a spaceplane count as a lander, or it must be a traditional vertical lander?

 

I didn't know much about Wernher Von Braun's Mars mission ( and still don't ) but after reading this my jaw dropped to the ground:

"He envisioned an "enormous scientific expedition" involving a fleet of ten spacecraft with 70 crew members that would spend 443 days on the surface of Mars before returning to Earth"  

Any type of lander is ok, as long as it doesn't decouple anything and can be reused. Creativity is encouraged

Yeah, mr. Von Braun certainly did not lack imagination.......

8 hours ago, zolotiyeruki said:

One question for clarity: Does the lander need to go with the Shuttle to Eve, or can it be left in orbit with the outpost?

The lander is intended to stay at the outpost, and possibly be reused later - that is why the single stage is required. I'll add that to the OP, thanks

[hoioh]

And here we go with a flawless STS-4 at 500km altitude and with 8+4 Kerbals and at an angle of 26 degrees to the equator.

https://imgur.com/a/ocLsR

Edited November 14, 2017 by hoioh

[hoioh]

And STS 5-8 while I'm at it, this is a long one! 226 screenshots in a row:

https://imgur.com/a/pgB6W

There's a couple screenshots where one of the parts is bugging a bit and during reentry it flares up insanely. I'm still uncertain about which part caused it, but I managed to get it off the STS shuttle, so in later missions it doesn't show anymore. Also, airbrakes are insane, it's like having a proper parachute on your vessel. I sometimes break them due to reentry heating, but by then I usually no longer need them anyway.